Destructive behavior

[Mypluto]

Woody, my 5 month old English cocker has taken to some destructive behavior when we go out. Its not that he is left alone a lot. We go out to Mike's doctors appointments, the store and when I run errands. I like to take Mike with me to get him out of the house for a few minutes. Its not like we are gone for hours and hours. Mike has been home for the last 3 weeks because of his heart problems and I only work 2 days a week.

Woody has been pulling the table cloth off the kitchen table and destroying the place mats. This takes place when we go out, and it has only started about a month ago. When we got home from a doctor's appointment today, he had the table cloth on the floor and tore up one of the place mats. My sugar bowl was also on the floor. Thank goodness it fell on the place mat and did not break. I have Splenda packets in it and I was worried that he ate some. Luckily he didn't so now I have to remember to take the sugar bowl off the table before I go out. I have no idea why he is doing this or how to stop it. He has plenty of toys, he goes out whenever he barks at the sliders and plays with Pluto and Blizzard so he is not bored. We also pay a lot of attention to him and play with him both inside and outside the house.

What causes this type of behavior and how do I stop it? I have taken to buying my place mats and tablecloths at the Dollar Store! I now take the table cloth and place mats off when we go out, but I don't want to keep doing this. I would like to leave my house in one piece and find it that way when we get back.

Any suggestions????? HELP!!!

 

[Mike]

Little stinker.. He's been a busy little man while you're out. Sounds to me like it could be a case of separation anxiety. Not an easy thing to cure, but there are things you can try, such as ignoring him before you leave. No goodbyes or petting him. Just leave. Clomicalm from your vet might help, or rescue remedy or melatonin.
My Kyle had it when he was a youngster. He tore up carpets, and even dug THROUGH the door. Came home to 2 heads (his and Laceys), peeking thru a 10" hole in the door, and a pile of woodchips on the floor. Was fun.

 

[manuel]

I agree with Mike. I was going to say crate him. It wouldn't solve his anxiety problem although it would keep him from running amok. However, one source claims he could hurt himself trying to escape. Gabby has learned that when he sees me put on my scrubs I'm leaving for work. He's overly subdued about it almost as if he's ignoring me. It didn't start out that way. Gabby used to run for the door and follow me to the car. He just learned over time to cope with me leaving. He'll still panic if I forget something and come back inside the house or if I'm looking for my wallet before I go. I think that breaks my routine and makes him anxious. It could be that your change in routine because of your husband's illness has made Woody anxious.

http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/sep-anxiety.pdf

That handout above recommends a desensitization technique for separation anxiety--you know, doing stuff like your leaving but don't. Give it a read and see if it helps.

Mike, they wanted a pet door! :naughty:

 

[Cocker Dad]

My Kyle had it when he was a youngster. He tore up carpets, and even dug THROUGH the door. Came home to 2 heads (his and Laceys), peeking thru a 10" hole in the door, and a pile of woodchips on the floor. Was fun.

That reminds me of when we first got Butters. We did not know how would do being left alone. We left him alone and went out for an hour. Bruces aunt lived in the apt. next to us and we called her to see what she was hearing. Butters was barking, whining and scratching at the door. When we came home, he had scratched the paint off a large area and their was paint chips all over the carpet. He also had eaten some and thrown up. Our solution was to take him with us whenever we go somewhere. I know that is not an option for everyone, but it worked/works for us.

 

[Polly]

Carol
My friend Jacie had to deal with it with her last cocker, Jake.. she had a trainer in.. basically she was told to start out with a nice treat when she left.. she used kongs.. when he got to the point where he would finish it in a second flat, then the trainer told her to hide them around the house..
in time she didn't need to do it anymore.. like Mike's, her dog would tear up the living room door and carpet..

 

[sab3mmom]

Mozie's destructive as all get out! I brought him home late on a Sunday evening and did not have time to get to know him but walked out to go to the grocery store down the street. Wasn't gone 15 minutes and he had pulled down two mini-blinds and disembowelled a throw pillow. Took the next day off from work and got him a crate. I have never crated before and don't care for it much but I can come home and not find my couch in three different rooms AND I can keep the dog from being homeless again.

From a safety point of view I think what sold me on crates is an article in the paper not long ago. A house on fire and they lost their dogs because the dogs ran from the firemen and hid under the bed. Tragic loss. Not only the house and personal belongings but your best friends too. I use calming air fresheners and leave the radio on for them but they are full of separation anxiety...maybe because they are all rescues and have been dumped before. Two if my guys with hip problems have actually improved with crating. Resting those old hips along with some Glucosamine have brought them back to one being able to walk again (he couldn't when I first took him on) and the other used to have an odd way of running - crossing his back legs. He no longer does that. That one - Monte - is scared to death of thunderstorms so his crate gives him a sense of security when I'm not here during a t-storm.

 

[sandcastle97]

I have always 100% believed in the safety of a crate. Our first dog Sam, was a lab. Sam was never able to be left out of the crate his entire life. He once shredded a bible until our bedroom looked like it had snowed. Another time we attempted to give him the run of the same room he ate a hole in our bedspread. So when we got Renie it was natural for us to trust the crate. However, Renie, to this day (he's 15 months now) he will poo in his crate every time he is left alone. If we gated him in the kitchen no problems. I tried making the crate smaller and following the advice on line. When he was little and teething we had some problems. He wanted to chew on the chairs. I bought bitter apple and sprayed them down prior to leaving. He got the message quickly that our stuff tasted nasty. Now we're able to give him the run of our large kitchen when we are gone and he never has an accident or chews a thing. However you decide to go, just know the puppy stage will pass even if it doesn't feel like it at the time. Oh and one more thing we did was get a kong. We would only give it to him when we went out and we'd fill it with special treats he had to really work to get out. This kept him busy with something safe.