Destroying our house

[bubbles2006]

Hi
Please can someone advise me on how to stop my 6 month old rotti destroying our house
I have to go out to work and leave my 6 month old rotti and 2 year staffy at home for no longer than 4 hours a day
Unfortunately in that time our little rotti bubbles is scratching at walls and digging our carpet up and chewing on the wooden door frame.
We leave her plenty of treats toys for her to play with but she will not stop destroying our house and obviously is working our rather expensive to repair
Please can someone give me advise on how to combat this as we seemed to have tried everything with no joy, She did stop this for a while but not its started and is currently getting worse, I not sure if this is correct but she maybe coming into season and will this be part of the reason for this
All information & advice is truely grateful.
Thanks

[jakesfostermom]

Why isn't she safely crated when you can't be home to supervise her? That would prevent unwanted behaviors due to boredom........in my opinion she's far too young to be left by herself with free access in the house.......

[steph_21]

That is exactly what my 13 month old Rottweiler does, he does exactly what you are saying, he also has lots of bones and toys to play with plus my other dog, i have tried putting all sorts of sauces and mustard over the frames, but he just licks it off. When i noticed that he was chewing my frames, my wall i would show him what he had done, shout at him then put him out the garden for a couple of hours. He is getting a bit better, to be honest i think it is boredom with them, i also work, and i think that when your not there they miss you and just be destructive.

[MissMary]

Put her in a crate when you are at work. Her and your home will be much safer if the dog is crated and coming home will be less stressful for you.

[spidey]

If you do not crate the dog, not only will this continue, but every single time you allow it to happen, the dog is being TRAINED to keep doing it. I know crating isn't as common in the UK, but it really is what you must be doing to stop this. You need to physically prevent the dog from doing this (not just to keep your house safe, but also to keep your dog safe). If you are not there to supervise, the dog needs to be crated.

[GypsysMom]

When Im not home, I always crate my dogs, even when I have to take a shower, just so she doesnt get into anything, I would have no one else to blame besides myself if items were destroyed do to my negilance of leaving my dogs unitended... Crating is the #1 answer

[newbrunswick]

First of all - make sure you introduce a crate to her training. While you are not home, she needs to be in this so that she cannot destroy your home. She doesn't understand that she is not allowed to chew other stuff...also, is she getting enough excercise? Usually bored dogs do this type of thing. I'm not talking about a short 20 minute walk at a human pace - I'm meaning at least 40 minutes burning energy 3 times a day. Usually if my dog is tuckered out, she doesn't destroy stuff. When I've skipped on her excercise, she is bound to get into stuff - she's bored and wants to do something... Good luck

[MissMary]

Originally Posted by steph_21

That is exactly what my 13 month old Rottweiler does, he does exactly what you are saying, he also has lots of bones and toys to play with plus my other dog, i have tried putting all sorts of sauces and mustard over the frames, but he just licks it off. When i noticed that he was chewing my frames, my wall i would show him what he had done, shout at him then put him out the garden for a couple of hours. He is getting a bit better, to be honest i think it is boredom with them, i also work, and i think that when your not there they miss you and just be destructive.

Showing your dog what he did, shouting at him and putting him out hours after he chewed will not teach him to stop chewing, it will teach him not to trust you. Dogs chew and destory because they are board.

[debbiej]

Like Vicki said, pups that age and even older really should be crated when you aren't home. I have two adult dogs who are crated. Neither are destructive, but I don't want them to start playing roughly when I'm not home.

Also puppies need lots of structure and training. when the pup is out of his crate, he should be learning something and getting exercise. have him with you somehow. he can be practicing his down stays, or playing fetch while you garden. You can work play and training into almost any situation.

Crates are quite natural to a pup. In the wild, mom would make the pup stay in the den.

maybe the sauces and mustards just make the frames more tasty!
(boy I type slow...many more posts)

[livertw]

My dog was in her crate until she was a year old. She gained her freedom when she demonstrated good behavior for increased lengths of time.

[Tywaknya'sBABY]

Since your only gone 4 hours it would be nothing to crate her so she could get a nice nap. Thats what she'll be doing anyway. Not only will your house be kept intact but your pup will be safe as well.

bubbles is a cute name...just wanted to say that

The advice given to me time and time again here was (and still is) "she's just a pup" she doesn't know any better and the training begins with you.

[steph_21]

Originally Posted by MissMary

Showing your dog what he did, shouting at him and putting him out hours after he chewed will not teach him to stop chewing, it will teach him not to trust you. Dogs chew and destory because they are board.

I find it does help with Max, on some occasions, i know it does all come down to boredom but he trusts me whatever happens he never leaves my side and follows me everywhere, so i don't have to worry about him not trusting me.

[Tywaknya'sBABY]

Think of it this way. A dog has a very short memory of a manner of seconds. If you come in hours later or even 15 minutes later and start yelling about something he's not going to make the connection. you may think he does because he cowers or runs away but thats just because mom/dad is yelling and he has however learned what follows (not good stuff) not WHY your doing it.

Try this. Go into another room and crumble up a piece of paper and throw it on the floor. If you call your dog in, point at it, and yell like you've done before he'll cowar just the same.

[AngelBunny]

I would never leave a puppy that young uncrated in my house, even if I was just running out to get the mail. Puppy would either be crated or would be coming along with me (leashed, of course) for the walk--assuming there wasn't another adult watching the tyke.

I know crates aren't popular in your country, but I encourage you to get a crate and start crate training your puppy. Your puppy is getting herself into the habit of chewing and once established, habits are hard to break.

Also, is your puppy enrolled in obedience classes? Your puppy is bored. And, how much physical exercise is your puppy getting? Mental and physical exercise are essential. A tired puppy is much more interested in snoozing than in wrecking your woodwork and shredding your carpets. Please be aware that she's on track to chew and ingest something that could make her ill or even kill her.

And, while you're at it, also taking your 2 yo to class is a good idea.

[dogsbydoug]

We are (hopefully) adding a 5 month old rott'n girl to the house in the next week or so...

Since my schedule varies and the wife works 7 hours a day, a very good friend of ours (our obedience instructor) will be doing 'private' puppy daycare for us until the pup is at least 7-8 months old. She has several young golden retirevers that'll tire her out, and she is also a very accomplished obedience competitor - she knows what our goals are for this pupper and has done wonders helping us with our other dogs...so she's going to do some very basic foundation training while the pup is there.

I would strongly recommend crating the pup when you're not home, and enrolling both the pup and the 2 year old in formal classes.

A TIRED dog is the best dog to have - tired mentally and physically - make your dogs THINK!