Bad Dog

My 6 month old Sheltie has chewed up the wood molding on 2 of my walls. He does this when I am away at work. I have no choice but to leave him home alone for 8 hrs 5Xs a week. He has plenty of chew toys and bones. I bought some bitter apple spray the first time he did this but it doesnt seem to work.. How can I correct his behavior if I cant catch him in the act?

Crate training seemed to teach my puppy pretty well. After about a month being locked up, she stopped chewing anything and everything. Try putting your puppy in a cage large enough for him for a little while. Of course with food and water. Good luck! :)

I have used a crate for housebreaking and it worked well. I just hate crating him for 8-9 hrs at 1 time.

i crate my 2 month old sheltie whenever we go out, but we never leave him home long. my mom stays at home, that's why. i guess you could try what we do to mickey when we catch him chewing. once we see him, we say "no" very firmly. if he doesn't stop, we'll tap him on the nose. that is supposed to hurt them. we've also heard that rolling up a newspaper and hitting on the floor (not your dog) and saying "no" firmly will scare them and kinda give them the idea it's a bad thing to do. give it a shot if you want. mickey seems to be getting the idea. oh, and once he stops chewing, give him a chew toy and praise him. a lot :D good luck.

What size of crate do you have? You could get the biggest size of wire crate they make (for great danes, etc.) so the dog would not feel so enclosed when you are gone. If you have a backyard, you could leave the dog in a large dog run while you are away. That is what I do with my husky, he is inside when i am home. Of course I've heard shelties can be barkers, so you will not be able to do this if the dog barks constantly..don't want to upset the neighbors!

Our solution to this problem was to install a pet door to our backyard. We then got a large crate and removed the door so that we could put the crate door opening against the pet door. This way Chester could go inside the crate or out into the yard, giving him plenty of room to roam and run. This relieved his boredom and stopped the bad behavior stemming from that boredom. It also allowed him access to food and water since we were gone 8+ hours. Hope this helps!

Micki, I actually did what u described before I read your reply. I dont think he was happy but I'm sure he'll get used to it and it sure beats a mad Dad when I get home. Thanks for all the responses.

zman99, I know it is tough to crate your pooch for 8 straight hours however, it is whats best for the dog. When my wife and I got our first dog 8 years ago we didn't crate him either. My wife would come home for lunch and let him do his business but for the most part he was on his own to roam the house.

He did approximately $7000 damage to our 2 year old house in about a years time. He ripped carpeting, dug through dry wall and pretty much ate a love seat over time.

Here is the clincher: one day while extracting yard waste my wife noticed a "AA" battery in one "set" of waste. You see my dog had chewed one of my tv remotes and passed the battery. Real soon after that my dog got crated during the day. We actually have a 4'X6' outdoor kennel in our house. Both of our dogs love the pen.

So not only will crating your pooch cut down on damage to your house it could also prevent a terrible accident. That is the main reason to crate your pooch while unattended.

Good luck!

Here is my opinion... I am an advocate of crate training. That being said, please understand there is a proper way to do it. Crate training is not a substitute fix to stop a dog from being destructive because he is bored or full of energy. As a responsible dog owner it is the owners responsibility to properly exercise the dog before being crated.

Depending on the breed of dog, you need to determine a good exercise to help your dog to expend energy before crating. The idea of the crate while you are at work is hopefully the dog will rest comfortably in it while you are gone. Crating a dog who has not been exercised properly is torture for the dog (my opinion). I hear from too many people who crate the dog but don't exercise them first and it really is a pet peeve with me.

I personally get up half an hour earlier than I need to so I can play frisbee with my dogs before going to work. I can't even take them for a walk because it doesn't expend enough energy for them. Playing frisbee forces them to run, run, run for a sufficient time period for them. I also take them out when I get home to let them run, run, run again chasing their frisbees. They love to play frisbee!

I am not saying you don't exercise your dog so please don't take this offensively. I am just saying too many people crate train incorrectly and it needs to be addressed. If you do exercise them first then I applaud you!!

zman99, don't get confused. Get a large pen for your dog. Damage will stop and you won't have to worry about your dog getting into something that can harm them.

I crate Chewy from 7 in the morning till 4 at night, we bought him a larger crate just tonight and he loves it! Chewy doens't mind being in his crate at all cause tis his home, kinda like you don't mind being in your home, although one thing you have to watch out for is they are super hyper when you coem home cuase they were locked up all day, althoug, Chewy is a hyper dog.

Ash

Ive been leaving my dog outside the past 3 days. He has access to a fully fenced yard and covered screen pation. I put his crate by the doggy door so thats as far as he gets inside. He has really taken to this. Right before I leave for work he goes outside and gets his treat. When Im home he gets nearly full run of the house and I still find him in his open crate chewing a toy or sleeping. So for now the destruction has ended. I appreciate all the replies.

Glad everything worked out for you and your pooch!

Glad to hear that it worked out

Our lab is a rescue and we crated her when we got her.

I hated it so I took her out of it and she cried till I let her back in she was so used to the cage.

However bit by bit she got used to it and now the crate is no longer needed.

I really like your solution with the outdoors.

I can not do it because the neighbours dog is this yippy little thing that never quiets down. However if I fenced off a run for her it might work (In the spring anyway summers are way too hot to leave her out)

Thanks for the idea