Hi Everyone, I am after some advice, we have always tried to leave Ozzie for a couple of hours a day increasing this as he got older, since we have got him, and up until now he has great, but last week, he had a got hold of a washing up sponge which was in the sink, so pretty impressive he got it, and ripped it up and then yesterday, I had a full day of meetings, so left home at 8.30am and wasn't home until 5.45pm, but my OH was home until he left for a business trip at 1.15pm, so he was only left for 4 hours 30mins and when I got home, he had destroyed a washing up sponge, a roll of labels, and the washing up brush! Is this boredom? Worry? Upset? or Just puppy mischievous behaviour? If anyone has any boredom busters toys, that they can suggest, that would help too? We have Kongs for him, but we are on a strict diet at the moment which is just his kibble and a little cooked chicken which we use as a training treat, we used to wet his kibble in a kong and then freeze for him, but if its too hard to do, he just leaves it, and if its too easy it doesn't last him 5 mins. I hope this makes some sense, and any advice would be great, as we need to leave him next week for a few hours & we will be needing to leave him for longer periods in the future. Katie
Re: Boredom/Lonely advice Yes, he is bored. How old is he? Can you enlist family or neighbours to come and take him out for a walk so he is only alone for a stretch of 2 hours or so?
Re: Boredom/Lonely advice I would reckon a combination of boredom and "stretching the boundaries". Although I leave Lilly alone for good long stretches she has never really been a chewer so this has never really bothered me - she is pretty content and laid back (until there is wildlife) If I had good doggy dare care I would probably use it though. Is there anything affordable in your area? If not I would enlist the friends and family.
Re: Boredom/Lonely advice He's 7 and a bit months. We do leave him with his toys, and a chew but they don't seem to have moved well the chew has, but he hasn't chewed much of it. We can't really enlisted family, they all work full time and at least 30 mins away, we are the only ones working from home.
Re: Boredom/Lonely advice Unfortunately, thats what dogs do when they are young, home alone, and bored. I would try to tire him out before you leave, give him alot of exercise first. Also, its probably not the best idea to let a 7 month old dog have free access to the house. If you just leave him in the kitchen, then first you'd have to clear off the table and entire countertop. MY old dog used to counter-surf big time and I always had to make sure there was nothing within his reach.
Re: Boredom/Lonely advice Is he crate trained, Katie? It might be better leaving him in a crate or pen, rather than free in the house/kitchen where he can find things to chew and destroy. Or else use baby gates and keep him in a really safe room. But if you are going to have to leave him alone for more than three or four hours at any time, then I would really advise trying to find someone who will pop in and play with him and take him out for a little while. When I am at work and my OH isn't at home, I swap off dog walking with a friend - I walk both dogs at 07:00, and she comes in at 3pm to take Poppy out with her dog. I also have my cleaning lady come in at 12 to let Pops into the garden.
Re: Boredom/Lonely advice He is pen off in the house, so only has access to the kitchen and a small portion of our dining room/lounge area, which is where we leave him, he has never done anything like this before really, we will just have to make sure everything is out of reach, I think we may of got a little lapse as he has been so good before! I think we may need to look into different options, because I have a contract where I have to work in an office 9-5 one day a week and my OH is going to be working away from mid December, so I need to figure something out.
Re: Boredom/Lonely advice Might be worth looking at doggy day care for the one day a week you work - I have a dog walker twice a week and she also has Harley in day care on the odd day that I need to work all day. This tires Harley out, gives her good socialisation with other dogs, and gives me peace of mind that she is being occupied. Took me a while to find a walker that I felt comfortable with and who was like minded in respect of dog training.
Re: Boredom/Lonely advice Milo has a puppy pen which works well for us. He normally has a frozen kong when he is left for any length of time. This seems to occupy him. He always has a walk shortly before being left so he's ready for a nap. I find cardboard boxes the best toy as they use up a lot of energy destroying them. I'm sure it is just puppy mischief. Given the chance Milo would spend his time shredding beds and running around with shoes
Re: Boredom/Lonely advice 4 hours 30 minutes as a one off (which is what I understand you to be saying from your original post) isn't a massively long time to leave a 7.5 month old dog. Charlie would have easily coped with that at 7 months. Sure, he mght have been a bit bored and and looked for some entertainment - the suggestions of a long walk before you leave him, and plenty of exercise and training generally, kongs (you can build the difficulty up), and crate or pen to reduce opportunity for mischief. Agree day care for when you work 9-5 one day a week would be ideal.
Re: Boredom/Lonely advice Unfortunately you have reached the teenage years and chances are that the next few months will test your patience and tolerance levels! I would suggest that he has too much freedom and in order to keep him safe and your stuff in one piece I would recommend using a crate when you go out. Now he has done it once he may continue to look for something to destroy or you may be lucky and this is a one off, but I doubt it! Labradors have been known to destroy skirting boards, door frames, eat plaster boards, chew table legs and go through cables, so just clearing off the work top may not be enough!! Chloe
