Help Please!!

Hello, Just wanting a bit of help please? Every time Enzo is left in the house when we go out he wrecks it came in to day he has chewed the door stencil, the other day he put a huge hole in my sofa, he's not on his own as he has my other dog to keep him company. His last owners tried him in a cage but he tried to escape and ended up cutting him self, We let him have the run of the house but he's just wrecking stuff, I'm considering a kennel outside but don't really want to do this. His age is 3 and half could he be bored when he is left in he has toys just don't know what to do. Thanks for any help x

Does he have a good long walk of say about an hour before he is left ? He could then have a play too when you get back so he is really tired.

You may want to try the crate again but do not use this as a punishment. Just place some of his toys in there and see if he goes in of his own accord.

He goes on walks but not before i go out, i will try these and see if it works thank you for your reply x

It also sounds like seperation anxiety which many rescue dogs suffer from simply because they think there being left again.
I would also pratice by leaving the house for 2 min then coming back in, then increasing the time your out the house for slowly over the next few weeks

Ok thank you. He also suffers sort of panic attack type of things he has medication for fireworks and thunder and lightening. Could they be linked? x

Just out of interest which of the 2 dogs is the most dominate?

Have you tried a thundershirt for the anxiety:

Just do a search for them online to get the best price.

http://www.thundershirt.com/

My jack russel seems to be more dominant one. Well looks that way when we are in the house because if he dose anything wrong she puts him in his place.

Never heard of thundershirts? will have a look on that website thanks x

kathytake2 wrote:Have you tried a thundershirt for the anxiety:

Just do a search for them online to get the best price.

http://www.thundershirt.com/

Exactly what I was about to sugest! You can get them on Amazon or ebay. It sounds like seperation axiety. Do you still have a crate?

The thundershirts look brilliant. It wasn't me who tried him in the crate it was his last owners who said he did damage to him self in it. To be truthful i shouldn't really believe them as they didn't tell me the truth about enzo when we got him facebook comes in handy at times especially when a profile is not hidden. i found out the truth through the persons facebook page after we got him. Seems they wanted rid of him because he wrecked there house. I want to work on him, letting him go hasn't crossed my mind i'd rather help him with his problem at the end of the day it isn't his fault. Thanks for all the reply's x

You could try him with a crate. If you do, just leave it open (with some bedding & tough toys) for him to wander in & out for a few days - maybe put some treats in there. Once he's used to it, just shut the door for a minute or two & gradually increase the time.

Ok will try the crate will also try the thundershirt. Thanks for all your help guys will update with progress x

A good walk before you go will help but it does sound like separation anxiety which can be overcome, just takes time and patience.

Lots of people have found thundershirts helpful with various types of anxiety. Also maybe have a look at DAP diffusers, have heard of many people who've found those to be helpful too. These are aids though, you need to retrain your dog to learn that it's OK to be alone

Here's a good little article - http://www.rspca-westhatch.co.uk/SeparationAnxiety.htm

Galadriel wrote:A good walk before you go will help but it does sound like separation anxiety which can be overcome, just takes time and patience.

Lots of people have found thundershirts helpful with various types of anxiety. Also maybe have a look at DAP diffusers, have heard of many people who've found those to be helpful too. These are aids though, you need to retrain your dog to learn that it's OK to be alone

Here's a good little article - http://www.rspca-westhatch.co.uk/SeparationAnxiety.htm

Brilliant article, sounds just like enzo! will try the things on there Thanks for all your help x

Agree with the above, you should definatly crate train. Zeus hated it at the start but he loves it now. I never punish him using the crate otherwise he'll never go in there. I always give him a treat when he goes into the crate so he associates it with a happy place.

As Caryll said, when I'm around, I'll leave the crate gate open so he can wander in an out. Whenever hes tired, he goes in there by himself and goes to sleep.

I'm noting all this down Thanks again everyone for your help you's have been so kind x

No problem

A great way to get a dog to go in a crate to start off with if he's reluctant to, is to put his dinner/his favourite treat like a bone/stuffed Kong etc. in there then shut the door with him on the outside for a few minutes and before long he'll be pawing at the crate to get inside. Open the door and let him go inside and enjoy whatever it was you put in there but don't shut him in to start with.

Feed all his meals in there and he'll soon build up a positive association with it

Thanks everyone got some great tips here. hopefully enzo will turn into a happy confident dog x

Don't forget to keep posting his progress and plenty of pics......we love pics

yes pics are great he looks like a lovely dog from your profile pic

Agree with all the advice above. Suki used to tear out house up as well. Exercise is very important because a tired dog is a good dog. We started leaving her alone for 10 minutes than 20 and so on. She is now very well behaved for 5-6 hours on her own

Will keep you's posted of course plenty of pictures. He's brilliant apart from being like this i'm sure he will be sorted very soon.Thanks everyone >< xx