Serious Problem -- Please Read!

[henrysmom]

G macleod and louise 501 have some great advice there.
Dogs love routines and habits - If you take her for a long walk before you first leave her for 5 mins then she will be tired and less likely to misbehave. Keep that up each time you leave her extending the time period gradually and it will soon become habit that when Mom goes out, she goes to sleep.
I started leaving henry out for short periods from about 4 months, but ALWAYS wore him out before I left him.
I still always walk him before I leave but about 4 weeks ago he fractured his kneecap and has been on little or no excercise since. I worried he would be bored and get a bit naughty while I was out, but he has never touched a thing. I truly beleive it is all a habit - sleep while Mom's gone.
p.s he does all the naughty stuff when we are around to get attention but not while we are out.
Good luck I'm sure she will get it if you keep persevering.

 

[jmj924]

Max is a year and a half and he is now on week two of being out of his crate all day. And really I do not think I could have started him any sooner. He has done great, but I also make sure to either take him for a long walk (about an hour) or to the dog park every day before I leave for work.

 

[Dunkin]

I do not have to crate Jazzy she is fine loose in the house. BUT Maggie still cannot be trusted even for short periods. She goes nuts and tears things to peices. Bojax (who is completly house broke) will pee and poop every where as soon as we are out of sight. So Mag and Bo are crated when we are gone. Jazzy has just in the last year got to where she is allowed to stay out.

 

[Mahoganyboy]

This is all very good advice! I went throught the same thing with Dempsey for a while. I came home one day and found our feathered couch destroyed with feathers everywhere! This is normal for boxer, they are very social and when left alone they get upset and very board. I agree with the baby steps. I also really recomend getting a Kong for him. This is a chew toy that you put treats in. He will work on getting the food out for a long time, it gives him something to chew and it passes the time. People use it for dogs with separational issues. It's natural for dogs to chew so give him alternatives like this and lots of other chew toys. If you ever catch him chewing on something that is not his, imediately stop him and give him his toy. Everything is a chew toy in the dogs eyes until they are tought what is theirs

 

[jksjkc]

I feel your pain

I feel your pain.

Butch, 11mo. old, has separation anxiety also. He is an angel when we are around but the minute we leave in the car, he is mad he couldn't come. He loves the car.

On Easter Sunday, it was beautiful out, so we put him in our fenced in yard with all his toys, water, food, etc. I didn't want to keep him cooped up in a crate for that long.
Well, when we got home we just opened the back door and let him in. My neighbor called and said, "I'm really sorry, we tried to stop him." We didn't know what he was talking about so he said, "Go look outside."
He tore apart my kid's trampoline, there was stuffing all over the yard from his stuffed toys, holes, the deck was full of stuffing and the gardens were trashed. It looked like a tornado had come through. All that and he just had this innocent little look on his face.
We didn't know whether to laugh or get mad.
Imagine if I had left him in the home?

 

[KonaKoffe]

I think it depends on the dog. KOKO could not be trusted until she was 2 yrs old. Cassius was a pill and was finally trustworthy at 3 yrs and Kona was good at 14 months. We started Kona for a few hours the first few times, than 1/2 days and after about two weeks she is good for the entire day. [ IMO, I think since we got her younger in the beginning, we were able to get her out of the crate sooner]

If you try to leave them out of the crate make sure you dog proof the space by putting everything away that could be harmful ( electric cords, plants toys that require supervision) or that is valuable to you (ie remotes, books, pillows, candles etc.). You basically have to strip the space of everything important (except the furniture) until you know how they handle the freedom. Confining them to a small space is good for starting also, like just the foyer or just the living room, closing the bedrooms off. This way you don't have to put as much away.

 

[Kirby Kirb]

Poor You!!

I have gone through this more times then I can count!! When I was in this situation, I found a baby gate to be my life saver. What ever room the crate was in I would put the baby gate up at the door, and confine him to that room. I found that a artical of clothing with my scent, and a radio for noise helped alot. I am sure all the replies will help you out, wishing you the best of luck!!

Cat

 

[lisasentous]

I have always walked Lisa before we go out. She has never really done anything wrong only scatter her food all over the kitchen floor, I give her a really good run everytime and you can see that she is exhausted when we leave.

 

[JefChel]

It took a long time before Jedi stopped chewing stuff. Actually, she still does once in a while. She has pretty much demolished our couches. Its embarrassing. We try to keep everything picked up and put away if she's going to be alone. We shut all the bedroom and bathroom doors too. Preventative measures. Soze is 7, and she's an angel. She does get in the trash sometimes, but I guess that's our fault. :p

 

[elbykitty]

I couldn't even imagine Oscar having that kind of freedom at that age. He is 17 months now and I still use a kennel if he is going to be alone for more that 2 hours. Don't get me wrong he is a good boy 99% of the time but that 1% cost me 2 comforters, stinker figured out a closet door and ate some shoes and the couch has an arm that is chewed up. My biggest fear is not that he will destroy something because that can be replaced, but that he will get hurt or ingest something that is harmful to him and he can't be replaced. I started out with a safe room that was Oscar proofed and let him out for short amounts of time and than just gave him more freedom as long as he was good. I still kennel him if he will be alone for more than 2 hours but we have not had any major destuction problems in months. I realize as long as he is not bored he is good for 2 hour stretches.
Elbykitty
Mom of Oscar and Lilly