Why is he acting up- ate the lazy boy

[JetsMom]

Jet is a 22 month old rescue boxer. He has been really well behaved and house broken until this week. He has started peeing in the house, kidney beaning when I'm trying to walk him and today he ate a new lazy boy chair. We do not crate him, he has severe anxiety attacks if he's put in a crate. He has always behaved when left alone until today. We never leave him over an hour or two by himself, but today he was home alone less than 10 minetes and totally destroyed our lazyboy. Help - hubby is ready to send him back to rescue group

 

[OlgaV]

I'm sorry, but as I read your posting I was LMAO only because all this has happened to me and more. They don't do it on purpose, they get anxiety and go nuts. Okay, first thing is to crate him when alone, second thing, I bought Ultra Calm Biscuits and would give them to Buster before crating him, third thing is I installed a Comfort Zone plug in which give off dog appeasing phermones and he is much calmer. He is 1 year-old now and at least while I'm gone, he can't destroy my house or furniture and yes, I have to carry him in and I have been at it for about 3 months now. I found the crate was safer for him and my sanity.

Please write back and tell us how it's going. Please stay calm I know first hand how husbands can get in these situations.

 

[Net45582]

Can you use a baby gate and restrict Jet to one area while you are gone?

 

[cap032]

Syxx has made a hole in a corner of my comforter. Every once in a while I quess he get ticked and decides to pull out a bunch of stuffing. If thats the only thing he's ever gonna mess with then I feel lucky.

 

[ladyluck_t]

I would strongly recommend calling the rescue group you adopted him from and ask them for help. Assuming they are a respectable rescue, they will have the tools and experience to help you solve this problem. In addition, as a rescue person myself, I am much more likely to go out of my way to help out an adopter than anyone else, basically because I dont have room to bring the dog back. It is in a rescue's best interest for you to keep the dog and they should be willing to help you out, especially if you just adopted him.

 

[JetsMom]

We have had Jet for 3 months now - I will call the rescue group to see if they have any suggestions. What are Calming Bisuits - can you get them at a pet store or from the vet? I also don't think a crate will work - he destroyed 2 of them. A Baby gate won't hold him, but I havr any extra bedroom - maybe I can take out thr furniture and make it his room when we have to leave him.

 

[OlgaV]

Ultra Calm Biscuits are for anxiety amongst other behavioral issues and they are pretty cheap. I get them from www.drsfostersmith.com I don't think you can get them at a pet store, but then again, I have never tried that because that is where I found them. The plug in works great as well and I got it there too. That item is a bit more expensive, but well worth it.

As for the crate, my dog hurt himself on the wire kind so I bough a Veri Kennel the airplane type in extra large which is what is recommended for boxers and he managed to not hurt himself but got out of there too, so my husband made some extra holes and put an arrow accross the door of the kennel so that when he pushes on the door, he can't get out and he has learned that he can't get out. Can you believe he even broke the tie wraps off the wire cage. Bad investment on my part. This one works much better.

I guess this is all trial and error until we get it right. Sort of like raising kids, no two are alike.

 

[rog1006]

We have had Jet for 3 months now - I will call the rescue group to see if they have any suggestions. What are Calming Bisuits - can you get them at a pet store or from the vet? I also don't think a crate will work - he destroyed 2 of them. A Baby gate won't hold him, but I havr any extra bedroom - maybe I can take out thr furniture and make it his room when we have to leave him.

That's a great idea. Give him his own space. Do a little work on the room though, first. Remove everything that he can damage and put hard plastic on the back of the door so he doesn't scratch and make your hubby even more upset. I don't know one boxer owner who hasn't had at least one piece of furniture ruined. To tell you the truth, I almost always ask people who are going to adopt "what if he/she eats your sofa? will you return the dog?" and if they think it's a big issue, we really get into whether or not they are really wanting to go through all this. It's just fairly normal that in getting an animal, there will be many many ups and a few downs. Hang in there...he's worth it!

 

[JetsMom]

I ordered the Ultimate Calming Bisuits and Comfort Zone Plug in today for Jet. We talked to our vet and he also suggested that we try a crate again, the heavy duty airline type so we will shop for that this week end. We are also going to start sending him to daycare 3 times a week instead of just one. Thank you for your help and suggestions. I'll keep you posted on how he's doing. Any suggestions on how to get him over his crate anxiety?

 

[OlgaV]

You are doing all the right things. As far as the crate, it just takes time for them to get used to it and the Vari Kennel is the best one for boxers. I also leave a radio on and it seems to help.

Good luck and keep us posted.