I have an 8 month old giant schnauzer, about 80lbs. He's an awesome dog in all respects except one major issue: he goes bonkers about 2 times a week while we're at work. Just absolutely destroys something. We've tried everything, I run him for a half hour or so before I leave, and I run him at the dog park for an hour every night (weather permitting.) Crating him is not really an option, as he is a guard dog and needs to be able to roam the house should something happen, and also he has destroyed the 2 "heavy duty" crates (rated for dogs 120lbs) we bought for him. He managed that before he was even 70lbs. Plus, he almost ruined his teeth doing that. "Puppy proofing" the house only resulted in him deciding the drywall was his worst enemy and he chewed a hole in the wall. I'm not kidding. Not even on a wall end or anything, he just gnawed a hole in the middle of the wall. Thank God there wasn't any wires/conduit in that stud section. At this point, I just leave a couple of old magazines on the table knowing that he'll probably just take it out on them and I'll just have a little mess to cleanup when I get home rather than deal with actual damage. He knows what he's doing is wrong because the minute I walk in the door he mopes and cowers if he's done something, but is all bouncy and happy if he's been good. This can happen if I'm gone for an hour or 8 hours. Anyone have any ideas? He's a super smart dog, he follows verbal and visual commands and is really good when we're home. Just can't deal with this much longer.
Though he is a guard dog, IMO he should have been crate trained before turned loose. I guess, I'd set up a camera to see how long it takes for him to destroy something. If it is right after you leave - I'd assume something similiar to seperation anxiety. If it after a couple hours - I'd say he is bored. Does he have toys? Have you given him rawhides? Have you thought about getting a companion pet for him?
it's definitely separation anxiety, and it's worse when I'm gone vs. my wife. When I'm gone and my wife is home he is mopey and whines and tries to get her to play with him constantly. When I'm home and she's gone he usually sleeps most of the day except for a couple of play sessions. It's weird. When we're both gone, he sometimes chooses to destroy our stuff (usually my wife's stuff) specifically (the wall notwithstanding.) It has happened a few times only being gone for an hour, or even last week while I was outside mowing for a couple hours and he could see me out the windows. But it's usually when I'm gone for a full work day. He "was" crate trained initially. He hated it but he was in the crate at night and when alone from the age of 2.5 months (when we got him) until he was about 5.5 months old. Then he got big enough to break out of the crate. I would be willing to get a companion pet, but I don't think my wife is having any of that. Maybe if we found a rescue that was already house trained, but then you have to make sure they get a long w/o supervision and then if that doesn't work out, then you're stuck w/ 2 dogs who hate each other. Our schnauzer loves other dogs but they often don't love him back. He's kind of rowdy (but not mean.)
But you gave in when he destroyed/got out of the crates, you left him out. So it's almost as though he knows he can get away with it. If you say he is smart - that's the direction I'd lean. Do you punish him when you see it?
Crate him when you're gone until he is trained up. He doesn't need to roam and destroy furniture while he is a puppy and where you can't keep an eye on him. It does him no good, need discipline first, then privileges next. Also look into goughnuts.com - indestructible toys, way more so than kong. If they do destroy it, it's a lifetime guaranty replacement. There is also gonuts.com, I don't know who copied who but my experience has been with goughnuts and they have great CS. Don't punish him if you don't see him doing it, but only see the evidence. My dog used to get scolded when I came home because he would have chewed something up. I wanted him as my guard dog, he simply learned to hide from me when I came home so that he wouldn't get scolded. Now whenever anyone enters the home he just lays in bed, my 60 lb dog is now like 60 lb lap dog.
He needs more crate training and a lot of different toys to keep him occupied. Then try him again after he seems to calm down a bit.
He needs to be crate trained. Put him in the crate even when you are home. Start all over like he's a six week old puppy. If he only associates the crate with being alone, he'll always hate it. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
correct. We have an InvisiFence that by the time he was 5 months old he figured out it only hurts for a few yards and then he's outside the range. We live in a neighborhood with tons of kids and he can be aggressive/defensive near the house, plus it's against village code to have a dog unleashed in public w/o a barrier. I get it...crate crate crate. However, he was crate trained. He ruined one crate rated for much bigger dogs, then tore apart a second and almost ruined his mouth doing so. I started leaving him alone in increasing time periods, and he was roaming free for about a month w/o incident before this nonsense started. I guess I could muzzle him all day? He's got plenty of toys and today I left him a rawhide bone which he is joyfully chewing on right now that I'm home. But when I'm gone, he looks for something that isn't his to trash. I got home today to a brand new roll of toilet paper shredded to pieces all over the ground floor (he knows how to get into all of our interior doors.) Not that toilet paper is important, it was the destructive act that matters. I guess I could try to crate him in the evening while we're home so he doesn't associate it with night time and being alone, but he's a puppy and needs to run around and get his energy out while we're home. Even at the dog park he can run himself into the ground in an hour or so, come home and pass out on the AC vent for 20 minutes, wake up and get right back at it. He's got more energy than anything I've ever seen. Even though as I described in the original post he absolutely knows when he has been bad, I no longer physically punish him. He's too strong to effectively do it w/o seriously going at it, and I don't have the heart for that and it doesn't work anyway. Basically I show him what he did, put him in time out (he actually knows what that command is and hates it but obeys) and then ignore him for about a half hour. He stays in the corner the whole time quiet except for a couple whines.
That's a tough situation... If that was me I would be investing in a dog house and metal fence for the yard. Granted I don't know the size of your yard either. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well. Looks like it's time for you to get in shape. Go take him for a run, then another, then another. The downside is if you ever get lazy, he'll have that much endurance to tear the hell out of your place. There is also automatic ball throwers which would hopefully keep him busy in the day. Investing in a dog walker might end up saving you money with the money you save in doing repairs. My vet told me chopping balls would help with the hyperactivity...not quite sure if it worked.
i've had my german shepherd since she was 8wks (she's 5 yrs old now) and used the cesar milan method. she's one of the best behaved dog most people have ever met, or so i hear. a lot of it comes down to the amount of time you're willing to invest. the simple exercise, discipline, affection method seems to have worked for me, but it takes time. we run for at least 30 min everyday. train commands for at least 15 min everyday, followed up by play or she has toy time. my 6 yr old daughter has gotten in on the action, which has helped me out.
yards about half an acre, but I can't do most kinds of fences due to association rules. Plus I back up to a huge pond so it would destroy my property value to lose the view. I just can't crate him w/o him destroying his teeth and/or the crate. I've seen some "indestructible" dog crates that run like $700, but the one guy I know who has one also now has a partially toothless beagle. Dog broke off all its front teeth including canines trying to get out, and I don't want that.
dogsitter dnoodles. Im sure you can get kids on the cheap with school being out. If I lived near you id do it for cheap
