At my wits end!!!!!

I really need some advice.

I have a 16 month old english staffy. He is extremely destructive while I am not with him and i believe he has separation anxiety. He has taking to urinating on my bed, pulling washing off the line, and worst of all, he has clawed the paint on my brand new car. I know that neutering him is not likely to calm his behaviour but will it help? He is extremely friendly and affectionate and I have noticed that he is only destructive while I am at work or not at home. He is exercised daily. I've tried just about every toy under the sun, including Kongs, but he just gets bored with them. Does anyone have any suggestions that will help to keep him occupied while I am at work? Or know how to treat separation anxiety? I'm at my wits end with him destroying things!

Get him a nice crate with comfy bedding.

Wouldnt be without my crate. Archie can be a hard work sometimes espically first thing in the morning. The crate is a real godsend for his bed at night and for a restbite.

yup get him a crate fill it with comfy bedding and lots of chewy toys, fill up a kong and freeze it and put that in there with him. First leave the door open and let him come and go as he wants, when he is happy with that shut him in for 5 mins and walk around house as normal then let him out no attention or cuddles afterwards, then 10 mins and build it up. Then put him in for 5 mins and leave the house and build that up. Good luck x oh and he should only be left in there for a maximum of 4 hours at a time

Awww bless him this doesnt make him a bad dog just a insecure one hope you get something sorted the crate is a wonderful idea is there not a family member, neighbour or freind that could help you out.
I say this as I know some people who share the care of a dog for this exact same reason she has come on heaps and bounds and it works for both families

Crates are great for this. We don't ever close Suki in hers anymore but she is only ever left alone for 4 hours or so until one of us can be home with her. She was destructive as a pup as well when we left her alone. We started off leaving her alone for 5 minutes and than gradually built up the time periods. Once she started becoming more confident and independant we haven't had any issues.

I know you said he was exercised but is he getting two 45 minute walks per day? This is the minimum amount of exercise they need IMHO. It might also be helpfull if you exercise him immediately before you go to work.

Yeah create training is a must IMO. Also distraction and reward when leaving works well for us. We always leave them some nice treats when we are about to go out works as a good disraction from the fact your leaving and also gives them posative assosiation with you leaving.

Obviously plenty of toys for them to play with but you already stated you do that, I find a good chew toy and a comfert soft toy works best with ours so they have the soft toy to snuggle up with an go sleep then a chew toy for obvious reasons lol.

This website seems to have a lot of good info about seperation anxiety though and is worth a read.
http://www.doglistener.co.uk/fearful_dogs/separation_anxiety.shtml

am I the only one here that doesn't like the idea of crates?
I don't know a lot about them but I feel like its a bit mean to keep a dog locked up in a little cage for hours
although I realise in some cases it is safer for them to be in a crate, but IMO a sectioned off pen would be a better option, a smaller section of the yard with fencing around it (or in the kitchen or laundry, somewhere your dog cant get into anything to destroy)

just my opinion. I know every one seems to love crates on this site but yeah, I guess when you work from 4 - 6 hours a day its not really an option.

They are not cruel at all honestly! If crate trained properly its not just the owners who love them but the dogs as well! It gives them a safe space, a cosey little den and saves the house lol. I see no problem at all in someone with a full time job using one so long as dog gets an hour walk before work a half hour/45 min walk at lunch time and a long evening walk x

Na I dont see it as mean at all to put your dog in a create, to be honest I see it as the best place for them IMO.

Molly loves hers its her little safe place in the world where she can goto sleep and feel perfectly safe. We also have a smaller create for each dog in the car as we do lots of trips in the car with them both.

Most dogs only goto sleep while their owner is out anyway aslong as they have had plenty of exercise before hand. If we did not give her plenty of exercise then yeah I would agree its very unfair to lock up a dog in a create who is not getting the exercise it needs.

When we did try and let Molly have the kitchen to herself she would just eat stuff constantly and we are lucky she did not choke to death, so would not concider doing it again at all, its better for everyone if she is in her create where she is safe.

Duke is still young at the min so not sure how well he likes his yet but seems fine.

Pups generally dont like them at all to start with lol they just wanna play and be with you but they get used to them and then learn to love them x

blaze wrote:Pups generally dont like them at all to start with lol they just wanna play and be with you but they get used to them and then learn to love them x

Exactly, thats why I said he is to young at the min to know, he is using his and seems to be getting on ok with it really well so far, but time will tell with Duke.

I think if they get used to it from a young age then it makes life easier. Also exellent for helping wit toilet training too as they absolutly hate having to go in crate and will only as a very last resort.

oh yea definatley helps with the toliet training! Ty we got at 6 months from rescue and he had not been out of a crate AT ALL surrounded by his own mess, skinny and no socialisation.....my poor baby! So no suprising when we tryed him in a crate he literally went beserk and broke the crate and sliced his face and feet so Ty has always been confined to our hallway at night and when we go out. K aos was in his from 10 weeks tho and we found it also gave him some much needed nap time away from Ty lol. Kaos was clean over night from 13 or 14 weeks tho thanks to the crate! x

blaze wrote:oh yea definatley helps with the toliet training! Ty we got at 6 months from rescue and he had not been out of a crate AT ALL surrounded by his own mess, skinny and no socialisation.....my poor baby! So no suprising when we tryed him in a crate he literally went beserk and broke the crate and sliced his face and feet so Ty has always been confined to our hallway at night and when we go out. K aos was in his from 10 weeks tho and we found it also gave him some much needed nap time away from Ty lol. Kaos was clean over night from 13 or 14 weeks tho thanks to the crate! x

Arrrrr poor thing.

I wouldn't be with out my crate although we don't shut him init any more he still goes in to sleep as he has lots of comfy bedding in there

Crates are a god send to be honest. my lot loved them and so will any other dogs that is taught right when it comes to using the crate like a crate should never be used as a punishment but more of a quiet,calm,fun place to be were they can get some peace and quiet especially if you have kids or active people around, the dog will just go in the crate for a time out by themselves,you should never allow anyone in the crate, like kids using it asa play house etc it should be your dogs place of rest and nothing else, Blondy and her sister Tango were crate trained when younger and loved it so did my adults and they still do.
Also another fun fact, calm/happy dogs recover quicker that stressed or anxiouse dogs, vet highly recommend crate training so when/if your dog ever has to spend the night in a crate or kennel at the vets after a procedure they recover quicker from not being stressed and it has been tried, tested and aproved.

good points made, guess it's not really cruel/mean if used properly. but still think I'll stick with a safe yard and kennel

As others have said a crate will help him to feel secure, I also leave the TV on, kongs in the crate and things to chew to release anxiety (rawhide, pigs ears etc). Get someone to come in every couple of hours to start with to play with him and give him a cuddle, you can make this less frequent when hes confident you are coming back. Some great advice already, also a DAP diffuser might be useful to calm him down and rescue remedy drops in his water.

Saxon spends his alone time in the crate as well. It is much safer for him. While I was away Tim penned him in the back room. Saxon chewed up the wall, which wouldn't be a problem, but our walls have lead paint in some of the deeper layers. Luckily Saxon didn't get sick, but he will NEVER be left unattended out of his crate again!!

yes I was going to suggest a dap diffuser and rescue remedy drops ( human ones ) in his food or water. always leave a radio on with soothing music ( not heavy metal !! )

also thundershirts can help with sepration anxiety too..might be worth a try.

http://www.thundershirt.com/

Ive never used a crate both of mine havent chewed and have been very quick in the toilet training I was lucky that I could take off 3 months when they was little and then I had a busy house the family coming and going so they were never really left on there own much. Thats not to say I wouldnt use one in future cause I think they are so useful

I think crates are great if used correctly.

Stan use too have one when he was a pup, and by 10 oclock every night he would take himself off and go in it to bed.

Its when they are used incorrectly like a punishment they dont work.

If you get a crate put some blackets or bed sheet over it make it like a den it works very well.

Dont use a crate now and our 2 boys are left at home when we are both at work no problems.

Michelle x

Bruno loves his crate.

We brought his crate off the girl who we brought him off, actually it was the crate he was born in and it has been a godsend since we crate trained him as we have had a few incidents with him like,
1. Laptop charger wire chewed !
2. Mobile Phone Charger Chewed !
3. Claws marks down the kitchen wall !
4. One day i went to get my daughter from school, while i was away Bruno had got a Tin that had had baby milk in it,but at this time it had polyfiller in it, he got the tin took the lid off and shook the bag of polyfiller, ,made holes in it and it went all over the lounge,in his crate as well, that was fun cleaning it up, NOT
5. we came home from shopping and whatever was on the dining table, well that was on the floor including my OH medication he's a diabetic.

This is only a bit of what he's done, so this is why we crated Bruno. Its not cruel, it make it safe for him and stop your house getting wrecked. Plus he goes in there to sleep during the day and to get away from the kids too