Me & Ron Dog both frustrated

Any ideas!!!

Ronnie used to be in his crate night & 4 hrs through the day when I was at work.  Things have changed - (as life does) and he his now left 7hrs through the day.  I didnt want him in his crate this long so thought I would try him out of his crate!!!

Night times - got it sussed, he goes for his wee then he has the run of the house sleeping downstairs on the couch without any problems, no chewing no mischief and he has never wee'd or poo'd indoors.

Through the day I decided to give him the a large spare room with the safety gate on.  Leaving the radio on and giving him with 2 kongs, rope toys, his balls food & water.  

So far we have had wallpaper off the walls, then he destroyed half the carpet so we have had to remove the carpet and today we came home to this...



I know its the spare room and everything in it was spare so to speak.... but I cant ever trust him free in the house through the day if he is like this in one room.

Im not sure if this is boredom or anxiety but I cant not work and really dont want to leave him in a crate for 7hrs.

He gets half hour walk off lead at 7.30am and I leave him at 9am.  His next walk his 7.30pm for half hour.  (This is Monday - Friday).  At weekends we are with him from when we finish work Friday 4pm until Monday morning he gets long walks and company all weekend.  I work in a school so he gets me at home every few weeks.

He is 10mth now and understand he is still young but dont know how I can make his day any better and my day has been heartbreaking knowing he is not coping so good.....

Is this going to get better?? anything else I can do Ive not thought of.  Im not able to afford doggy day care and we have no family or anyone close to help with a walk through the day.

At 10 months he can have longer walks, that may help. Could you get a dog walker during the day?

It could well be frustration and boredom. A walker would help or have you looked in to day care ?

Daycare is £20-25 a day round here which even once a week is money I cant afford at the moment.

Both me & my other half have a disability and we cant manage longer than the half hour walks when its a work day as we have to manage work as well. At weekends its different we can do the longer slower walk but dont have to manage work so can come home and relax and spend time with Ronnie.

Im trying to do the best I can with him but feel like Im the only person who works and has to leave the dog most of the day.

What do you put in his kongs? A lot of people freeze them so they last longer x

I've had to leave mine 12 hours or more for work. They like human atention and can become frustrated if left alone which leads to destructive behaviour. It's best to leave them alone in small increments of time and gradually build up to the longer periods. I gather that this isn't possible for you.

The best thing would be the longer walks before being left alone so his energy level will be lower and he will rest. It means a little bit less sleep for you but it is really the best option.

He has a variety. Frozen squashed banana & carrot. Cottage cheese. I freeze dog gravy & kibble. Cubes of cheese & a small chopped cocktail sausage with his dry biscuits. Peanut butter.

Its not a time thing why I cant walk him any longer in a morning as I get up at 6am so Im with him a few hours before work its my physical capability. Half hour is a long as my dodgy back and limp can take before its home for painkillers a small rest then out to work.

Im off in April for a couple of weeks so going to try and leave him in 10min slots round the house and reward him if he has been good. I wont crack it in the two week Im off but it will be a start.

Re-homing him isnt even on the radar - we will get through this, might be hard but we will get there.

I can't think of anything else at the minute but will post back if I do, maybe others will have more suggestions xx

I wish they made a Dr Who tardis for dogs so I can fast forward the akward bits of puppy stage.

Why not put him in his cage if he's comfortable? If you think about it you're 'caging' him in your spare room, a room he doesn't really know. You also said he's fine sleeping on your couch overnight ,have you tried leaving him there during the day?
Pete.

Im worried leaving him through the day incase he destroys the couch/front room or something that he shouldnt like plugs.

His cage used to be in the front room left with the tv on but it just feels really cruel leaving him locked up for 7hrs in a small space with no access to walk round or get a drink. He does have an extra large crate so can stand up, turn round and stretch in it.

But am I being just has bad leaving him in a room he doesnt know!!!!

Perhaps I should try the crate - oh its hard I just want him to be as happy as he can be

I feel he may be better with the run of the House. However, the first time is going to be a massive gamble. Difficult issue. If a family member/friend could pop in during the day would be better.

Good luck.

He's young and inquisitive and just wants to have fun. It is always hard to leave them home alone. I would try leaving him to have the run of the house for short periods and build up from there.

It's not a quick solution but as you say, re-homing is not on the radar and you quiet clearly care. The crating option might work as long as he has stimulus.

I hope you have some ideas to go along with. Let us know how you get on.

hi ali and ronnie my new friends. hes obviously bored and lonely and it is a long wait for such a young staffy. maybe you can find somebody (young, unemployed etc) in your area that will take him for a short walk even for 15-30 min?
over here itll be a tenner for an hour if its not through a company so you can get it for cheaper anywhere else
try and put an ad in a near-by news agent. and also in the weekends you can leave him for shorter periods and build his confidence that you are coming back. good luck

Try using the crate as his overnight bed. If he can handle that he'll manage the day shift in there  . I would also forget about the radio, it may be keeping him awake.
Pete.

Don't feel bad because 'life' gets in the way, in reality it does! We leave Koda (5 mths) alone from bout 8am-6pm most days (not by choice!), mostly he's fine, the odd thing has been chewed but minimal.i spray important things with 'stop chew' (bitter spray to deter chewing) or vinegar or Vicks. He's left with a frozen Kong most days (yoghurt & sealed with peanut butter) & toys. I learnt quick variety is the key so rotate the toys. I also tell him I'm leaving in the morn several times close to when I do so he knows & doesn't fret. He has similar walks to what you do due to time restrictions (I travel 3hrs a day for work). Hope this helps! Remember you're not a bad owner, & not alone

Ive hardly slept worrying how Im gonna handle today.

Pete made me think about the cage again and maybe he just isnt happy in a room he doesnt know. So our plan is this.

Back to basics just for today - crate back in the front room with tv and fire (like we used to do). Ive just managed a longer walk this morning and done 50mins but cant do that every work day.

He used to do 7hrs overnight in the crate and 4hrs through the day so being out of it at night and just in for today isnt so bad.

Tomorrow I have to nip out for half hour so going to give him run of the house and go somewhere again later on in the day for the same amount of time if first time goes ok.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and support we will keep you updated on Ron Dog's antics   

Can you film him? This way you can see if the behaviour is as soon as you leave, which may suggest a separation problem, or throughout the day which would suggest boredom.

When you walk him in the morning, what kind of exercise is it? (Off lead/on lead/play etc?)

Hiya Rachel - He his off lead on morning walks playing ball/sticks and running says hello to other dogs.

Have filmed him before where I can watch him on my i-phone through the laptop but kept getting caught at work with my phone out   

Will try filming him tomorrow when he is having his first run of the house

Okay, and he tends to cope with this well? My previous foster dog became over stimulated very easily and would become destructive and hectic after walks, so we had to stick to lots of calm exercise. I think your best bet would be filming it, because you'll have to take very different steps for separation anxiety as opposed to boredom and general destructive behaviour. What's his diet?

If you think about it, you have already taught him what he can and can't chew/destroy! So he may be fine on the couch. If you allowed him things to chew in his cage, in his new big cage he may think everything in there is for him!
I hope your new plans work and you find the best solution.
Pete.

hi ronnie and ali. how did it go today?

have you got any good nieghbours who can pop in and take him a walk ?

Ron was sound asleep when I got home.

He is a fantastic dog in every other way I cant fault him. He is good in car, good with the cat, good off the lead and good with his commands so Im putting it down to boredom. The cat sleeps in the front room with him when he's in his cage.

Tomorrow is another day - leaving him for half hour in the morning so lets see how that goes.

Either way Im not putting him back in the spare room. We tried - it didnt work.

Class. You'll have this cracked before you know it.
Pete.

Feeling slightly over the moon here - Ron Dog been on his own for an hour this morning.

Left him with his kongs in cage with door open came home to nothing touched and he was asleep on the couch with the cat.

Gonna build up slowly over next week. Not running before we can walk but we are celebrating every little victory with a sausage.

Pleased for you Ali. Another thing you can try is, if you know you're going out for a few hours later, get him out early but don't let him sleep when you get home. You'll be almost guaranteed for him to be pleased to see the back of you so he can have a kip! I think most dogs sleep 13-15 hours a day. You just need to decide when these hours are.
Pete.

Best of Luck with it all, Ledger isn't destructive and has upgraded from having just the living room and kitchen when I go out to access to the bedrooms too (I just keep him away from the front room to minimize disruption from postman etc) however he has destuffed the odd duvet....he likes to nest and on occasion has popped open the duvet cover revealing a big pad of white stuffing just like he finds in his charity shop toys I know he doesn't do it on purpose as such But the same again when he nested his bed in the boot of the car and it peeled back the thin layer of carpet looks just like the stuff that's in your mattress pic

We are doing a happy dance today.

Ronnie has just managed 3hrs on his own with no destruction or disaster   

Wel done ronnie u are a gud boy

Wooo!! Sounds like it was just being in an unusual place then My last foster would always mess if you put him in a room he wasn't used to.. only ever did it once or twice when work men were here but think he just panicked.

Aww very well done Ron dog

So proud of my Ron Dog today he did 7hrs home alone and not locked in the spare room or crated and he has done nothing wrong.

We left him with kongs, hid biscuits round the house (which were still there) and left tv on and looks like he did brilliant.

It is only first day but we are still so proud of him. Im looking for new toys for him just to give him some variety through the day.