Hi from TX - need some advice!

[Liberty'sMom]

Hi! Liberty and I are from Texas. She is a two-year old white, and the first boxer I have ever owned. I love her to death and have become a total boxer enthusiast since getting her. However, the reason I joined this site is because I need some possible advice for dealing with her separation anxiety! We still use a wire crate - is that normal for adult boxers, or should the adults behave well enough to be left out when we are gone? She is not quite alone as we have three cats for her to play with (amazingly they do actually play with one another). I was just curious if anyone had any tried and true advice they could impart!

I'm excited to hear from anyone, and I plan on getting some pictures posted pretty quick of my pretty white girl with her blue eyes (who can hear perfectly well by the way even though she did come from a BYB)!

Wendi and Liberty

 

[lorishields]

Can you explain what she goes through when you are gone? I have a 4YO that is still needing to be crated because he still chew when we're not home. Some dogs just don't do well by themselves, age doesn't really have anything to do with it.

Our Linc has gotten better since we've had him see a trainer (he's more confident) and we're also trying Comfort Zone which seems to help with the licking of the crate door.

I wouldn't recommend letting your girl free roam until you're 100% sure she won't chew anything. You don't want to have to take her to the e-vets for ingesting something!

 

[ses02e]

Although I just have a puppy, I agree that age has nothing to do with it. I think it just depends on the behavior of your Boxer and if YOU think they can be left alone without destroying the whole house!
Welcome to BW!!

 

[Liberty'sMom]

What she does

Well, she tends to turn into Houdinni as soon as we leave. We have just recently purchased our third crate as she somehow rips out of the others. Also, even though she is completely housebroken, if we are gone then she will automatically go to the bathroom (#1 and #2) no matter how much or how little she needs to go. She hasn't actually chewed anything up since she was much smaller, but she will drag things off of the kitchen counter such as bread, cookie jars, and dirty dishes out of the sink if there is anything there. She also howls long and loud when we leave. We leave the television on and there are cats in the house, so she is not quite alone, but that doesn't seem to satisfy her. She also goes nuts whenever we get home, barking loudly and for a long time afterwards. I know she is glad to see us, but I don't know what to do to help her while we are gone.

Wendi and Liberty

 

[Melgoglia]

I've had two crated and never had either to escape. Brandy passed away earlier this year she was crated until around 7. I just never felt secure about leaving her out. If I ran to the store fine but when I went to work I always crated her. She never got out and I never had any problems.

Abigail she's 7 months and she's crated while I'm at work. I wouldn't trust her at this point to run to the store or anywhere right now. She's still very much of a baby. What type of a crate do you have for your baby to go through 3 of them.. wow.. I know I'm not much help neither of mine have ever been a counter surfer either.. maybe the trash once in a while but that's about it.

Oh yea and the kitty litter box for the yummy cat crunchies.. :confused: I don't know what they like about those little things but Abigail will wait and watch Tig once he deposits them in the litter box Abigail will make a mad dash and try to get them.. yuck.. :eek:

 

[Princess3604]

when i first got my Princess i bought a wire crate for her and i kept it in my room to put her in while i was at work since she wasnt used to our cats yet.. i only kept her in it 2 times since she broke out of it the first time and the second time i put a padlock on it and she STILL got out.. and both times she messed my room up pretty bad and tried to get my rat so i had cedar chips all over my room as well.. so i would just leave her in my room and she still tore things up and eventually after she got used to the cats we would leave her out and kept the bedroom and bathroom doors closed.. she still made a mess but she would only pull out stuff.. never chewed anything up.. eventually she stopped completely.. the reason for her acting like that was in the home she was in before i took her she was kept on a chain outside and didnt get much attention... she was so afraid we werent coming back but eventually realized that we would came back home everytime we would go out.. but she is never kept in a crate anymore since she freaks out.. i put her in the crate one day to see how she got out and she would sit up on her hind legs and take her front paws and slam into the door and the locks would come undone and the door flew open.. i just guess my pup is scared of being inclosed in a small space.. mine also likes the litter box treats too.. yuck.. my mom ended up laying chairs infront of the sliding door for the closet so she cant get anymore of her treatsand only the cats can get into it.. she would used to sit and wait for the cat to come out and stick her head in there to see what they left for her and i'd always chase her away but she kept going back..



~Ashley & Princess~

 

[Liberty'sMom]

haha - how funny! I thought maybe Liberty was the only weird one who liked to sneak a kitty turd treat every once and awhile!

All three of her crates have been the wire kind, and I have no idea how she gets out... I tried the padlock things too to no avail... It seems that she just pulls and pulls with her teeth until she bends the wire enough to get out... Anyways - this newest one is absolutely monstrous huge and seems to be a bit stronger wire, so we will see tomorrow how it holds up.

 

[Princess3604]

good luck with the new crate! i hope it survives.. haha.. have you thought of trying one of those plastic crates? i was actually thinking of getting one but then realized Princess just absolutely hated being in them so i didnt get one..

all of the dogs (2 Siberian Huskies and a German Shepherd) i grew up with LOVED the litter box treats.. but i think Princess is worse with it.. haha.. i'll hear her doing something and i'll call her and if i'm lucky she'll come over to me and she will have litter all over her lips and nose.. *yuck* sometimes she'll b chewing on a treat.. sometimes i dont even know she was in the litter box and after shes done looking for treats in it she'll come over and wipe her mouth on me.. and i'll find litter on my leg or arm and then i'm really grossed out.. haha..

 

[Glenys]

This is absolutely amazing and a bit of a culture shock. Here in New Zealand it's more common to have the dog in an outside kennel and fenced run or chained out of harms way if no-one is home. Or if we aren't garden proud, to have the section fenced and dogs running free. I've had our youngest dog doing things out of sheer puppy boredom but nothing else. Wonder what causes this anxiety? Might pay to go back to the source and work from there. But an animal behavourist will help you. An acquaintance of mine has trouble with a rescue lab she has doing the same thing. Praise the good behaviour and ignore the bad. Go out for short times ie out of sight around the next door neighbours house then come back. Don't make a fuss of the dog. Ignore her. Hopefully the good periods will get longer.

 

[HammerLA]

Hammer is 7 months old now and has run of the house when we are gone. He still sleeps in his crate at night, but we decided we could trust him. he too had seperation anxiety, we built him an area in the basement with a 4 ft wall when he was 4-5 months old and he got over it. He wouldn't eat his treats that we left him, I guess because he was so determined to get over the wall, it got to the point where his paws would be raw and I couldn't let him do that anymore. he's been really good, we have a patio panel that fits into the sliding door and Hammer can go in and out as he pleases to go potty otherwise, my suggestion is lots of toys and a kong filled with lots of goodies to keep your baby occupied when you're gone, that way he won't ruin anything in the house. Hammer hasn't touched any of the furniture and hasn't had a mess in the house in ages. Whoohoo!!!! :D He has however picked up a piece of mail and made quite a mess with the paper, but that was my fault for leaving it out. Good luck