Lexie was a dream dog we were to the point of leaving her for 3-4 hours without her touching anything. Sunday we came home to a destroyed plant and huge stain on the rug from the dirt. She has began chewing other stuff as well. I cant understand after all this time why she would start now. I hate to have to confine fher to her crate on the weekend if we are not there.
6 1/2 month old gone bad please help!
- Thread starter BILL S
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VTbxrFan
Boxer Insane
Sounds to me like your sweet little Lexie is turning into a "teenager." That's pretty typical at that age -- just like kids, adolescent dogs will start testing the waters just as they get big enough to do some really extensive damage. I recommend a crate or confinement to a doggy proof room for a while. Don't be in a hurry to give her complete freedom -- if she's not ready for it, you'll risk having your home destroyed and she could injure herself. Don't get too frustrated with it!
Been there, done that! We started leaving Creed uncrated but blocked up in the kitchen w/ Sunny (for company) He did good the first couple of weeks. Then he turned out when he hit about 7 mths. Tore up and ate up anything and everything he could, so back in the crate he went. He's 10 mths and I have a feeling he'll be there for a while:o But that's ok and the peace of mind it gives to me let's me keep my mind on my work. Give your furbaby a little time and everything will be fine
Jen&Scott
Boxer Booster
This sounds very familiar. You think you're home free -- your puppy is 6 months old -- and all heck breaks loose.
Six months has always for us been the classic onset time for teenage destruction. Because of this, we have a policy of keeping our dogs crated until they are at least 18 months (for people with Labs I always suggest 2 years). We do this even when we think we don't have to, because our dogs have proved us wrong SOOOO many times.
I could fill a thread myself about things our dogs have eaten or destroyed! Hang in there -- it calms down and if luck holds, you have many many great years ahead.
Jen
Six months has always for us been the classic onset time for teenage destruction. Because of this, we have a policy of keeping our dogs crated until they are at least 18 months (for people with Labs I always suggest 2 years). We do this even when we think we don't have to, because our dogs have proved us wrong SOOOO many times.
I could fill a thread myself about things our dogs have eaten or destroyed! Hang in there -- it calms down and if luck holds, you have many many great years ahead.
Jen
SugarSuarez
Boxer Pal
I am so glad that this is normal! We are going through the exact samething right now!! Sugar is nearly 8 months now and is getting into so much mischief! We usually leave her in the laundry room which has a doggy door to the garage so that she has space to play and do her buisness. And she was doing great! I never had a worry about her while we were at work. But then about a month ago I got a call from the alarm company that our motion sensor went off. It turned out that Sugar taught herself to open the laudry room door to the house. When I got home there was garbage all over the place. We fixed the problem by adding a lock to the door. Well then this Monday my husband and I went shopping and when we came home we found Sugar chewing the door molding off the laundry door frame. She completely ruined to trim. So we closed the doggy door and let her roam the garage only. Well Wednesday came and my husband caught her chewing the drywall in the garage. We have no idea what to do. :confused: She is kinda crate trained. She knows to go in the crate when we go on trips and she uses the crate when we are visiting other people's home and she needs to nap. But we don't use at home. But it looks like I might have to use it more often. I just feel so bad restraining her to the crate for 8+ hours.
traceycox
Boxer Buddy
All I can say is... CRATE! I too highly reccomend the crate. While I was away.. my dogs were crated. Not only does this keep your house INTACT it also keeps them out of harms way! They have no idea that chewing on an electrical cord can kill them! Its for their own safety and YOURS!
It is best to start crateing as a pup by putting them in the crate for short intervals building up to longer ones. I crated both babies for the 1st 2 years .. they were in and out. Finally about 3 years old I was able to lend a little more freedom slowllllyyyy! They always made a fool outta me when I thought I could trust them..one thing to make sure of.. CHEW TOYS! Ones that are attractive to them and ones that will keep them busy for hours. Only give the special "goin away" toy when they're left alone..they'll start to associate the "cool treat" with being alone and keeping busy. The crate also lends a sense of safety for them and they calm down a lot quicker. Mine became comfortable with going to their crate by themselves if they were sleepy or just wanted to be lazy, they preffered it! Crating is the ultimate training tool!
GOOD LUCK !
It is best to start crateing as a pup by putting them in the crate for short intervals building up to longer ones. I crated both babies for the 1st 2 years .. they were in and out. Finally about 3 years old I was able to lend a little more freedom slowllllyyyy! They always made a fool outta me when I thought I could trust them..one thing to make sure of.. CHEW TOYS! Ones that are attractive to them and ones that will keep them busy for hours. Only give the special "goin away" toy when they're left alone..they'll start to associate the "cool treat" with being alone and keeping busy. The crate also lends a sense of safety for them and they calm down a lot quicker. Mine became comfortable with going to their crate by themselves if they were sleepy or just wanted to be lazy, they preffered it! Crating is the ultimate training tool!
GOOD LUCK !
SugarSuarez
Boxer Pal
I'm a believer!
It was very hard for me to think of putting Sugar in the crate as stated before. I talked about it with my husband and we decided to try it. She fought us the first couple of days. We tried to make it easy by giving her treats and her favorite toys. It's worked. We now give her the signal that we are leaving or going to sleep and she automatically walks to her crate and waits for us to open the door to the crate and goes inside. (keep in mind Sugar is deaf) We can hear her bark and whimper when we are walking out the house in the morning. But at night she is pretty good and falls to sleep on her own. I didn't think i would get used to the idea of having my pup in a crate for hours at a time but she doing ok now. When comes out she is calmer (still active!) and she seems to be a little more obedient as well.
Thank you to everyone who suggested this idea!
Priscilla
It was very hard for me to think of putting Sugar in the crate as stated before. I talked about it with my husband and we decided to try it. She fought us the first couple of days. We tried to make it easy by giving her treats and her favorite toys. It's worked. We now give her the signal that we are leaving or going to sleep and she automatically walks to her crate and waits for us to open the door to the crate and goes inside. (keep in mind Sugar is deaf) We can hear her bark and whimper when we are walking out the house in the morning. But at night she is pretty good and falls to sleep on her own. I didn't think i would get used to the idea of having my pup in a crate for hours at a time but she doing ok now. When comes out she is calmer (still active!) and she seems to be a little more obedient as well.
Thank you to everyone who suggested this idea!
Priscilla
Scrapper's Mom
Boxer Insane
In my doggie experience, it takes about 2 years to make a "good dog" meaning one that has been through and given up its adolescent bad habits, has gotten some street smarts, and is completely reliable. Of course, it's a continual process, so there will be both victories and some set-backs. When the dog exceeds its limits, tighten them back up a little until it can deal with them, then you can gradually relax them. 6 1/2 mos is still really just a puppy, so expect a lot of puppy behavior, including chewing, occasional pee and poops inside the house if they have to hold it too long, etc. When you think they have gotten big and are all grown up (about 10 mo - 1 year), they start adolescence, testing again, acting just like a human teenager so don't be surprised! This too will pass and the end result will be worth it appicon
Karen Gold
Boxer Pal
Hi there
Like others out there my 61/2 month old boxer baby Buffy has gone crazy. So far she has dug a hole through my kitchen wall, eaten four dog beds, eaten the roof off her kennell four times, chewed wires, dug the garden, eaten my plants and eaten a door frame.
The only consilation is that I know it won't last, she is just your typical teenager. I did however get some good advice from a wesite in Ireland called www.irishanimals.com. They have a forum and some really experienced people out there with regards to behaviour. I am also a Bi-Aura Therapist and doing sessions on my boxer baby seems to have calmed her down considerably. She is soooo sweet and I love her to bits. Lets just hope this dies down before I have a nervous breakdown.
I seem to be handling the situation so far so good, so if anyone would like to talk please do and I hope I can be of some help.
Good Luck
Karen (Dublin, Ireland)
Like others out there my 61/2 month old boxer baby Buffy has gone crazy. So far she has dug a hole through my kitchen wall, eaten four dog beds, eaten the roof off her kennell four times, chewed wires, dug the garden, eaten my plants and eaten a door frame.
The only consilation is that I know it won't last, she is just your typical teenager. I did however get some good advice from a wesite in Ireland called www.irishanimals.com. They have a forum and some really experienced people out there with regards to behaviour. I am also a Bi-Aura Therapist and doing sessions on my boxer baby seems to have calmed her down considerably. She is soooo sweet and I love her to bits. Lets just hope this dies down before I have a nervous breakdown.
I seem to be handling the situation so far so good, so if anyone would like to talk please do and I hope I can be of some help.
Good Luck
Karen (Dublin, Ireland)
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