Destruction!

[Smartie]

Hi folks - I am new on here.  I got a myself golden cocker called Max about 3 months ago - he's 10 months old now.  I work fulltime but take him to my parents for the day.  I have tried to build up time where he is left alone as they can't have him permanently as they are fairly elderley.  At first things seemed to work ok and he didn't cause too much damage.  I will add that initially I used a crate but he got so stressed in it that by the time I got back to him he was hoarse with howling (I couldn't leave water in there for him) and had defacated.  I gave up on using the crate because of the stress it caused him.  I have tried to keep him in the back area of my house by use of a child gate but he can leap frog it.  The thing is, even when at my parents, if they go out for just an hour he will have destroyed things by the time they get back and I feel really bad.  At mine when I've left him he has chewed up magazines, photoframes, ornaments and also wrecked window blinds and a new carpet!  I am at present trying one of those plug-in infuser things - it worked the first time of use but not since.  I am also training him the usual commands but he is an extremely lively dog and doesn't always respond very quickly.  He gets plenty of exercise as I am a runner so he gets to go with me most of the time on my runs.  The damage he is causing is really getting me down so I would appreciate any advise any of you can give!  Thank you

[Buzby]

I am sure you are ding this but does he have plenty of chew toys or a kong to keep Him amused?
Also, is he getting his down time when he is exhausted.
Holly is very Whiny and clingy but I am just managing to leave her for an hour or so when she is so tired I have to carry her to where I want her to sleep.
She will whine the house down when I am in but if I have left it can't last too long asi come back and the house is quiet.  She doesn't chew anything when I go out but spends all her time chewing when I am there.
Don't know if this  helps at all

[Smartie]

Hi Buzby - yes he has chews, chew toys and I've also given him his kong permanently now (I used to just put food in it for him to take his time eating).  Both myself and my parents have introduced new toys as well lately which he loves.  He does get down time but never particularly wants to be away from me.  He will go in the front room if I'm in the back but if he hears me move then he's up!  He follows me everywhere.  I have two cats in the house but they aren't too much company for him as he's too boisterous at the moment for them so they tend to keep out of his way.  It's weird that your dog whines and chews when you are in as mine is the opposite.  Thank you for replying.

[Lily Freya]

He's still a puppy.  He is still exploring......and will get up to all sorts of trouble if he is bored.

I say this because my little girl is hard work and we are with her all day long.  She needs a lot of stimulation.

I hope you find the answer to solving the destruction, it is upsetting I know.

When I go out I make a kind of obstacle course for Gracie.........carrots on a string hanging from a kitchen door handle (single string, so she can't strangle herself), kongs, a ball that you would usually use for a hamster with something that rattles about inside.  She pushes this all around the kitchen, it s so funny to watch, and it doesn't fit into her mouth, so she can't chew it.

Good luck with it all. 

[Smartie]

Thanks Lily - I like the idea of carrots on a string!  Although I would have to think of something different as he doesn't like them.  I once put some in his food bowl with other food and when I looked he had carefully picked out every bit of it and it was arranged around the outside of his dish.  I also like the idea of putting something in a hamster ball.  I can pick one of those up easily enough.  Anything is worth a try.  It's hard dealing with the destruction in my own home but he's my dog - but I feel terrible on my parents being subjected to it.  How old is Gracie?  I just wonder if there's an age where he will begin to settle down at all!

[Buzby]

Hi Buzby - yes he has chews, chew toys and I've also given him his kong permanently now (I used to just put food in it for him to take his time eating).  Both myself and my parents have introduced new toys as well lately which he loves.  He does get down time but never particularly wants to be away from me.  He will go in the front room if I'm in the back but if he hears me move then he's up!  He follows me everywhere.  I have two cats in the house but they aren't too much company for him as he's too boisterous at the moment for them so they tend to keep out of his way.  It's weird that your dog whines and chews when you are in as mine is the opposite.  Thank you for replying.

I meant she whines when I leave the room
She chews all day if I let her!  She also follows me everywhere so I know where you are coming from!

[Lily Freya]

Thanks Lily - I like the idea of carrots on a string!  Although I would have to think of something different as he doesn't like them.  I once put some in his food bowl with other food and when I looked he had carefully picked out every bit of it and it was arranged around the outside of his dish.  I also like the idea of putting something in a hamster ball.  I can pick one of those up easily enough.  Anything is worth a try.  It's hard dealing with the destruction in my own home but he's my dog - but I feel terrible on my parents being subjected to it.  How old is Gracie?  I just wonder if there's an age where he will begin to settle down at all!

She is 8 months.   But have to admit she's been our biggest challenge. Xx

[JohnK]

Thanks Lily - I like the idea of carrots on a string!  Although I would have to think of something different as he doesn't like them.  I once put some in his food bowl with other food and when I looked he had carefully picked out every bit of it and it was arranged around the outside of his dish.  I also like the idea of putting something in a hamster ball.  I can pick one of those up easily enough.  Anything is worth a try.  It's hard dealing with the destruction in my own home but he's my dog - but I feel terrible on my parents being subjected to it.  How old is Gracie?  I just wonder if there's an age where he will begin to settle down at all!

Should calm down by about 15 years!

[Smartie]

Ah right, Max whines a bit if I lock him in the back room (with the child gate that he can get over) and go upstairs but mostly he's ok on that front when I'm in.

So I've got a long time to go before he settles down then - 15 years!  Yikes! 

On a positive note my parents had to leave him for a couple of hours today and used the plug-in thing and all he touched was a notepad by the phone.  He's also been quite well behaved tonight on our run and when I've put food down for him and also eaten myself.  He can be a bit of a nightmare where food is concerned.  He's in good books again now 

[JohnK]

Have you tried leaving the radio on for him. Radio 2 works well with my three

[PennyB]

to be honest the dap diffuser isn't something that you can just use intermittently - its something that takes time to work and needs to be on all the time to work as well (the feliway diffuser for cats is the same)

with separation anxiety it can be a number of things that may work and each pet is different + its not always an age thing either as I've seen adult dogs with it

[Archie bean]

Hi. I feel for you as I have a destroyer too. My mum looks after him when I am out for long periods and he has caused damage there so I know exactly how you feel. The main thing I have learned is that I have to be REALLY disciplined about putting things away. Magazines, photo frames etc are simply not put anywhere my Archie can get them. I know it sounds obvious and is really easy to say but it is the first step in stopping the behaviour. It is harder with carpets etc. although I have found deep heat spray works as a temporary deterrant. I can't leave Archie in the house with freedom to roam. He is shut in the kitchen. Even when I am in he only has access to the kitchen and the room I am in! I just can't trust him not to rip soft furnishings to bits. It's very very hard. When I go out he has a treat ball, lots of toys and radio 2  I can leave him for a maximum of 3 hrs but I have built that up very very gradually. He is one and a half now. I use a pet remedy diffuser which really helps plus I find that his equafleece calms him down although I wouldn't feel safe leaving him alone while he's wearing it just in case he got caught up.
Generally it seems that cockers need much more mental exercise than physical. A training session of 15 - 20 mins will tire Archie out much more than an hours walk so keep going with the training, I'm sure it will pay off.
He is still young and I'm sure he will get there. Good luck.

[Lovely]

You can buy a spray called bitter apple that you spray on things like table legs etc that seems to put off chewing, my vet sells it. I leave the telly on for my dogs too! Also stag bars are great for chewing and very resilient. Also, sounds disgusting but sometimes leaving an article of clothing like a t shirt or socks that you've worn somewhere like in their bed can be reassuring.

[Smartie]

I have left the radio on and also off to trial it.  Doesn't appear to make much difference though.  I could try the clothing thing as that might help.  He may just end up chewing it though as I have lost a few items of clothing with him before now!  I was advised to plug the diffuser in about an hour before I was going to be leaving him so it would be given time to work.  The problem with me not being there all day is it would be a waste leaving it on.  I do take it to my parents as well though for them to use. 

I try my best to move everything out of the way of him but he always seems to find something new to get at!  He's even been up on my dining table to get at stuff.  Little b*****!  I went out last night and had to leave him for a couple of hours.  Needless to say he'd gotten over the child gate and was snug on my settee when I got home.  He had pulled the rug and already damaged carpet up at the door but hadn't caused any further damage and nothing else was touched so that's twice now he's been (fairly) good when left.  He was however, quite naughty on a walk this morning which is when I do some training with him.  It's like he just becomes oblivious of me.  I will persevere though.

Since I have had him I have let him sleep in my room at night because it was easier than have him try to break through the door to get in to me and also howl so much that it wouldn't have been fair on the neighbours.  For the last two nights though I have put his bed out on the landing and shut my door and he has accepted it ok.  He even went back downstairs to sleep for a while.  I’m doing this to try and break his need to be with me all the time.  I guess it will be small steps forward.

[CorinneF]

Hi there, I too have a little naughty girl aged nearly 8 months. She has been through skirting boards, mats, bowls, practically every toy owned by her and older sister Poppy... the worst was when she chewed the heater's cable...  could have killed her but I was too glad she didn't electrocute herself doing that!  I work full time too and on some days my partner works from home and on others the dogs are alone for a few hours. I'm lucky I don't work too far from home so I can pop in at lunchtime and let them out. Poppy has the run of the conservatory but we learnt soon enough to not let Willow run free in there. She is crated when we are not home. The crate is big enough for her to move around in it and we leave her in there with water, toys, chews, kong, ball with treats in... She seems to be fine in there but on 2 occasions when we went out in the evening for meals (latest one was last night!), we came back home to find Houdini out of the crate. The first time she had litteraly shredded the brown rug that we wipe our feet on when we come back from the garden and last night the water bowl was upside down, there was newspaper everywhere and the skirting boards (what was left of them anyway) was sprinkled everywhere. She knew she had done wrong as she didn't want to come near me when I called her!  We are looking at buying CCTV equipment to find out exactly how she does it (we don't believe her big sister is involved in the opening of the crate).
Other than that she is a perfect little darling when we are around (although Poppy probably disagrees!)