making it throuhg a day

grady · Puppy Joined: 05 May 2007 Posts: 2

Hi everyone,
I have a great dog named Grady. He rocks. He walks about four or five miles a day with me, running through the woods and almost catching birds and squirrels. He is a wonderful dog. The problem is that I work and must leave him eight hours a day. He is in his cage most of the time. Some days I leave him out with my cat. They do ok, but sometimes , most times, Grady chews something. I am careful to keep the house clear of things he can chew. Bedroom doors are closed , but he always finds something, a dish rag or a plant or a magazine. Is 8 hours too long in a cage? Will he get out of this chewing stage soon? Is there any alternative I haven't thought of. I love him but I don't want to always feel guilty because I have to make living. If you 've had a weim before, how long does it take for this breed to settle down? Help. I love Grady, but I am going nuts. Anyone have a bit of advice?
Grady's Mom

DucksWild · Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 10:10 pm Post subject:

I've been through this with two Weims now, so I can offer what has worked for us. But first, how old is Grady? And by cage do you mean a crate, or a kennel?

anne · Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 1:13 pm Post subject:

It generally takes them at least 2 years to settle down. You can get them to settle sooner though if you active train him to settle and to chew appropriately.

It would be helpful to know how old Grady is to give advice.

grady · Puppy Joined: 05 May 2007 Posts: 2

Thanks to those who responded. Grady is just one year old. He seems very 'attached to me' when I am home . He's right by my side now.
He is never in the cage when I am home , unless he decided to just go in . I know he does not hate the crate (which is the second to the largest size, we didn't want the great dane size, but we maybe we should get one.
I just feel that when I leave at 8:00 in the morning and run home at 4:00. it's too much for him in that cage. Sometimes my husband is home working in his office, but many days he is not. Should I build a larger enclosure or might he become a good 'home sitter' like my first dog, a yellow lab. I just don't know how long a Weim takes to just wonder around a house without getting so bored he has to chew something. He really does have a million chew toys and a cat to run after. Does that give everyone enough info to make a diagnosis?? Rolling Eyes

emily · Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 8:43 pm Post subject:

I think it also varies by dog. Scout(my weim) has been free in the house since he was just under 1.5 years old. But he's never been much of a chewer or destructive at all. I would probably err on the side of caution and crate him for the time you're not there. Its safer for him that way. The other option to look into is to send him to some sort of doggie daycare a few times a week or to hire someone to come walk/play with him for an hour or so to break up the day. We send Scout twice a week and it really is the best money we ever spent.

DucksWild · Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 10:39 pm Post subject:

Grady sounds a lot like my youngest. She is an aggressive chewer and would be destructive when left to run free, even when left with our 6 year old weim. We also did doggie daycare, and I agree with Emily, best money ever spent. It was great for her in terms of expending energy, socialization, and companionship. But at 15 months we decided to try and work Gracie into staying home with Anja (who has always been great in the house) and letting them run free. Some things that worked well for us during the transition:
- Leaving the TV or radio on during the day
- We bought a ScatMat, again, money well spent. It worked like a charm to teach her to stay off or away from an object when we weren't home
- Foil: we placed it on things she had a tendency to get into, and she stays away from it
- KongTime: fabulous at keeping her entertained during the day by dispensing kongs over 8 hours. We bought two KongTimes so there would be treats for each of our two dogs.
- Frozen kong treats (last longer)
- Being extra vigilant about what is around the house she can get in to, closing doors to almost all rooms, etc.
- Keeping the "best" toys in a cupboard, only taken out when we leave, and picked up right when we get home

Hope some of those help!

WeiMe · Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 9:02 pm Post subject:

I agree with the Kong Time suggestion. My weim Scout is four and isn't much of a chewer any more. However she does have some separation anxiety that she manifests by licking her belly and creating hot spots. Kong Time has been great, it gives her something to look forward to while I am gone. I recommend getting rechargeable batteries since it goes through them pretty fast.

jorussell23 · Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 4:40 am Post subject:

We had real problems with Keisha and the only way that I felt to go was to take her to my brother's to play with their GSP Thorn or to bring her to work with me.

I had such a bad time with her making noise, destroying things and generally hating being left alone that I left my old job and found a new DOG FRIENDLY one so that if I needed to she could come here with me.

I tried everything if I put her in a crate she would get diorreah and it would go all over carpets etc so I really thought that the above was good money spent as I pay my sister-in-law to have her.

Sorry to rant I just thought that maybe you have some nice family who may look in or take them.

Jo

anne · Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 3:36 pm Post subject:

I have found that teaching puppies to learn to be alone heads off a lot of future problems. Dogs are pack animals and this behavior has to be taught. Ian Dunbar's books address this issue very well, he also talks about chew toy training. There is a free downloadable articles here
http://www.jamesandkenneth.com/behavior_problems.html
These are for puppies, but can be applied to an older dog, the training will just go slower.