Hi all, I have a 5.5 month old girl that has recently started to destroy stuff when left alone. I give her biscuits on a snuffle mat, carrot in a kong, more biscuits in another kong, her usual toys in a toy box and also special toys that she only gets when home alone but I still come home chewed up shoes, pillows or whatever she can get a hold of. Literally anything but her toys. She is only left alone for 3-4 hours 4 days a week when I’m working and she is an angel when someone’s home. She is exercised and has mental training sessions daily. Is this just a puppy destruction phase? Or does this seem more of separation anxiety? Any tips would be appreciated as I’m afraid it’ll be my lounge next
Hi @Renee May I'm afraid you'll need to give us additional info. Ideally, you should film your dog when you depart so that you can observe what she is doing in your absence. Accordingly, set up your camera and depart to say your neigbour's place. Come back after say 30 minutes and replay the film. One has to work out whether the behaviour is a manifestation of boredom or separation anxiety. How does your dog behave when she observes you are about to depart? The treatment will depend on the behavioural issue. I take it that the reason she is not confined to a playpen or run is that she jumps over the fence or you don't have a garden.
Crate training. Crate training. Crate training. It's not optional. All pups should be crate trained. 3 hours a day is a fine amount of time to be using the crate for... https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/
Hi Michael, thanks for your reply. I have a camera on her every time I go out. She spends half an hour or so eating all the food, waits at the front door for a bit then sleeps for a few hours. She’ll then destroy things after her nap, usually within the half hour I’m due to arrive home. Her behaviour is no different upon departing, she is distracted by the food. If there was no food, she would be at the front door barking and whining. Before we brought in all the food toys that distracted her, she was bark for the entire time no one was home and get herself so upset and in a complete state. Correct, she would jump out the play pen. I do have a backyard but I don’t like having my dogs outside when I’m not home, maybe I’m being paranoid but there are a lot of dog napping cases in my area and also snakes etc.
Hi Jo, I agree, crates work wonders for my other dogs. I initially tried to crate train her but she would go absolutely mental and get in a complete state where she wouldn't calm down - I was also getting worried that she would hurt herself. I spoke to a local trainer about this and they said that some dogs just don't like crates. I then moved on to a puppy pen but same issue and then I sectioned off a larger part of the house but same issue again. She now just has the run of the house and has been great the past few months until her recent chewing. Re-trying the crate is on my list, thank you.
Thanks for the reply. And good on you for filming your dog to see what was going on. Good news? On the basis of your description she is suffering from boredom and not separation anxiety. It's only when she runs out of things to chew, and she has had a sleep that she turns to eating your house. I've read your reply to Jo. Crate training would be one way to go. With patience and persistence you can get her to enjoy the crate. But in the interim what can you do? 1. Hire a reliable and good puppy walker to take your dog out in the last hour. Get a walker one-on-one who will teach say to heel rather than a pack pulling the walker along the street. 2. Get a good neighbour to give her a fresh Kong for the last hour before you get home. 3. Hire a trainer to come in and do shaping with your dog half way through the period you are away. The shaping will exhaust her mentally. And it's wonderful for your dog's ability to learn. Initially start with say go to mat/place/bed. Move on to retrieving. 4. Pack the Kongs so that she has to really work at getting the stuff out of it. Ram in pieces that barely fit the opening. It will make it hard for her to get it out. Freeze at least one Kong rock solid. 5. Rotate her toys so she has the surprise of a different and "new" toy each time you leave. 6. Please watch the video for some "home alone" toys.
Hi Michael, Yes I agree. She has also just started losing her baby teeth, so I think this could be another reason why she is chewing more recently. Thank you so much for the advice! I will definitely be trying these. I have seen the Aussie Dog interactive toys before, i think its worth the investment!
Hi @Renee May Do you live in Australia? Or have Aussie Dog products made a splash elsewhere? Great products. If she has been teething, then yes that's part, or all, of the explanation for all the chewing. Time will tell.
I am located in QLD on the Gold Coast. I'm sure I've seen their products in a few pet stores around here, or possibly online. They look very durable so I will be trying a few. Yes, time will tell!
Hi @Renee May I ordered a red-coloured frisbee on-line. The company is in Melbourne. The frisbee arrived very quickly. Unfortunately the pet shops down here in Hobart do not have a large range of high-quality products.
I hear this all the time from people I work with: Crate training was difficult. So we gave up. It is never the answer. Yes, some dogs are harder than others to crate train. That is no reason to give up. No dog is un-crate-able (except for very rare cases of abused dogs who have previously been shut in crates 24/7). When people have problems crate training (of the sort you describe) it is because they have not followed a comprehensive crate training programme, as I linked to in my post above. You cannot move onto the next step, until you have achieved the previous. You cannot shut the dog in the crate and leave the room, unless the dog is ok shut in the crate with you sitting next to it (repeatedly, for many reps). You cannot shut the dog in the crate and leave the HOUSE, unless the dog is ok shut in the crate with you in another room of the house. And so on. When people skip out essential steps and move on before the dog is ready, they create huge problems and conclude the dog is not 'crate-able'. That is almost never the answer. The answer is that you're doing it 'wrong'... I would recommend you return to the beginning of crate training and you follow steps carefully and closely and do not skip ahead this time...
Good luck with crate training @Renee May, sounds like you’ve tried so hard with everything. I know people who have successfully crate trained dogs but not been successful with their next, despite going through the same steps. @Michael A Brooks has made some good suggestions. Also, maybe like you say, the chewing is worse because of teething so it may get better. Good luck!
Thanks Jo, I have already begun crate training again with the link you supplied. I was previously following a similar program and it got to the stage where we could leave the house for approx. an hour before she would freak out. So if she is like this again, I'll work on the duration and bring it up to the 4 hours. I also think that I need to take steps in having some distance between her and I, when I'm home she is at my feet or right next to me the entire time and I assume this would cause her grief when I'm not there. I think we gave up because the trainer told us to try other measures. The neighbours also thought she was dying the way she sounded, so I was desperate to try and make her stop as she would bark/whine/howl non-stop until she was let out; I also didn't want any letters from the council about her excessive barking. Thanks for your advice. I will continue training, hopefully we have more success this time round.
Thanks Plum's mum. I've been definitely trying, my life literally revolves around this dog haha. Yes, I've had some great suggestions and I will try each one. Fingers crossed !
Well that's great and it's a really good prognosis. Because the hardest point in crate training or alone training, comes in the few minutes after you first leave. If you can get to even 10 minutes ok, then chances are you can get to 4 hours ok... Statistically speaking, that is - dogs which get to 10mins, get to 4 hours... There are some tools which might help you as the duration gets longer. Firstly, having a camera on the crate so you can check on her and see when she is starting to get upset, is helpful. Because it's likely she starts to feel upset long before the noise starts. Second, there are some great camera-treat throwing combo things you can get. Check out the Furbo camera: http://amzn.eu/d/8UzvX95 (Not sure if this is available in Oz.) This device alerts you whenever your dog makes noise, then you can check the dog using the camera and - if necessary - get the device to throw a handful of little treats at the dog. I would suggest you don't rely on the noise-alert too much, because you want to get in with throwing the treats BEFORE any noise has started - to prevent negative associations forming. So check in with the camera and throw treats! You can also check out the Pet Tutor: https://smartanimaltraining.com This attaches to the sides of crates and dispenses treats down a chute into the crate directly. Whilst it doesn't have a camera, it does have the ability to dispense treats at any interval you set (so - every 5 mins or 15 mins or 30 mins), and you can always set up a cheap webcam separately of course.
Those food dispensers would work great for her! I will look into them more and the availability in Aus. I have a camera on her each time she is left alone - she would usually start to pant, stiff face/body, etc, so it was just general stressed body signals to begin with. Then she would start barking excessively and jumping around madly trying to get out. Once she got to this point, she wouldn't stop and would continue to do this for however long she was left in there for. Even when I got home and let her out, it was still a good 30mins before she calmed down even outside of the crate. She would just get so worked up. I have gone through some of the steps on that link you gave me and I'm up to feeding her dinner in the crate and she is happy to sit there for 15-20 minutes after while I'm next to the crate or walking around the house where she can still see me, I'm sure she can handle longer but I don't want to push her yet. Just taking baby steps this time so I make sure I get it right! Thanks so much for all your help.
