suggestions for my "devil dog" please

[ctg492]

My wonderful Beagle I love dearly, 1 1/2 or so years old, sweet well behaved when I am home. I leave and she turns into Devil Dog. Cringing as I admit this, she has ruined by chewing :devil:more $$$ then I can count. 3 macbook chargers, phone chargers,shoes beyond count, cords, table legs, chairs, toilet paper rolls are way fun to grab and run, books, the worst yet and waiting on the leather repair company to come out {{our leather sectional}}
I am now trained, Nothing is on the tables, floors, I mean nothing. Gates across the doorways. I thought that would stop it, but that is when she got the sectional. I have more bones, chew toys then you can imagine, she has two other dogs to play with. So this is not boredom and I am only gone two hours a day. I got the cage out the other day and now that is where she must be. Yet I went out yesterday, hubby was home and son too so I did not see why I should put her in cage, she went and chewed the sectional during that time. SO this seems to be a when Mom is gone issue.
Is the cage my only option????

[Jilly]

I am not an expert, but I might be having the same idea as you, in that it is most likely separation anxiety.

There are tons of good information on-line, but one of my favorite resources is Patricia McConnell. She used to be an adjunct professor at UW-Madison/WI, had a weekly program on public radio and has written several books, all of them short, succinct and to the pointy little nose of the universal dog.

Many veterinarian clinics have her books for sale, and they can be ordered from any bookstore or similar resource. The title of which I am thinking is I'll be home soon, or something like that. Let me see if I can find it.

Here it is: http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/store/I-ll-Be-Home-Soon.html

When I was in rescue and shelter work, even our best trainers could not reach every pet owner, but this little book seemed to be the solution for many people.

As for crating, it has been my experience that it is a great way to help train your dog whilst working on the whole behavior thing, and that many dogs seem to prefer having a little place like that to which they can retire when they need some space. So to speak. There is an entire philosophical movement amongst some trainers and owners that are very supportive of using crating for pet dogs.

Even if this has been as aspect of her behaviors for a long time, it can still be remedied. Separation anxiety is actually one of the more easily managed behaviors/habits.

Again, only from my experience.

[try2bfrugal]

Can you try leaving for 5 minutes and then coming back, leaving for ten minutes, and just trying longer and longer times? We have had two dogs like that now, but they both seemed to grow out of the chewing eventually. One we would lock in the kitchen / breakfast nook with closed doors and a metal gate at the opening without a door and just didn't leave anything within his reach except for his own toys. When he was locked in the nook, we would pretend to leave and then spy on him through a crack in the door, and praise him when he was behaving himself and correct him if he was chewing or making a ruckus.

Then eventually we would test him out 5, 10, 15 minutes having free roam of the house, with us outside. We would praise him for being a good boy when we came back and he hadn't chewed anything. We just kept working up in small increments to where we could go out shopping or to a movie and trust him alone in the house for a few hour stretch.

He seemed to connect the dots after awhile that good behavior = free roam of the house and window access, and ripping stuff up meant being locked in the kitchen and not being able to look out the window and watch the world go by. Eventually he started walking upstairs and sitting by his viewing window when he would see us get our coats on. It seemed to be his way of letting us know he really didn't want to be locked in the kitchen and would be good as long as he could keep his roaming and window privileges. Now he is really good when we are gone. When we get our coats or shoes on he always goes to the front door with us to see if he is coming, and if we tell him he is staying home then he understands what that means and goes to his bed and lays down. He still has separation anxiety when we leave even if the kids are home. He won't eat anything when we are gone and usually sits by the window waiting for us to return most of the time. But at least he is not chewing things up any more.

[fidgiegirl]

ctg, I sympathize. While Gus isn't being destructive, he's still having separation anxiety, and it breaks my heart to put him in the kennel - he sometimes trembles. :( Before, he was going in and hanging out in there when we were home, even, but then we switched and he doesn't like this one as well - never goes in when we're home. He is a good boy when we're home and at night. When we go out he works himself all into a drooly lather and if we did leave him out, which we did the first few weeks we had him, he will chew things and pee. So he's had to go in the kennel and has for a few months now.

Jilly and try2bfrugal, thanks for the ideas, hoping something will work for Mr. Gus, too. ctg, let us know what works for your boy.

[lmerullo]

I thought this was another "Hostess is closing" thread. Darn.

As for the dog, I had one of those, too... I don't know what the final trick was that worked, but we tried walks before leaving home (tire them out) as well as a special treat that only comes out when we leave for a long time. The little furball got to loving his kong so much, he hid it and I have not located it in a couple of weeks, since the last time I gave it to him.

[Tussiemussies]

My wonderful Beagle I love dearly, 1 1/2 or so years old, sweet well behaved when I am home. I leave and she turns into Devil Dog. Cringing as I admit this, she has ruined by chewing :devil:more $$$ then I can count. 3 macbook chargers, phone chargers,shoes beyond count, cords, table legs, chairs, toilet paper rolls are way fun to grab and run, books, the worst yet and waiting on the leather repair company to come out {{our leather sectional}}
I am now trained, Nothing is on the tables, floors, I mean nothing. Gates across the doorways. I thought that would stop it, but that is when she got the sectional. I have more bones, chew toys then you can imagine, she has two other dogs to play with. So this is not boredom and I am only gone two hours a day. I got the cage out the other day and now that is where she must be. Yet I went out yesterday, hubby was home and son too so I did not see why I should put her in cage, she went and chewed the sectional during that time. SO this seems to be a when Mom is gone issue.
Is the cage my only option????

Sounds like she may have separation anxiety. My brother's dog had this and also did some damage at one point when the object of his affection either went to leave or just came home, cannot remember. The cage or meds might be your only answer. I wouldn't be quick to put your dog on meds though, I most definitely would get a comfortable cage -- not too confining and put toys and chew bones in there with her.

Good luck with this! Christine

[redfox]

Kenneling a dog is not cruel! It's a gift, especially for an anxious one, and considerably more humane that being angry & frustrated with her all the time. I'd consult your vet, and a really good dog trainer, and habituate her to the kennel properly.

[try2bfrugal]

I thought this was another "Hostess is closing" thread. Darn.

As for the dog, I had one of those, too... I don't know what the final trick was that worked, but we tried walks before leaving home (tire them out) as well as a special treat that only comes out when we leave for a long time. The little furball got to loving his kong so much, he hid it and I have not located it in a couple of weeks, since the last time I gave it to him.

I forgot about the walks. Definitely lots of walks especially a long walk before you leave so then he will be de-stressed and might just sleep while you are out. Our dog would tremble when we put him in the crate so we packed it away. It was just stressing him out and making him worse.

We got the long walk idea from one of Cesar Millan's videos. Those are great. For big dogs he wears roller skates to tire them out. There are some Cesar clips online and we also rented some of the DVDs from Netflix and the library.

[ctg492]

Thanks everyone. Walking... my signature is Dog Walking Land, so that tells you what I do 1 mile, 3 times a day, 3 dogs = 9 miles around the neighborhood. I am actually scared to walk the other dogs while she waits, in that split second devil can appear. The cage, no problem with her in it, she runs in it with her bone. She does not even break for freedom when I come home and open the door, stretches and yawns and rolls over till I rub her belly. But nothing chewed today since I used the cage, so cage be it. I guess I am trained.

[Tussiemussies]

That is great ctg that you won't have any problem using the crate. She may be different about it when you are gone?

Good luck! PS how old is she?

:) Christine

[Tussiemussies]

Ctg, forgot to mention to you that there is a new thing for dogs called "Thundershirt". It is supposted to help alleviate anxiety. It is supposed to be a little tight so I don't know if you want to leave it on for two hours but you could always ask your vet about it...

[pony mom]

Kenneling a dog is not cruel! It's a gift, especially for an anxious one, and considerably more humane that being angry & frustrated with her all the time. I'd consult your vet, and a really good dog trainer, and habituate her to the kennel properly.

It's safer too! No matter how careful you are, you never know what they will eat that can choke them or make them sick. Glad to hear she's accepting the crate. Perhaps she was just anxious being alone in the big house and feels more secure in her cozy home.

[RosieTR]

Glad to hear the crate is working out! Our Aussie was crate-trained as a puppy because I couldn't trust his bathroom skills and didn't want him to get in the habit of mistakes. It also helped with the chewing. We always have made certain to give him long walks and exercise. Beagles are a hunting breed, and thus bred for a decent amount of exercise, so it's good you are making sure to get that in. Our Aussie eventually decided he didn't like the crate that much (it was hot when we were in Phx, I think). He still goes under the bed for his "quiet place", either bedtime or when he's scared, hurt or tired so it's possible the crate will only be necessary for a year or two.

[Simplemind]

We crate trained our very high strung dog. She just turned three and although I think she would be OK for a few hours at a time on her own, she puts herself in when she sees us putting on any type of shoes other than our walking shoes. It is pretty funny, she senses our leaving and just puts herself in. She has never looked at it as a punishment.