dog likes the taste of our sofas

[maryellen]

also, my 8 year old had to be crated when i wasnt home until he was 5 years old as he would chew/eat anything in sight/reach.. i was lucky as i got him at 8 weeks old so crate trained him right away.. but some dogs are just chewers unfortunately

[michele5611]

Johnny keep working on making the crate a good place for her like Maryellen said.

Does Sasha follow you everywhere when you are home...just curious?

[jonnyg]

she seems fine now she will run to the cage when we put our shoes on to go out with out us saying anything to her,
its just we want to try to get her out of the cage if we can,like our old dog charlie, rip,

she has one of these and we hide things which she always finds so keep her mind active, she also goes out every day and once a week i take her out for a good 2 and a half hours in the cuntryside
www.kongcompany.com/worlds_best.html

its just a shame to keep her caged,even if it is needed

[jonnyg]

Dec 29, 2010 15:24:22 GMT -5 michele5611 said:

Johnny keep working on making the crate a good place for her like Maryellen said.

Does Sasha follow you everywhere when you are home...just curious?

yes she does when we go upstairs shes there, but if shes in front of the fire she will just sit up and watch the door waiting for it to open

we think it somthing to do with her being out lost on the streets in the snow before being found "made that sound sad then didnt i "
shes also started to sit and cry because we have a new sofa and we wont let her up on it this is when shes finished playing with her toys for a good hour

[maryellen]

taking her out once a day wont do much depending on how long you are out and what you are doing. like my dog gets 3 1 mile walks at night and he is a couch potato, so if your dog is hyper you should take her on a few mile walks each day or every night like start out with 2 1 mile walks and see how she does, and increase it if you see she enjoys it.. sniffing and being out on walks is also mentally and physicall exercise and will help her too

[michele5611]

Jonny I totally understand you wanting to let her be cage free....keep working on it and you will get there. I wish the same for my girl but at 10-11 years of age don't think that is gonna happen(she was also a stray my cousin picked up off the street when she was about 2-3) When I first got Harley she had severe sep. anxiety and was medicated for a short time. After lots of work she was given the run of my condo and did pretty well. Six years ago I moved to a house and she never truly adjusted to having the run of it or staying gated in a room and after several trips to the emergency vet for harm she had inflicted upon herself I made the decision to crate her indef. Certainly not saying that will the situation with Sasha! Have you tried leaving her out for like 5 minutes at a time-go outside and then come back in...work you way up to longer increments of time by herself so she knows you are coming back. True sep. anxiety is different than a bored dog or just a destructive dog. Also like Maryellen said depending on how long you exercise her during the day if you can increase it before crating her that may help. Also, the interactive toys are great for keeping their minds busy!

[loverocksalot]

I would consider a crate that can be put away when you dont want it out. I would expect that a dog that does damage like that will take a while to get better. Especially if it is separation anxiety. Which is likely. If you really want to work her up to no crate I would start by giving her a safe space. Once had a doberman who had serious separation issues among others but she had to be kept in the kitchen. 1st she was older and terrified of the crate. 2nd her thing was to poop and pee all over. But for some reason she was good in the kitchen all I had to do was line up chairs and she would stay in the kitchen (big opening did not have a gate). Seems she felt safe there could be she could not see outside from there. We would also do this at night. If I gave her the run of the house I could guarantee if I just went outside for a min she would crap on the floor.

[jonnyg]

were going to start closing the door while we nip to the loo and leaving her out of the cage while we just bob out to the shop its only down the street and make the time a bit longer each time if we can
thanks all