eating the house

[hooley]

I have 2 boxers. A 1 year old male we adopted from a rescue about 2 months ago, and a 7 month old female we have had since she was 8 weeks old. We put them both in the utility room when we leave with toys, blankets, etc. We made a door for the utility room since it didn't have one. My male boxer goes crazy when we put him in the room! We don't make a big deal about leaving the house or arriving, but as soon as we close the door, he is jumping against it as hard as he can. Now he has begun chewing the framework of the door and has chewed through a couple of walls. He is literally eating the house!

We do have a crate and I was wondering, should we purchase 2 crates and put each dog in one when we leave? Since Lennox is the only one flipping out when we leave, should he be the only one put up? Would this be detrimental to him somehow? If he "wigs" out in a whole room, what would he do in a crate?

We tried leaving them both loose in the house when we left. That seemed to work for about 1 week. Then I came home to a torn up couch that we just bought.

Any suggestions is appreciated.

 

[3Boxer Mom]

Not sure if it will help or not but here goes. We've got three boxers and at one point or another they've all "eaten" part of the house. I initially felt bad for crating the oldest one but had no choice b/c I had to work and didn't trust him to be left with run of the house. After our middle one was a year old I thought I'd try leaving them out and just confined them to the laundry room, dh and I came home to find the bottom of the laundry room door GONE and they had started on the door frame! My suggestion is that if they've not been crated before you'd have to start like they were pups and do it a little bit at a time and get them used to it gradually. Make sure it's a sturdy crate, I've had them some how or another actually get out of the crates and waiting for me at the door when I came home. Don't feel bad about crating them, it's only b/c you love them and want them to be safe and for your peace of mind.

 

[manna81]

We have a Greman shorthair pointer Maggie. Shes a peach!! She eat 2 couches of ours good thing they wasn't new. She has a fit when we leave. We used to put her in the bathroom wow bad move..... she eat the carpet. Now we have her and all the dogs in cages or if were not gone for a long time we leave them in the basement with a radio on. We have them big hallow bones I fill them with peanut butter. Or get a treat ball you put food in it and they roll it around and the food falls out. Give him something to do when you leave. It works for us!! GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[bloving]

I have four boxers and they are all crated while I'm gone. I know that two of them would do fine out but I crate them all because it helps the other two to feel more secure having all of them in the crates. I also found that I don't worry so much about them while I'm gone if they are all crated. I have this big bonus room that is just for them with four big crates.

 

[Bensensmom]

I too felt guilty about crating my Bensen. We have tried putting him in the laundry room while we are at work but he has eaten the little bit of carpet that sticks out under the door, which is now snagged all the way down the hall. Today he somehow got the laundry basket down and had a ball chewing on all the dirty clothes. So I guess i will be putting his crate back together just so I know he isnt eating things he isn't capable of digesting and I can come home and not be in fear of what I find when I open up that laundry door.

 

[courtney323]

We do have a crate and I was wondering, should we purchase 2 crates and put each dog in one when we leave?

It is absolutely a great idea to crate them. Especially a Boxer that is eating and getting in to things he shouldn't be (as he could hurt or kill himself in your absense). Beyond that, you need to examine why he's acting this way when you leave. A great book to read that deals with this topic somewhat is "The Dog Listener" by Jan Fennell.

In my mind, it seems as though he sees himself as the (probably reluctant) leader of your pack. Thus when you leave, he freaks out and is quite distressed at your unknown wherabouts. There are several steps you could take to reinforce yourself as pack leader, and the book I suggested covers much of it. Also if you do a search, you should find this topic covered several times in the past.

Good luck

 

[bigdog]

crate or no crate

my boy was crate trained when we got him at 8 weeks old from the breeder. I also felt gulity about crateing him while I was at work,but he loves his crate. He is now almost 8 month old and has never chewed anything up. He sees his crate as his den and when he wants to be alone thats where I fined him. That crate is the best thing since sliced bread.

 

[K9LUVR]

Crates

Skeet is about a year and Max is three and both love there crates. It is there safe place. Just remember to reward ( however you do treats, praise, ect.) when they go in by themselves or when you ask them to with out a fight. Oh yeah a word to the wise, Skeeter has a bad habit of pulling anything she can through the holes in it so you may want to be careful if its in the laundry room that none of your laundry is with in paws or teeths reach. Wire crates have big holes so they can see out and bring things in if your not careful! happy crateing!

 

[lllore]

Ties to reinforce crates

I would also recomend electrical type ties to reinforce the crates, they come in black which is great with black crates, tighten them and cut off the ends. Keeps puppies from getting them open on ends or sides and getting caught. We cut ours pretty close so there isn't anything to chew or get hurt on.

 

[Shakira's Ma]

I would also recomend electrical type ties to reinforce the crates, they come in black which is great with black crates, tighten them and cut off the ends. Keeps puppies from getting them open on ends or sides and getting caught. We cut ours pretty close so there isn't anything to chew or get hurt on.

Excellent idea, Thanks! I have read some posts about dogs getting their heads through the crate bottoms and tops from shaking them and these poor babies have died, something this simple would have prevented this. You have given some very valuable info for members here to log in their memory for future use.