Why is he doing this? (longer

[TYS0NSM0MMA]

Hi all, first just want to let you know that Tyson, Sable and I are happily in our new home (now close to 2 months) and are very happy here.
Now on to our issues... Tyson and Sable are both rescues (Tyson from Humane Society in Sept 03, and Sable from Adopt-a-Dog/Save-a-Life on July 1st) We moved into our home July 16th and the babies just loved having the yard to play in and all the space of the house. Tyson has separation anxiety and he is terribly affraid of being locked in a closed area or not having access to the whole house. I initially wanted both dogs to have full run of the house while I am at work 7-330 but both have taken to eating garbage (or just spreading it around) Recyling too, peeing and pooing in the house all over the place.. and not just a little puddle either. We (Hubby and I) come home at the same time and find a puddle on the front landing of the stairs, the doorknobs to all outside doors chewed, window screens clawed, garbage and recycling stuff strewn about, a puddle of pee infront of the front windows, infront of the couch, in the hallway and in the kitchen, a pile of poo in the living room, dining room, kitchen and basement, as well as drool or vomit (clear/slight yellow) on our bed.
We tried to have both dogs kept in the mud room so they are together during the day with the help of a baby gate attached with screws and tension to the wall about 8" off the ground so they wont jump it. Sable stays in there but Tyson lays on his side and "shimmies" under it. So I tried putting a collapsed crate on their side bungie corded to the gate.. he chewed through the cord and the crate fell over and he climbed out. So today I decided to have her stay in the mud room and have him run free in the house, so he can shimmy under to see her or or lay in the kitchen and be close to her and also I can determine who is doing the peeing and pooing. When I got home, he had pulled stuff off the counters (and I dog proof my house daily. I put my garbage can (unless its empty) in the sink where he cant get it, but he will pull clean mugs out of the drying rack in the other sink!! I dont want my house to get wrecked and I want to have a somewhat normal life but my babies are slowly ruining my house. I have an outdoor dog run which is huge with a covered section and a dog house but I leave at 6:45 am and the dogs will bark if i put them in that. I have tried feeding them a small meal when they first wake up and then letting them out just before I leave and watch them do their business and that didnt work.. its like they are holding some back just so I will have to clean it up. I am getting to the point where I am thinking of crating them but I am worried that Tyson will hurt himself in a crate because he cant handle closed in spaces..

I NEED ADVICE!!! BADLY!!
Colly, Tyson and Sable

 

[TYS0NSM0MMA]

Help

any advice would be great please!

 

[gmacleod]

Well, what a problem. Unfortunately, I don't think its going to be solved by continuing to let your dogs have free run of the house (and I'm normally an advocate of that LOL).

How old are your dogs? I note you have to leave them from 7am till 3.30 - which is 8.5 hours. Generally the longest an adult dog should be asked to "hold it" on a regular basis is 8 hours. Yes, technically some can hold on longer, but it's really not good for internal organs such as the kidneys for a dog to be continually holding on to its waste. If yours aren't adults yet then 8 hours may be just too long for them to hold on, or at least to comfortably hold on. Or it may be that they're just not 100% on the housetraining thing, and that combined with separation anxiety is ending in them using your house as a potty. Whatever the explanation for that, you need to get the pooping/peeing in the house thing under control quickly or they'll come to see that as normal.

I really think you do need to look at crating them - preferably in very large crates side by side so that Tyson is stressed as little as possible. Right now they've got more freedom than they can handle, with the result that they really are going to destroy your house (and are obviously stressed into the bargain). If you *really* don't want to use a crate, then I'd suggest a secure alternative such as shutting them in your bathroom or another small room without much furniture and with a proper door. Have you considered fitting a door to your mudroom?

I would also suggest that you look into getting someone (a pet sitter/walker if you don't have a family member or friend that could do it) to come by and take them out for a potty stop part way through the day. If that is successful, you could perhaps graduate them (in time) to being loose in your mud room in the afternoons, and eventually to trying that for the whole day.

Finally, do take a look through previous threads on separation anxiety (use the search feature on these forums). There is always a lot to learn from others' experiences, and this is a problem many members have dealt with in the past. Good luck

 

[Rocco850]

Crate

Definitley put them in a crate. Believe me, I hate putting Rocco in a crate and restricting him from the house when we are not home but we can't afford to fix everything he destroys and gets into. Its more dangerous for your dog to be running around the house getting into whatever, chewing through cords :eek: , and eating something toxic out of the garbage can. Believe me, I know-just look at my gallery and see what our little boy did to the house! :eek:
Do exactly what Gmacleod suggested, put them side by side in a crate. Get a pet sitter also. Rocco is in his crate no more then 4 hours a few times a week and we have a pet sitter come out and let him use the bathroom and stretch his legs. He has Severe S.A. also and freaks out in his crate as well. He is better off in there then roaming a house where he can get into something very harmful to his health.
I was never a big advocate for crating, but after seeing what he's capable of doing when no one is around, I'm all for the crate!

 

[Melgoglia]

Crating is the best if you can get them use to it.. I use to think crating a dog was a terrible thing to do ... but I learned and now I would not have it any other way. Their safe ..your house is safe ..if you have other animals like a cat they are safe..

We crate Abigail every day while we're at work and she is fine.. she has her blankie and toys. I work from 8:00 till 2:30 I always come straight home and let her out ... on rare occassions she will have an accident but most of the time when I walk in she is just waking up from a nap. I take her out as soon as I get home and she does her business. I do not think I could trust her leaving her out I know I couldn't.

When Brandy was with us I would leave her out for short periods and she did fine but she was about five before I started even doing that. Guess I was alway concerned that she might get into something that would hurt her.. candy, trash, the cat, kitty crunchies, the crate is the way to go..

Since you have two.. I would get two crates and put them next to one another..

 

[Rocky Hoya]

hi there
Listen boy did our Rocky have seperation anxiety. Since he was 2 months old if he had to be put in a crate or even a big safety room(we took an entire room of the house and put toys water, food) he would bark soooo bad he was dripping wet by the time we got home. We would only leave him to go out to eat an hour or so. I stay home with him. We went thru months of this and tried everything. I finally came upon a solution on the internet. Step 1: It said to play with your dogs...then say "I will be back" and walk to the front door. Walk right back to them and say "I am back" and play with them some more. Do this at least 20 times in the space of an hour or so. Step 2: Then do the same again but this time grab your car keys or purse do this another 15- 20 times. Step 3: Then play with them...put them in their crate...say "I will be back ....go right outside the door then immediately come in and say "I am back let them out of their crates and play with them some more. If I were you I would put the crates where they can see you come in and out of the front door. Do the last step 15-20 times. In 1 day Rocky went from barking so bad in his crate or room that he was wet from barking to just doing awesome in his crate!!!! We couldnt believe it. I really hope this helps. We spaced the method out in half a day and actually didnt do each step as much as maybe 10 times and it worked like a charm. good luck

 

[Champ's Papa]

Rocky Hoya,
Sounds like a very interesting routine! I have a couple questions:
1.Did Rocky follow you each time you left him to go to get your keys, go to the door etc? (Our Champ follows us everywhere and never lets us out of sight, and this was lead me to believe that his crate poo and house poo when we are not home is due to seperation anxiety.)
2. Do you lenghten the time in intervals that you leave the house for, or did you just do the routine you described and then leave for a long period of time.

It seems to me that Champ (4 months) is very much like Tyson and Rocky. He absolutely hates closed areas. He freaks out in his crate even when we are home; he has never laid down in it with the door closed, makes death defying noises that I never new organisms could make, and his heart beats so fast you can actually see it through his chest, not to mention the poo and pee in the crate that he jumps around it when we are not home. Also, he will scale the tallest of multiple baby gates when sequestered in the kitchen when we are not home. So, now he roams the house when we are not home, and all we have to clean up is poo and pee on newspaper in his favorite places. He does not destroy things, but the poo and pee in the house is not good.

Do you think this routine will work for Champ? I appreciate any other comments/suggestions.

Thanks!!

 

[boxer sox]

why...

I agree with all the posters that you can't give free reign. Your dog can get hurt. Luckily, you have many options, and any combination should work, or at least help.
Try starting by having the crate available to your pup when you are home. They will think of it as their home, and they will start going in on their own choice (esp. if you throw a treat in their once in a while). They have to feel somewhat comfortable with the crate to have any success.
Another option that I ended up using myself is finding a small room, such as a bathroom, that you can keep them in while you are out. If you read this board you will find that boxers and strong and have a lot of resolve. They will jump great heights to get out, they will bend bars, and they will certainly eat through a door frame (my puppy enjoys that...). But you can get gate/doors that are metal and very solid that they cannot get through when properly installed, then you can add a plastic child gate over that to make sure they won't jump over it.
It's my belief that most of their initial damage/drooling/pooping is done soon after people leave. IF they enter in a calmer state, perhaps with a pigs ear to caox them, it will not be as bad. I have limited success with this.
I think that what many people forget b/c they get worn out, is that dogs are creatures of habit, routine, etc. Once they settle into a familiar pattern with limited interruption in their life, I think they slowly get better with the separation anxiety. Then you can slowly add other means of alleviating this such as the leaving the house routine mentioned above, have the open crate for them, etc.
Hope this helped, good luck!

 

[Rlr.Giraffe]

I agree with all of the other posters about crating! Willis used to hate closed spaces too (and still is weirded out by the bathroom??? why?? I dunno). However, with really consistent training over a while he learned that the crate is where he goes when we go out. He doesn't love it, but he accepts it. That's all I need! And I can come home knowing that he is safe, my house is safe and I won't be spending the next three hours cleaning up stuff he's destroyed. I too used to think it was cruel, but really, it has saved us all a lot of misery... it would be more cruel to always be frustrated with Willis.