My Boxer destorys my house when I leave

[sherflor]

Pico will be 2 this june. I have had him since Nov 08'. I am his 4 home and final. We have one other Boxer since she was a pup and she will be 2 this April. Lately I have been home since we aquired him. When we leave for just one hour Pico, (I know its Pico Because Lupita never did this) will chew things, get our fruit bowl from the table and eat our apples, and one time he got a planter and tore it up. When I get home I will take the fruit bowl and make him see it and say, "No, leave it", very sternly. But this has been going on since we got him. Our fruit bowl has finally had and we had to throw it away. We went out for about 4 hours and he got a couple of figurines and tore thefruit bowl up.

What can we do!

 

[kayboxer]

I would begin by crating him while you are gone. It's hard to punish a dog an hour after they have done something. Maybe he has seperation anxiety and that is why he destroys things. My mothers youngest Sheltie does this. She has to crate him, although she does not crate her other two. It might be your only option while you are away from home.

 

[ELubas]

Is Pico crate trained? Some pups are just better off cated so they can relax. As for showing him the fruit bowl... He has no idea what you are going on about. I know it is frustrating but they truly live in the moment. And please forgive me for having a little chuckle over the image of it

 

[NJBoxermom]

Ita

I would begin by crating him while you are gone. It's hard to punish a dog an hour after they have done something. Maybe he has seperation anxiety and that is why he destroys things. My mothers youngest Sheltie does this. She has to crate him, although she does not crate her other two. It might be your only option while you are away from home.

and would just add that when you crate him and leave, make sure he has a nice treat to take his mind off of missing you like a kong stuffed w/ some pb and milkbones

 

[caruse]

Boxers need to be corrected in the seconds after an incident...they have no clue after that about what you are showing them is connected to their behavior...I have a 6 month old and a almost 2 y/o and they both get crated when we leave...they actually know when we are getting ready and go sit in their crates!! they both lie down and enjoy their treats...it is peace of mind to all of us....good luck
Barbara lovicon

 

[Draymia]

Every dog is different. Most of my Boxers get house privileges between 2-3 years of age. Until they can be trusted, they stay crated while I'm gone. My guys are fed in their crates and have toys and chew bones to keep them happy, but mostly they sleep.

Right now I have a three year old that keeps blowing it, when I try to leave her out. I fear, she will never be able to be left unsupervised. Right now she is sleeping on the couch and quite content, but if I was gone she would be in trouble! :D

Hang in there and just plan on crating until he matures and maybe forever. Crates become a dog's little den and their own little place.

 

[RoxiesEcho]

We were able to trust Bella for a few months when she was between 1 & 2 with no incidences. Then all of a sudden she would tear up every book and magazine she could find if we left her. So we bought a crate and she has been in it ever since. My DH thinks we ought to try leaving her loose again, starting out slow. Since she is fine in her crate, I don't want to try it. Why set her up to fail? As long as she isn't going to be in it for long periods of time - I would buy a crate!

 

[LILYLARUE]

Lily, who is almost 2 in april, will tear up anything in the house if the pittie is with her. Those two together are absolutely untrustworthy. Leave one or the other alone and all is well. If only I could figure out which one is the instigator.

 

[clopez]

mine had a mild case of this as well

I adopted a 2nd rescue Boxer just about 4 weeks ago to keep my Lulu (about 5) company. I've had Lulu for 2 years (also a rescue dog about 5 years old) and she was a dream dog that had very good in house manners from the get go. Sundance (who is between 2-4 years) on the other hand has had his "issues" with being left alone though with Lulu. Things are much better now in week 5. I started out by getting him on a Saturday and left them alone for small amounts of time (1/2 hour, 1, hours, etc) and worked from home the following Monday & Tuesday and then half days the remainder of the week. After that for two weeks I came home at lunch time - fortunately I live close by. I should mention that they both have access outside through a doggie door. I close my bedroom door and the spare bathroom and they have access to the remainder of the house. Those first two weeks, he destroyed 4 pillows, chewed up the toy box and ripped up a bed sheet in the spare bedroom and got into a few other things he should not have. He is doing quite well now and I leave them all day while at work and don’t need to come home at lunch. He does get into something now and again but nothing major and I see him being just a good as my Princess Lulu very soon. However, I have not left him without Lulu – this will come much later in our training.

 

[Proud Mommy]

To be honest I think this is just a boxer trait - they really don't like being left alone! Bosco is now 3, and he can be left by himself for maybe 3 hours without getting into trouble. Dozer, who is 2, cannot be left alone quite yet as he will get into everything. Leaving both of them free in the house is simply not an option - something about two boxers left alone together causes them to conspire I think. We tried it once - they chewed table legs, ate batteries from the remotes, got into cupboards, ruined shoes and hats, even chewed on a rented DVD! Our boys were both crate trained initially and I think the crate is a necessary part of boxer training (only my opinion). Since my husband and I are gone to work 8+ hours a day, I did not like the thought of having them both in separate crates all day, but leaving them loose to destroy our house was also not an option. Our solution was to turn one room into our house into the dog room - it has all of their toys, blankets, bones etc and well as both of their crates (left with the doors open). In this room they are free to play with one another, but there is nothing in there for them to destroy. On occasion they may scratch at the wall or tear up the carpet. I am still hopeful that once Dozer matures a little we will eventually be able to leave them alone with full run of the house. May be wishful thinking though!