If I leave my dog alone, even for just half an hour, she basically destroys the house. She chews up anything she can get; and we can’t just put things out of her reach - she has even chewed up the mahogany woodwork around the doors and windows, and destroyed the window blinds. So we got a cage for her, and put her in it every time we go out. She is in the cage all day during week days. She does go for very long walks every day.
Now she tries to get out of the cage, and her muzzle was starting to get sores on it. Yesterday her nose was badly cut, and there was blood all over. Basically the skin on her nose was completely ripped off.
Does anyone have any advice about what we can do? I hate to leave her in the cage for so long, and now she is actually getting hurt. We don’t have enough money to send her to a doggie day care.
This is probably the reason she chews on everything.
Dogs are social animals and don’t do well when frequently left alone for long periods of time. They chew out of boredom and frustration. Dogs left alone all day also seem to be the ones who bark the most.
Doggie day care or a doggie playmate might help. Any friends or neighbors who can help during the day? Lots and lots of chew toys.
where do you live? Dogs don’t really need a lot of space but they need stimulus. Maybe leave the TV on (not too loud) so she’s not too freaked out by outside noises. If possible, make one room pretty empty or doggy safe, and rather put her in there, than in a cage. Make sure there are many things with your smells around her…they chew out of boredom or if they are nervous of being left alone.
I have 6 dogs and I’m now throwing out the 4th sofa this year. One of my dogs also chews through wires and another one licks the paint off the walls.
I have a job where I can go home during lunch. Have had many good offers from other schools, but I don’t want to leave the clan alone for too long…Try walking her in the mornings…that should keep her happy for a couple of hours.
According to literature:
- Dogs rip things -especially things with your smell- to be surrounded by your presence. They make smaller bits to cover all areas and feel safe.
- Doggies have no way of knowing the door is locked and no bad things will come in. Hence the panic to get out.
- Dogs should stay in cage depending on their age: 2 months = 2 hours, 4 months = 4 hours, etc.
- you ar the world to the dog. They naturally crave human contact, but mostly they need you.
- Luckily, they sleep most of the day. Better try to space the walks so doggie is busy and tired all day. Twice a day walks and hopefully a midday walk -there may be a student in the hood willing and able, also try kijiji.com- should help. Aromatheraphy has worked for my cats, too, try it with doggie.
Best of luck. Maybe someone from teh boards live sin your area and can give a hand sitting.
The room idea from Battery9 is very good, you should also give her toys… one question would be, how is her behavior when you are in the house? i understand that doggy day care would be expensive and i dont think the neighbors would help much… so the room for her wouldnt be bad… make sure the room has ventilation… what kind of dog is she? you mentioned that she gets long walks, how many minutes/hours a day she spends outside and what kind of activities will she do outside? can you “scooter-walk” her? not with a leash… i know many people here are against that, but i do it with my dog and he loves it… for that make sure you bring her to a very safe area with almost no traffic at all… and let her go without leash and you should drive in front of her… let her run behind you so that she releases the energy that she has inside… the first few days she may bleed a little from her paws but that is until she develops thicker skin… dont abuse, if you see that she is really tired stop and bring her home… you will notice how she sleeps all day after that !! i used to scooter walk my golden 2 times a day about 10 min each time… and that was just perfect for him… i dont get to do it so often now because i moved away from that lovely area, but every time i can i would bring him over there just to let him run !!!
Do you give her good things to chew on? Most dogs will prefer a meaty bone over furniture.
Try not feeding her commercial dog food and only large raw bones (pig or cow bones) with meat on them. If she is hungry enough, she should attack the bone ferociously for hours, instead of destroying your house. There are also little balls in which you can stuff peanut butter or other food items in to keep her occupied.
But the main thing is to keep her hungry enough that these treats are interesting. In my experience, feeding raw food will also reduce the restlessness/anxiety level of the dog.
You can also buy bitter spray from the pet store and spray it on everything.
Regarding the bloody face, maybe you can use a plastic dog crate instead of a steel cage? What size is your dog?
Also you could try fostering or adopting another dog to keep your dog company. You might be worried about twice the destruction, but it’s likely there will be much less destruction when the dogs focus their attention on playing with each other and are not so bored and anxious.
This is probably the reason she chews on everything. [/quote]
He got the cage BECAUSE she chews on everything and he doesn’t know what to do to stop her.
If you will read the rest of my post. you will see that my point concerned leaving the dog alone all day.
/shrug
The OP says his dog rips things apart when left alone for just 30 minutes. I’ve never seen a dog do that.
How about putting a muzzle on him? You know the kind they can drink with but not bite/chew? How about dog proofing a bathroom and letting him in there when you are not home with some water and a doggie bed? Bathrooms are usually tiled in Taiwan so there shouldn’t be much for him to scratch or chew.
I once had a Cocker Spaniel pup that ate absolutely anything unless he was muzzled and tied down. We adopted him out after a year. Never could work out what was wrong with that dog.
Some dogs, like some people, are just nuts.
Your dog has separation anxiety. When you get this in check, the destruction will subside. You can start attacking this problem when you come and go. Practice coming and going, for short periods, when you have free time, like at night. Do not look at her, touch her or talk to her before leaving or when coming home for at least 5 minutes or until she has calmed down. It really does work. Are you engaging her right away when you come home? She must be beyond excited when you come home right now yeah? The natural thing to do is to give her some love I know, but that just perpetuates the problem.
Thanks for everyone’s suggestions so far.
The dog (Luna) is mid-sized, very thin, around 7 years old, and has very powerful jaws. She is part Australian cattle dog. We have another dog and a cat; Luna barely tolerates the smaller dog, and will attack the cat, who has the sense to stay out of her way. We got Luna from the pound; she had been a stray for a while, and has had cancer. Every weekday the dogs go for a short walk in the morning before work and a one-and-a-half hour to two-hour walk at night, and much longer walks on the weekend, and neither one ever seems to be tired out by them.
A plastic cage won’t work: her cage now has metal bars, and she has managed to rip some of the bars in half. Thus the injuries to her face.
The real problem is the destruction of the woodwork. We can empty a room, but we can’t get rid of that.
I’m almost tempted to just let her run loose all day. I know it is dangerous, but she often escapes from the yard (which has a seven-foot high fence); on those days she is at the front door waiting for us after work and seems perfectly happy.
It sounds like your dog is the kind that needs A LOT of strenuous exercise. Tiring it out will help drain some of that pent-up energy/frustration, which means more than the average walk through the park. Perhaps a daily trot along side a bike or scooter. The book “Dog Whisperer” talked a lot about these high-energy dogs that were bred for hunting or herding or whatever. They need LOTS of exercise or they get these kinds of behavior problems.
She needs exercise, discipline, and affection in balance. She’s anxious when you’re away because she thinks she’s the one who should be doing the alpha thing and go out, not the other way around. You need to learn how to demonstrate leadership. Never walk a dog on a scooter; it’s extremely dangerous, cruel, and a waste of a daily opportunity to lead your dog by communicating through the leash and with ‘leaderly’ body language. A small room is better than a crate.
I’m in the middle of writing up the method of demonstrating pack leadership, and I’ll post it here for you (or a link). Many people believe they’re the pack leader to their dogs but don’t understand that their dogs may not see it that way.
Never reward anxiety or excitement with this dog. Ignore it or correct it; do not give your dog anything she demands. Only give her things (food/treats/affection/attention) when she is calm and not eyeballing you.
If you want me to come and demonstrate the techniques, I will. I usually charge, but as this is a rescue dog, you could just cover my travel costs. Let me know. Thanks for saving her life and doing what you can for her and not giving in. This problem will disappear. All dogs are good dogs waiting to be let out; you just need to learn how to bring that out.
Seán
Letting it out isn’t going to have much negative impact on Taiwan (given the number of strays) unless the dog itself is dangerous.
If its dangerous, and this can’t be fixed, then it should be killed.
[quote=“Ducked”]Letting it out isn’t going to have much negative impact on Taiwan (given the number of strays) unless the dog itself is dangerous.
If its dangerous, and this can’t be fixed, then it should be killed.[/quote]
Letting her out is likely to have a negative impact on the dog; plus, the fewer stray dogs, the better, for people and animals alike. And killing should be the very last option, if at all. There are plenty more options available, such as finding the dog a home where it can’t harm anybody. Anyway, this dog isn’t dangerous.
I’d be interested in knowing how this turns out and it is impossible to give you advice on certain areas as it is an approach issue and no individual points.
Sean is right in that you need to really take control and the dog has to see you as the leader.
Don’t let the dog feel it is being punished by going in the cage. It has to view the cage as its “home” or safe place. Then there will be no reason to get out. We had a cage for our dog and then decided to change our house and build a little room (very small) for he dog. It took a while to get her used tothe idea that her “new” safe place was the room. She wanted the cage. Patience is a key element to success here.
I think you shoukd take Stray Dog’s advice and get his help on this issue, he could visit you and teach you a couple of things!!! or watch the Dog Whisperer… that helped me a lot !!