how can we help anxious dog?

[kate fern]

We have a male boxer called Thorn who is 18 months old. We have always worked but have managed to train Thorn fairly well. He began to chew petty items from the house while we were at work, despite going out for a run everyday.we got him a big cage for while we were out, we could not keep coming home to such mess ( he is fully toilet trained however). After a while we left the cage door open while we were out, and we did not come back to any mess. After a while we put the cage away and got Thorn a basket. He was fine up until about a month ago, but has once again started to chew cushions, find shoes, slippers, pull things off cabinets in the dining room etc. We have had to bring out his cage again, but hate to do so. Can anyone help as he is a really good dog apart from when we leave him. When we come home he is very sorry for what he has done, but cannot help doing it. He has plenty of toys to hand and is not left much other than when we are at work.

Please help Kate & Thorn!

 

[BRIDGIT]

There is a lot of info on the site for this. I have heard it is where they go through adolescence. They rebel I guess. Jasmine is only seven months and we have not yet gone through this but I am sure it will come. Bailey is seven years old and there is rarely an issue of her destorying anything. I think age has something to do with letting them have more responsibility with the house.

 

[Jan]

18 Months may be a bit young to have total freedom of your house. Boxers often can't be trusted until they are about 2 years of age, and some never can be. Don't feel guilty about crating Thorn while you are gone. Think of the crate as Thorn's den, not as a cage. He may be feeling a little anxious when you are gone and needs the security of a place where he can go to sleep and feel safe. I would crate Thorn when you are gone, with the door closed and after awhile you could try leaving the door open again. Don't remove the crate altogeather until you are sure that he never goes in there.

Good luck,

 

[morgan2526]

seperation anxiety

This actually sounds more like seperation anxiety than adolesence. If you do a search for seperation anxiety you will find a ton of information. My girl Morgan has always been like this but is getting better all the time. There are tons of ways to help your dog not to be so destructive while you are gone. Good luck and don't give up! It gets better, I promise!