Help and advice needed

Good evening all, I am glad we have found you. We are having a really tough time with our 12month old staffie. We rescued her at 6 months from a family that treated her pretty badly. They fed low quality food, never walked her and by the looks of the back yard allowed her to wallow in her own s*@t.
Since we have had her we have focused on diet (carrots are a favourite treat at the moment), walks and generally learning to be a respectful staffie. So far so good she is a lovely little thing but we have a major problem with destruction. This can be anything from her beds to the kitchen, whether we are at home or not. We have started to crate her for all of our sakes (she was crated at her last home and you can tell that she is very at ease with it) but we do not see this as a long term solution.
It seems as though when she is out of her cage her mind runs away with her and she becomes a lunatic.

Some advice would be much appreciated. Thanks
X

Hi ya, welcome to the forum

Well done on the rescue and it sounds like Izzy has fallen on her paws with you. Such a heartbreak seeing them in such terrible conditions.

The crate is quiet obviously her safe haven and nothing wrong in letting the crate being used as such.

Destruction can often be put down to excess energy, how much are you walking her?. The old adage of a tired dog is a good dog certainly runs true with Staffies. Also, what toys does she have to rag that are more interesting than your sofa or skirting board.

One thing to note is her age, she's young and into the teenage times, this will pass and you'll see a calming as you move forward though this doesn't help you right now.

Others, I'm sure will, offer some further good advice too. We have some great people here that have seen behaviour issues so don't give up and I'm sure the Staffy cuddles go some way to making up for a wrecked home  

Good morning amd thanks for you response.

Izzy gets walked or run for about half an hour in the morning. Her dog walker then takes her for half an hour or hour at lunchtime depending on schedule and again at night a further 30-40 minutes.
As with most staffoes she is useless with toys currently we have a kong and she also has an antler and buffalo horn to chew on. Nothing else is safe

Hi from me & Katy, well done on rescuing Izzy As Ian said staffies need lots of exercise & mental stimulation. They are very destructive when it comes to toys & not many can survive she's obviously happy to go in her crate, but lets off steam when out. Try playing games with her like hide the treat, or give her things she can destroy. Katy loves milk cartons or cardboard boxes with treats in to rip to pieces

I agree, I think she needs more stimulation and exercise. Half an hour isn't all that much, especially if she's then left for several hours till the dog walker comes.

The problem is that frustration chewing can then become a habit, which is possibly why you're getting it even when you're there.

I'd suggest upping her exercise as much as you can, even if it means getting up earlier and walking in the dark, and then giving her as much stimulation as possible when you're not there. As Jen says, hiding treats, boxes to shred (and combinining the two by hiding treats in boxes!), loads of things to chew on as well as the antlers. Then, when you are there, play with her with mind toys like treat balls or activity toys. Teach her to use her nose to find things, and maybe look at clicker training to get her thinking.

And patience. I know it's extremely frustrating but it is still early days and you'll get there.

Find the treat is a favourite game of ours especially when the garden isn't awash. We have never tried the carton as I didn't want to encourage the chewing behaviour too much as she never seems truly satisfied. That said she has been a perfect pooch this evening and given some lovely cuddles with no destruction.

I will try longer walks tomorrow and see how we get on. The day already starts at 5am so another half hour earlier doesn't make any difference.

Let's see how the next few days go. Thanks for responses so far any more views out there

It's quiet interesting that you say you didn't want to encourage chewing. In fact what I think you want to do is transfer the unwanted house chewing on to something she is allowed to chew and encourage it.

It's all about rewarding the behaviour that is desired and ignoring the unwanted behaviour if that makes sense

So now for the next question......any suggestions of toys to chew. We have Kongs, bionic bones and the antler and buffalo. Any other ideas for semi robust toys? Also as my brain isn't working can I get suggestions on 'box' ideas without the boxes

Rope toys are a favourite in my house but I think they all have their own preferences.

One thing that has just occurred to me, what food are you feeding her?

She is on a grain free complete diet usually Wainwrights or but currently skinners. I always look for the highest meat content and the least amount of crap. We also put in one squirt of wild salmon oil.

My last staffie was on a raw diet of mainly chicken carcasses, do you think this might help Izzy?

If you are feeding a high quality food the behavior isn't likely associated with the negative behavior. I like raw myself because it cuts down on gas and they seem to poop less

I completely agree. Out of interest what do you feed and it what quantities? I used to give 2 carcasses in the evening and complete in the morning. Plus veggies etc...

-Ian- wrote:It's quiet interesting that you say you didn't want to encourage chewing. In fact what I think you want to do is transfer the unwanted house chewing on to something she is allowed to chew and encourage it.

It's all about rewarding the behaviour that is desired and ignoring the unwanted behaviour if that makes sense

I'd agree with this. For me there is a difference between gnawing chewing, so your bones, antlers, that sort of thing, and your rip it to shreds chewing, and I know mine enjoy both. Definitely a fan of big rope toys, and we also have some very random things like an old oven glove, some cheap plastic toys that get bits ripped off from time to time, and thick cardboard tubes (free from the picture framer) with treats hidden inside. The only real essential is to think through what sort of small bits you'll end up with and whether they could do any damage if swallowed. Avoid stuffed toys if unsupervised or anything that might contain sharp or hard bits that are small enough to swallow - bear in mind dogs can swallow some amazingly big things. Sticks are a no-no for example, bits get stuck in throats. I think that's why I like cardboard boxes, not only do they love ripping them to shreds, I also know that if they do swallow a bit it'll turn to mush and not do any harm.

Of course, it does mean you have to set aside time for scraping up bits of shredded cardboard etc, it's a daily job with 2 young chewers, but it does mean they rarely take anything they shouldn't because they're happy with what they've got.

Re food, it's not only cereals that can impact behaviour, it's any other stuff that's thrown in. When ingredients are animal or vegetable 'derivative', it could be anything. Skinner's is not great quality - you'd be better switching to a higher quality dry food or, as you say, go back to raw. I've fed raw for years for various reasons and wouldn't go back to processed food now. I would say, though, that you need to vary your meat source a bit to get a wider range of nutrients. Try introducing a little offal (gradually, it's very rich), and fish is very good for them too, as of course are lamb and beef.

So often, problems are a combination of things. Sometimes there is one major factor but you might find you need to play with different things to work out what suits.