A few months ago, many of you were kind enough to offer help when I was extremely frustrated with my dog, Blues. He was pretty much destroying our house.
I just wanted to post an update. We did follow many of your suggestions, and they worked beautifully!
For awhile, we kept Blues in his crate when we went out, and I watched him more closely in the house. We bought him lots of chew toys, and spread them all over the house. Every time, to this day, that I see him chewing the right thing, I praise him.
Over time, we gave him more freedom in the house. We also got a bit less vigilant about putting shoes and remotes out of his reach, but he hasn't disappointed us once. Each time I accidentally left something out, he hasn't touched it. I think he finally understands what is his to chew on and what isn't.
Our vet suggested a program of meds and specific techniques to desensitize dogs with "separation anxiety", but we haven't gone that route yet.
The other night, my husband and I miscommunicated and accidentally left Blues out in the house free while we went to our Bible study group for about 3 hours (with our other dog Jazz, who has always roamed free in the house with no problems.)
He didn't damage a single thing. He was 100% fine. He was still agitated as always when we got home (where did you go?!?), but nothing was destroyed.
We've begun leaving him out in the house for short periods while I'm gone (trip to grocery store, etc.) to get him used to being totally unsupervised. So far, no problems. We always praise him big time when we get home and no damage was done.
Blues is a really sweet dog. We love his gentle nature, and we're glad we stuck with his problems. We think he's going to be great with our new baby (due in August). It wasn't his fault that no one taught him how to be an inside dog until he came to us six months ago.
Thank you all for your help.
Kim
I just wanted to post an update. We did follow many of your suggestions, and they worked beautifully!
For awhile, we kept Blues in his crate when we went out, and I watched him more closely in the house. We bought him lots of chew toys, and spread them all over the house. Every time, to this day, that I see him chewing the right thing, I praise him.
Over time, we gave him more freedom in the house. We also got a bit less vigilant about putting shoes and remotes out of his reach, but he hasn't disappointed us once. Each time I accidentally left something out, he hasn't touched it. I think he finally understands what is his to chew on and what isn't.
Our vet suggested a program of meds and specific techniques to desensitize dogs with "separation anxiety", but we haven't gone that route yet.
The other night, my husband and I miscommunicated and accidentally left Blues out in the house free while we went to our Bible study group for about 3 hours (with our other dog Jazz, who has always roamed free in the house with no problems.)
He didn't damage a single thing. He was 100% fine. He was still agitated as always when we got home (where did you go?!?), but nothing was destroyed.
We've begun leaving him out in the house for short periods while I'm gone (trip to grocery store, etc.) to get him used to being totally unsupervised. So far, no problems. We always praise him big time when we get home and no damage was done.
Blues is a really sweet dog. We love his gentle nature, and we're glad we stuck with his problems. We think he's going to be great with our new baby (due in August). It wasn't his fault that no one taught him how to be an inside dog until he came to us six months ago.
Thank you all for your help.
Kim
He certainly has come a long way from the lil devil I remember from your original post! Keep up the good work! 
