serious destruction problem... HELP!!

**IRescue452** · 11-26-2005, 11:27 AM

The question I have for you is why are the dogs left alone and unsupervised throughout the day? You know for a fact that the dogs are chewing and ingesting things they shouldn't, so you should be suervising them at all times. Swallowing a chunk of something can lead to serious problems with blockage in the throat or intestines. You're looking at potentially paying a lot of money for surgery or even coming outside to find a dead puppy. I suggest you bring them inside where you can watch them and play with them, and control what they chew, and then put them in a kennel when you can't watch them. They can go back to being porch dogs, if you insist on that, after they've grown out of the chewing and had some training.

**charlidawg** · 11-28-2005, 12:13 PM

Hey guys! Thanks for all the replys. The pups are a mix of everything under the sun, but the vet mostly sees rott, cattle dog, and chow. The male, Knox, is tall and lean with a grayish silver coat and snady brown markings of a rott. Shelby, the female, looks more like a rott, except she is smaller and has a longer snout.
As far as getting out of the yard, that has happened with Knox, but he did not run off. In fact, he sat and waited by the fence opening until he heard my moms voice, then came running up to her. The garage door was broken, and thats how he got out. They dont dig, so I am not worried about they getting under the fence, and as far as going over it, all the surrounding yards are fenced in with other dogs, with the exception of one, and they are both afraid of that neighbor.
To address the outdoor issue. They were born outside, and were never exposed to the indoors at all until I brought them home. I got them from my bf's cousin, whos dog had a litter under his neighbors trailor. 2 weeks before I got the pups, the mom died. No one was taking care of the mom or the pups, even after the mom died, so their only cover was under the trailor. What they have now is far better. They live on the screened in porch, which is really more like an extra room in the house. They are sheltered from all weather, and it stays warmer out their because we cover all the windows with plastic (which we have not done yet becuase we have to replace the screens they tore out, and it has not gotten cold enough). But we did bring them to sleep inside for quite a while, but they got board and go and chew on books. So, we are going to get crates, and train them for winter nights. However, I dont think it is fair to keep them locked up like that all day when the weather is nice. They are gettting better with tearing things up since I got some chew toys. I am in college and my bf works all day, so when I am home, they come inside with me, and on some days thats a lot of time, others they only stay in for an hour or so. But, I have a question. The pups are only about 9 months old, about 40 lbs thus far, and cannot stand being separate. Are their crates big enough to hold both of them? We have no idea how much more they will grow so I am worried that we wont get a crate big enough. Also, is it ok to have them share a crate, or should we try and separate them? When we got them fixed, a nurse called to tell me that they did well and all. She told me that they put them in the same crate, the biggest one they had, yet they would sleep almost on top of eachother. They are still that way. Its too cute!

**Jessika** · 11-28-2005, 02:04 PM

Regardless of whether a dog is an "outdoor" or "indoor" dog or not, you can ALWAYS train them to be housebroken, especially at their young ages they can learn so quickly!

And don't knock that they won't dig... neither of my pups dug so I thought it was safe... then one week I came outside and Charlie had dug up EVERYTHING.. I had to cover all the holes before the landlord came home to see them...

And ever since, every now and then if I don't keep a watchful eye on him while he's outside, he'll wander off and dig more haha

And about the crate -- its always best to buy a crate sized for their projected adult weight, that way you won't have to waste money buying new crates if they outgrow your current one. And I don't recommend putting them in the same crate if its "barely" big enough to hold them. Perhaps get two, and place them side-by-side so they can still see and "talk" to each other?

**dab_20** · 11-28-2005, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by Jessika

Regardless of whether a dog is an "outdoor" or "indoor" dog or not, you can ALWAYS train them to be housebroken, especially at their young ages they can learn so quickly!

And don't knock that they won't dig... neither of my pups dug so I thought it was safe... then one week I came outside and Charlie had dug up EVERYTHING.. I had to cover all the holes before the landlord came home to see them... And ever since, every now and then if I don't keep a watchful eye on him while he's outside, he'll wander off and dig more haha

And about the crate -- its always best to buy a crate sized for their projected adult weight, that way you won't have to waste money buying new crates if they outgrow your current one. And I don't recommend putting them in the same crate if its "barely" big enough to hold them. Perhaps get two, and place them side-by-side so they can still see and "talk" to each other?

I agree

**Ree'sKujo** · 12-03-2005, 12:53 AM

My Akita is 1yr.old and he's never been a chewer but when he doesn't get enough attention he'll take the laundry out of the basket and drop at your feet,He won't chew,he'll just put it in front of you or if we go out and stay gone to long he take a cusion off the couch.Once he gets his attention not to mention his disipline for what he did he's fine.Sounds like they may need more attention and as was said in the previous post,more interaction.Make sue that they know their behavior is not acceptable.

**Jessika** · 12-03-2005, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by Ree'sKujo

My Akita is 1yr.old and he's never been a chewer but when he doesn't get enough attention he'll take the laundry out of the basket and drop at your feet,He won't chew,he'll just put it in front of you or if we go out and stay gone to long he take a cusion off the couch.Once he gets his attention not to mention his disipline for what he did he's fine.Sounds like they may need more attention and as was said in the previous post,more interaction.Make sue that they know their behavior is not acceptable.

Ah see you can't give in to behavior like that though, you're giving him EXACTLY what he wants! Do NOT reward undesireable behavior and think "well if I give him attention, he'll stop". Even disciplining sometimes gives attention, which is what he wants. Dogs CRAVE attention - good or bad!! The next time he does that, IGNORE HIM, do not say anything, take the laundry or couch cushion or whatever object he dragged out and replace it, all WITHOUT MAKING EYE CONTACT. And most importantly DO NOT give him attention for it!

This is very much the same concept as being in the grocery store with a kid whining and crying for a candy bar, but no matter how many times you say no he persists on screaming louder until finally you let him have it, if only to shut him up. The ONLY thing this teaches the kid is that whining gets him what he wants.

Once he realizes, "hey, mom/dad doesn't give me attention for this any more..." guess what? He won't do it! :P

**Ree'sKujo** · 12-03-2005, 04:11 PM

Very good point although he hasn't done it in quite a long time.I did you the ignore tactic on him though to break him out of the habit of him jumping on me when I came home from work and he stopped in about a week.he usually picks up pretty quick though.You are very right however that their alot like kids and will take whatever attention they can get.