Help!! Roxey won't quit tearing things up!

[anna_66]

Ok, I really need some help, anyone!
It has been raining here sooo much and our pear tree is leaning. So Mark tied it up, guess what? Roxey tore it up.
Next day, he wraps a rag around a clothes hanger & tapes it up, thinking since there is metal she might leave it alone. NOT!!
I came home today & the hanger is still there (surprise ) but the tape & rag are in shreds! This is not the only thing she has been tearing up! We've tried to put EVERYTHING we think she can tear up away, so she knocks down all my flower pots that are hanging around the garden fence. She's also killed (by chewing) our grape plant! It took Mark 3 years to finally get one that would live & lo and behold, Roxey kills it! What are we to do? Mark is getting really angry at her and I can't blame him. The only thing I can think of it to crate her (which she's always hated, only staying in it about a month when she was young, due to her howling at all hours of the night) or tie her up. I REALLY hate the thought of doing either, since Angus is free to roam. PLEASE help me!!!!!!!
Oh, I forgot to add, she never tears up anything in the house, she's always been a little angel! And if I ever see her trying to tear something up, I immediately holler "No" and when she comes to me I treat her.

[aly]

Hmm.. what about leaving her confined to a room in the house?

Did she have any bad experiences in a crate or does she just not like it?

[Logan]

Anna, I can't remember how old your Roxey is.

But, I will tell you that I finally had to decide that anything worth growing could be grown in the "front yard", not in Honey and Lilly's playground. They were babies and I was expecting way too much from them. I still have to be cautious about it, even now that they are 3 years old. Luckily, I at least am home more, so I can watch the yard, and give my stern "away from that" when I see one of them sneaking up to chew on something.

I am still not free of my digging, tugging Golden Retrievers, but it is better. You really need to catch them in the act and correct right there. Otherwise, it is useless. If crating is the only option, you may have to use it for a while, hard as it is. Or try the tie out. I wouldn't hesitate to tie Roxie in a safe area until she gets some of her disruptive tendencies under control, but I would use it as a last resort.

Good luck. Mainly wanted you to know I feel your pain....I still have destruction more often than I ever thought I would with 3 year old dogs! Lilly ate the back off of a brand new Nike tennis shoe last week (Helen left it in the middle of the floor), plus the heels out of two socks. Those were things she was not supposed to touch. The things she was ok to touch, she gutted and left fiber filling and squeakers all over the room!

[anna_66]

I thought about the leaving her in a room, but....she'd have a cow if Angus wasn't there, and I'm sooo afraid she might destroy something, just because! And no, she never had a bad experience, she would just howl, and howl, and howl....see what I mean! She just want to be with either us or Angus. She has NEVER, I mean NEVER been alone. And the 31st of this month she's going to be the big 1!! I really don't want to have to do either tie her up or crate her, it breaks my heart to think about having to do it. I'm not looking forward to Mark coming home, oh man....that little turd girl!

[aly]

While you're home this evening, maybe try Angus and Roxey in a room by themselves for just 30 minutes. Then tomorrow try them in the same room for an hour or more. Just test them out to see if they stay in there and don't tear up anything. You can gradually increase the time until you feel comfortable that you can leave them in the room for the whole work day.

If it comes down to it, I would crate her and not tie her in the yard. I'd be terrified she might choke herself or get into some sort of trouble on a tie down.

[KYS]

You already got good advice, so I will just share.
My Rocky nic-named "BAD BOY ROCKY", until he reached the miracle age of "2" years old.
Never had a dog who's destructive stage lasted so long
and was SO BAD.
He destroyed planters, fence boards, hoses,bushes, plants and 3 trees.
He was never left alone in the house, (so
training him to behave in the house was easy)
but outside was a different story.
He felt the backyard was his playground, and since I had to work I was not able to keep a constant eye on him.
(I did not want to put him in our dog run or crate)

So my advice, I would puppy proof your back yard as
much as possible and not bother to garden or plant any
new items till he grows out of his puppy stage.
And try to watch him, so you can catch him in the act.
Bitter apple did not help in my case, just
plan old training and his maturing.

P.S. he had plenty of excersize, his outside toys and Sheba to play with, so he could not have been bored. I just figure
it was his immature puppy stage.

[anna_66]

Aly, they can be in seperate rooms by themselves, and that is fine. Also sometimes when Mark goes to work (6am) he leaves the bedroom door open and she sleeps in the LR by herself, till she needs me to get up. In the house with us sleeping or whatever is fine. I've just never left them (well, Angus has been left alone in the house, him & Keisha would stay in the house when I was working if it was really bad outside) alone when I've been gone. Should I try it for maby 15-30 minutes at a time or something like that? I also talked to our trainer at school and she gave me the advice of soaking a rag (the one for the tree) in caine pepper and tobasco sauce, let it dry and put it around the tree. So that way she won't chew it. Also someone else said they had very destructive GSD's and he filled a water bottle with hot sauce and water & sprayed it on the things they wanted to chew. Also she (trainer) said for the digging make them their own spot with sand, in the shade and teach her to dig there. Does that really help? She digs just wherever, a hole here, a hole there, it's not to keep cool or anything, because where she digs is in the sun! Sorry this is so long, and thanks for the help! I'm hoping she will get better with age! Oh, I also got her a kong and put pb in it and froze it. Maby that along with the bikerides in the am might help, sure hope so! Anna

[sammi]

Boy can I relate to this problem! Buddy has only chewed up 2 things in the house in the past 2+ years we have had him. But outside everything is free game! He has chewed up most of the bushes, all the wood latice on one side of the deck plus all the corners have a chew in them, plastic lawn chairs, my deck storage box, ALL the rugs I put down, corner of his dog house, the bird bath, all the benches of the wooden picnic table, pulled the trim pieces off the bottom of the house and chewed them, tore down every planter I have put outside, his kiddie pool and dug many holes. I finally got a paint bruch out and "painted " everything that I could with hot sauce (the first kind I bought he liked so I needed to get a hotter kind) this really helped. I also bought a small bottle of clove oil and mixed with water and sprayed on things I didn't want hot sauce on. He has left all these items alone since. It might seem harsh to some but I can't watch him 7/24 and I was more afraid that he would swallow something & choke or have a blockage. But I will never have a nice yard as long as I have Buddy - I so I have given up on the yard thing. LOL

[Cincy'sMom]

I can also sympathize!!! Sadie is good about leaving things alone, but Cincy is a destroyer!!! She has chewed a hole into the side of Sadie's bed, torn apart two towels we have had as cushioing in her crate, chewed the insulation off the air conditioning pipe outside, eats rope bones...you name, she'll chew it apart. we have been trying to get her out of the crate, so she has more room during the day.
Friday night, she did great. saturday morning I left her in the kitchen for less then 2 hours with sadie and she chewed a good size hole in their blanket and and started unstuffing it.

I have had moderate successs with bitter apple spray, but I hate to use it on toys...I don't want to discourage her from chewing on her stuffed animals, i just don't want her to eat them!

[anna_66]

Ha! So nice to hear I'm not the only one with a destroyer (not that I'm glad you do!)! Well, of course, here in Ohio, it has been raining pretty much non stop so we haven't gotten the rag on the tree yet. Sammi, I have one question, what kind of hot sauce worked? I know she don't like habaneros, but I was wondering what you used, has to be something really hot like you said. 2nd question, where did you get the clove oil? Anna

[anna_66]

Just thought I'd let you know we tried the hot sause and she would steal the rag, not shred it! But Mark caught her trying to do it and called "Roxey, leave it!" and she did! So far (knock on wood!) she's left it alone!

[sammi]

Sorry I just read this post For clove oil I usually buy it at a drugstore. It comes in a very tiny bottle - ?less than half ounce. Sometimes it used to numb your tooth/gum if you have a bad tootache till you get to the dentist. Its very strong so neds to be mixed with water. I would think that any or most of your pure extracts would do the job also ( found with the spices - like lemon or mint ect.)
Not sure what hot sauce ended up using but it was hot.!!!!

[anna_66]

Thanks Sammi!