My shoes!

[Sydneylove]

Ok, so Sydney is 2 years old, up until the last six months she stayed in her kennel when there was no one at home. We moved back in August to house with a doggie door. So we decided to start letting Sydney stay out since she would be able to let herself out and be able to play in the backyard.

The first about 2 and 1/2 months went great, she didn't chew anything, she didn't destroy anything, etc. (Except she kept letting the cat out so she could play with her) In the past couple of weeks we have come home to Sydney taking our shoes outside and chewing them and yesterday she brought a newspaper outside and ripped it to shreds. She has never shown this behavior before, it was like a light switch.

We tried putting the shoes under the bed so she couldn't get to them, well we under estimated her intelligence, because she just army crawled under the bed and got them anyway. Once we removed shoes completely is when she moved onto the newspaper and cat toys!

We are not sure what to do because she has never shown this behavior before and she started out so well. Any suggestions for deterring this behavior? We were thinking about getting her another boxer friend that way she has company, but we are not sure if that is a good idea or not? Thanks for any help you can give me!

 

[johann]

How much exercise is she getting? This sounds like bored boxer behavior to me (that's how we lost quite a bit of furniture).

Does she get a Kong or anything to keep her amused while you're gone? Could you try a long walk or some play time in the morning so that she's tired before you go to work?

 

[Sydneylove]

Sydney

We take her for a walk everyday when we get home as well as if I get up early enough she gets a walk in the morning as well and we try to make it out to the park at least once every weekend. Also she has a huge backyard that she spends a lot of her time in. I would do three walks a day, but I am not sure my

As far as toys she has an entire toy box. When this first started happening we went out and bought a surplus of toys on top of what she already had, because we thought as well she must be bored.

So we are still so confused.... :(

 

[Caney Creek]

Caney started showing this behavior as well when we first started allowing her to be out of her crate when we were gone. She was about a year old then. As months went on and she got more accustomed to her new-found freedom, it happened less and less, but still at nearly 3 years old (which was the beginning of this year) I still worried every time I left the house, about what she might find to chew on that I forgot to put away.

I started giving the dogs bones every time I left the house, which helped quite a bit but she'd still get into things every now and then. What finally did the trick, I believe, was her being able to look out the window all day when we were gone. For years we've had roommates that have occupied the front two bedrooms upstairs, and those bedrooms have the only windows with views of the street. When the roommates moved out earlier this year, their rooms became guest bedrooms, one of which was claimed by the dogs (the bed at least, not the whole room ). That bed is pushed up against the wall right under the window. That is where Caney now spends probably 80% of her time when we're at home, just looking out that window and watching our neighbors come and go. Absolutely NOTHING has been chewed since Caney has had access to this window seat.

A pic of Creek, Caney and Bella looking out the window:
The lookouts | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I don't know if a set-up like that is possible for you to do for Sydney, or if it would work for her like it did for Caney but it's worth trying if you can. If not I would definitely invest in some raw bones or kong toys to keep her occupied while she's alone. It's going to have to be something extra-special to keep her from exploring what's "off-limits."

 

[Sydneylove]

Great Idea!

Caney Creek,

That is actually a really good idea. I always have all the blinds shut when I leave the house during the day. We have a window in our dining room that faces the road and we have a pretty active neighborhood. So I think the boyfriend and I are going to build a bench for her and see if it helps.

It is also my fear every time we leave the house about what I am forgetting that she will get into. Kongs are on sale right now at PETCO so I think I will go and invest in a couple more . I will let you know how the window and the bench works out! I am sure she will enjoy it either way.

I really appreciate the advice and you sharing your experience.

 

[TwoDogs]

If she's at all prone to barking at passersby, a window seat might be a mistake. Once she realizes how fun it is, you'll have a hard time breaking her of it.

Instead I would take away most of her toys and only leave out a few. Every couple of days, rotate which ones are left out so it is as if she is constantly getting "new" toys. Additionally, I would invest in a few more Kongs to occupy her during the day. Lastly, I would seriously increase her exercise. Even though she has a big yard to play in all day, I really doubt she is out there running around and exercising. She is more likely meandering around the yard every once in a while. No wonder she is looking for something to do during the day. Bite the bullet and get up every morning for that walk whether or not the weather is good or you are tired. Use the evenings for another walk and teaching some tricks to exercise her mind. Run through those tricks every morning while on your walk.

One other thing you can do is to leave her something that is totally and legally destructable to give her an allowable outlet for her chewing and shredding. Stuff a paper bag or cardboard box with newspaper and hide a Kong in the middle of it. Leave it out in the yard for her to find. Additionally, you can teach her to search for her bag and then start hiding it in the yard and releasing her to "search" when you leave. She gets to shred, she ends with a Kong to keep her occupied, and the shredding of a legal item curbs the desire to find one of your items to shred. (Obviously, if your dog is the type to ingest what they shred, you may not want to try this activity.)

 

[Sansal]

If she's at all prone to barking at passersby, a window seat might be a mistake. Once she realizes how fun it is, you'll have a hard time breaking her of it.

Yup, that is why my dogs can not have window seats. They can handle looking into the yard through the glass doors that lead onto the deck but I have to close all other curtains before I leave because they bark at passerbys.

What works best for us is at least 30-45 minutes of walking and playing outside in the morning before we leave for work. Even if it rains and snows, we are out there getting some exercise in.

 

[Sydneylove]

Window/Exercise

As far as exercise, she is getting almost two walks a day now and we try to play catch with her in the backyard for at least 25-30 minutes a day. Then on the weekends we are at the dog park as much as possible or the field next to where we live.

I really like the idea of getting her something she can be destructive with to get out that energy and not take it out on my shoes. She recently has stopped chewing on the shoes, she just strategically places them around the backyard for me to find. So I think having some type of hiding game with her is a really good idea.

Sydney actually doesn't bark, we were really strict with her when she was a pup. In our last house actually when we didn't have a doggie door, we actually had to teach her how to bark because she would just sit at the door and wait to be let out, but not make any noise for us to know she was waiting. We weren't very successful in teaching her how to bark, every once in a while we can get her to bark on command but that is about it. So we were very fortunate in that department.

We were nervous when we moved into this new house, because the entire neighborhood is full of really barky dogs and we didn't want her to pick up the habit. But we have been here about 4 months now and she still doesn't bark, so we have our fingers crossed she will stay that way.

We actual put in a bench last night for her under the window, it was hard teaching her she was actually allowed up on it, but I think she likes it so far.

 

[MoxieB]

Moxie seems to be obsessed with shoes. She doesn't chew them, she will take them and bring them to the carpet in the living room and drop them. Maybe suck on the laces. At first we thought she was taking the shoe of whichever one of us she was mad at.. sometimes one of each... Almost everyday now when I come home from work, there will be at least one shoe on the carpet. Maybe just a comfort to her?

During the day we leave the blinds open for her. She has "her chair" against the bay window at the front of the house and she will lean on the back staring out the window at whatever is going on..her little bum wiggling as fast as she can get it to go! I have never heard her bark at people walking by. She doesn't really bark at all. Only when shes bored and were ignoring her attempts at getting us to play. We've tried to teach her to "speak" with no success. When she does bark, we say "speak!", but she doesn't catch on. I would really like if we could teach her to bark once, when someone knocks on the door. Just so her presence is known. Any tips?

 

[TinksDream]

Tinkerbell has been good out of the crate since about a yr old. Jaxon on the other hand is good as long as I keep something in front of the pantry door. On Thanksgiving he opened it up and he and Tinkerbell ate an entire bag of duck jerky, and another time they helped themselves to bully sticks.... Luckily they have only taken their treats, but now I keep the door blocked so he can't open it.
I'd say just be careful about her being used to the blinds always being opened. Once when Tinkerbell was a puppy I left her out of the crate as a trial and came home to her having eaten a hole in the blinds so she could look out. When we were home I would usually pull them up so she could see out and then left her that day with the blinds closed and she couldn't see decided to take care of that problem....