Destructive Is Putting it Nicely

[Brando's Mom]

My baby is 7 months old, and was relatively easy to train. He is completely housebroken, crate trained, sits, lays down, stays, speaks, comes, plays dead, etc. He is an extremely intelligent puppy. We are having him neutered on Wednesday, and I hope that helps with his recently disturbing habit of tearing up my house!!!!! He has always been great in the past, but lately he is having fits! I came home today and found my bookshelf capsized, my aloe plant in five million pieces, and the contents of the bookshelf mostly destroyed. This is not the first time he's destoryed things. He's eaten my Bible, dragged things outside and flung them to all four corners of the earth, and eaten covers off books. I hate to leave him in the crate all day. I work 9 hours a day, and it's about a half hour each way to and from work, so it's very difficult to come home and let him out at lunch. My husband and I were so happy when we got him housebroken and got a doggie door and he could come and go as he pleased. But now he's tearing everything apart and I just can't trust him anymore. My biggest frustration is that I don't understand why he's doing this now and never did before. We haven't changed anything...no new family additions, furbaby or otherwise...no change in habits...he gets walked every night and his routine is the same...what is it? Anybody have any ideas? Too much attention while we're home? Not enough? We play with him almost all night when we're home. I just don't know what to do. HELP!!!!!

 

[VTbxrFan]

Welcome to the world of teenaged boxers! He's definitely right about the age to start getting into lots of trouble, and he's big enough to do a lot of damage, as you have seen. I can understand that you don't want to leave him in a crate all day. Is it possible to confine him to one room with a babygate -- like the kitchen? It's much easier to puppy-proof one room than the whole house. Or perhaps you can try putting up an exercise pen around the door that has his doggie door so he can still go outside but won't have free-roam to destroy your house?

 

[kbnse]

This is rather funny, I just went through this last month. Pretty frustrating isn't it?!?!!? Just like you I felt bad for putting her in her cage. So I let her run the house. Big mistake . Same thing happened to me as did you. Well, then I puppy proofed the bathroom. After that I realized nothing can be puppy proofed! She chewed a whole in the bathroom door. I then realized the crate was the only answer until she was became an "adult". After this trial period MacKenzie gladly went into her cage. I believe that she was so bored and didn't know what to do with herself that is why she acted this way. She just needed me to set her boudaries. She now goes in her cage when I say "in your cage" and give her a treat. It's her secure home now. She never liked her cage before!! Well, good luck .

 

[Brando's Mom]

I feel for you! I can't imagine a hole being chewed in the door! I bet you were furious! Well, I guess the verdict's in...Brando's gonna be crate boy for awhile!

 

[BooBoo & Riley]

My BooBoo has been going through the same stage as Brando, and he is also 7 months old. We just had him neutered over Christmas and can't wait for the testoserone (sp?) levels to go down in another month or so.

What I did was to take him to work with me. I have a new SUV, and I put his bed, water dish, toys all in the back and park the the car in the parking garage. This way, I get to visit him every hour, take walks twice a day and monitor him very well. He doesn't do anything to the car, unlike the house which works out great. And once in a while I'll bring him into the building and visit with everyone who adores him. When things calm down for him, I'll feel comfortable leaving him home alone.

 

[Brutus and Amaya's Mom]

He is a classic teenager. A perfectly nice puppy is now learning that he is becoming a big man and testing his limits. I think you need to continue to crate him. My trainer reccomends crating until the pups are out of the teens (around 18 months).

At 7 months they may fall into old habits. They are testing the water to see what you make them do and how much they can get away with. It sounds like you set the foundation when he was a pup but need to remain focused during these teen times.

 

[shy the boxer]

How about thinking of a dog sitter.. I've done that.. The last dog I had was the "hound from hell" thats what everyone called her.. she was a beagle who loved to destroy my house.. we had a neighborhood friend come and check on her a few times a day.. worked for me!

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Sounds like the dog is bored and because he has nothing of interest to do, he's being destructive.

My suggestion: Get up a little earlier, take the dog out and let him run and exercise for about 30/45 minutes BEFORE you go to work in the morning. That way, he'll be pretty tired and hungry when he gets home, he'll eat, and you can put him in his crate and he'll more than likely sleep most of the day away while you are at work.

When I don't exercise my dogs sufficiently, that is EXACTLY when I come home to find someone's been chewing on my shoes or has been in the trash can!!

 

[Jen&Scott]

In my experience, 6 months is when most of the destructive dog behavior begins. You think that you're home free -- the puppy is older, housebroken, knows basic commands -- and then teenage time hits and they destroy things that you never even knew they noticed.

When our male giant schnauzer hit this stage, I was in graduate school. I don't want to think of all the money I spend replacing the books he destroyed. When our female giant schnauzer started destrying things, she developed a taste for wood. We still have places on our baseboards where she left her mark. She also destroyed an antique sewing machine table that I loved. By the time we got Oscar, our boxer, we had learned not to leave a young dog unattended even to take a shower (that seemed to be a favorite time to destroy something).

However, you can't leave a young dog crated for 9 hours at a stretch. If you can't have someone come and play with him at lunchtime, then I agree with Susan. Try to confine him to one room and puppy-proof it the best you can. Be prepared, however, because like "kbnse" said above, no room can be really puppy proofed. My in-laws' miniature schanuzer chewed all the corners of their kitchen cabinet doors until they were rounded. She also pawed at the tile in the corners of the room until she pulled it up enough to destroy it.

I also like the idea of getting him some exercise before you leave. Take him to your yard and throw a ball or frisbee, or whatever he likes to do. You might also try getting him some toys that you only give him during the day when you're gone. You can stuff a kong with peanit butter that's hard to get out , but mighht keep him occupied trying. They also make toys that are cubes or balls that you fill with kibble or treats and the dog has to roll around to get it to give up something doog to eat. We have one called a buster cube that I like. Or how about a big basketball for the yard, that he can chase but can't pick up? My dogs have one and it drives them wild!

One of the dog training books I read suggested stringing toys and interesting things on a closeline in the yard that the dog can get to, but not get down. I'll try to look for this book and see exactly what the author meant.

Hang in there. Once Oscar hit about two years of age, he was interested in sleeping all day and not much else. None of our dogs roam completely free during the day -- they're baby-gated in either the kitchen or the basement -- but I know we could leave Oscar out and he wouldn't do anything worse than curl up on our bed!

Good Luck!
Jen

 

[Brando's Mom]

All of you guys have been great helping me out with this! I've never had a dog before, and I'm trying to do the right thing by him. So many people I know have dogs that simply aren't well behaved, and they're no fun to be around. I kept Brando in his crate today while I was at work, then came home at lunch to let him out. I guess I'll just continue to do this. We have a basketball in the back yard, and more chew toys, squeaky toys, and anything else you can imagine to keep him occupied. I'll try getting up earlier in the morning, and that may help with some of his rowdiness. He just has SO much energy!! We have a laser pointer, and that's his VERY favorite toy! He'll chase that little red dot for hours on end, plus it wears him out quick. I'll keep that in my little bag of tricks. I don't have the option "BooBoo& Riley" had about keeping him in the SUV all day. He has to stay at home. So, I'll try to entertain him more in the morning, check on him at lunch, and hope he outgrows his teens quickly. I read about adolescence in my dog books, so I knew the days would come when he would start testing his limits. I just didn't know he'd be so destructive about it! He already doesn't immediately follow my commands, so I know he's testing the waters. I don't ever repeat myself, I just give him "The Look" and he obeys. It's soooo funny how "The Look" can work. The day I came home and found my house wrecked, he got "The Look" gave me that heart-wrenching gaze only Boxers can muster, cast down his eyes, and rolled over to show me how sorry he was! Thanks again for everybody's help, and any future postings will be taken into consideration as well. I'll let you guys know how we're coming along!