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Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:20 pm Post subject: Chewing while gone

I have now had my girl, Carmella for about 7 months now and she couldn't be any better behaved. But when we leave her home she chews everything in sight up! Why is she doing this? Is she just bored? Mad? What is the problem? Please help!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:19 am Post subject:

Probably either bored or nervous--chewing is a stress reliever for dogs.

Crate her!!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:52 am Post subject:

we tried that the barked non stop until we came home

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:34 am Post subject:

If you take her for a 30 minute walk before you leave she will be tired...a tired dog is a good dog!

If you can't and you must crate her, you can't just throw her in a crate and leave her. Read this link: http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html

I crate 3 of my 4 dogs because one is injured (and won't be crated when well) and 1 is a foster and 1 is a chewer and counter surfer. I came home one day and found a chewed up bottle of prescription medication. It could have been a disaster (son left it out) but thankfully he just chewed up the bottle and didn't appear to have eaten the medication. My friend's dog died of liver failure after a similar incident.

My dogs go in their crate sometimes when they just don't want to be bothered. One RUNS to his crate and jumps up and down because he knows a treat is on the way! It is for their own good!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:12 pm Post subject:

Here's a link to another article on crate training--

http://www.mysmartpuppy.com/articles/Crating101.htm

It really is for her own safety. If she chews electrical cords or bottles of cleaning supplies, the results could be very bad.

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:17 pm Post subject:

Yea, I always always make sure all medications are put up and its not really cords just things she could carry around even though we have already made everything in our house wireless. I have been trying all the crate training techniques for about 2 months now and its still not getting better. We are getting ready to get another dog from our friends so maybe they will keep each other company.

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:32 am Post subject: Chewing when gone

I agree with other posts. Crating is a Godsend! Once trained, the crate is a "save haven" for the dogs. If the dog is barking while in the crate, have you tried putting a cover (I use a small baby blanket) over the entrance to the crate? I have done that with my jack russell, and it seems to calm him down. (I only put it over the entrance, so as not to cut down on airflow).
We almost always crate our two dogs if we are leaving them home alone, but occassionally, if we will only be gone for a short time, we just leave them run but close all of the interior doors. Cuts down on what they can get to if they decide to be naughty! We had tried putting up a baby gate to keep them in the kitchen, but they are jack russells and they jumped right over! Too funny!
Good luck!

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:25 am Post subject:

I know crate training can be very frustrating, and some dogs really cannot be crated, but I think that those dogs are actually pretty uncommon.

My dog, Orrin, would tear apart my entire house if we didn't crate him. Then, when we were first crate training he would soil his crate, spread it everywhere, and then escape the crate (injuring himself in the process) and tear apart the house anyway.

The key is persistence. Orrin's third crate is the enclosed type (he hasn't been able to destroy it yet). To habituate him to his crate we fed him each meal and made him get his dog treats inside the crate. Also, his toys lived in the crate so if he wanted to play he had to fetch them from inside. He's a big dog with a big crate, so I even spent some time cuddling with him in there.

It took some time, maybe three months, until he seemed comfortable in his crate but it was well worth the effort. It turns out I was completely wrong when I said he was an uncratable dog!

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:26 pm Post subject:

Are you sure it is barking the entire time you are gone? I know I can hear my dogs barking when I leave and then when I get home they are still barking. Well, I parked my car around the corner and walked home. I didn't hear any barking at all. It was so nice and quiet. I know they can hear my car and when they hear my car they start barking. You might try that experiment and see if the barking really continues the entire time.

You can also fill a kong and put it in the crate with her. There are many recipes at the kong website. My dogs RAN to their crate last night because I bought some bison bones at the feed store. They can only gnaw on them in the crate because I have a bone aggressive dog. They even stayed in after I opened the door and let them out.

I have had fosters who I got as adults that NEVER liked the crate. One destroyed several crates, but would have destroyed my house if I had left him out. Another one had to be left in my room because she was dog aggressive and hated crates. She didn't have any problems in my room because she was past the chewing stage. It can be frustrating, but keep trying!

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:59 pm Post subject:

Yes, our neighbors which are my room mates parents let us know the barking had to end. But I will keep trying with the crate.

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:57 pm Post subject:

Try practicing while you are home. 3-5 Minutes crated, then come back and praise them IF they are quiet. Be patient....i know this takes forever. Make sure they get lots of exercise and try leaving them with rawhides/bones/toys you know that they can't break. Good luck!

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:33 pm Post subject:

I agree with walking the dog before going out. If you cannot walk the dog can you tire him out in the yard. How about offering good things to chew while you are gone. Bones, kongs, etc. If you cannot crate can you put him in a small area like a laundry or bathroom with some bones or a kong? Leave a tv or radio on?
I have a new dog that I crate when I leave. It is really for his own safety. He can jump on counters and I still don't know all of his quirks. He does not mind going in his crate. But, he is very active with my other dog and by the time I crate him he is ready for a nap.

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject:

Yea I have been leaving the meat filled bones or busy bones & that seems to help a lot. Thanks everyone for giving your advise, it really helps and I have already passed a lot of it along.

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