Ughhhhh!!! I could kill Zehen!!!!

scrbear11 · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 7:40 pm Post subject: Ughhhhh!!! I could kill Zehen!!!!

SEPARATION ANXIETY!!!! He and Zuna has started chewing on stuff during the day in the house- this all started after Dooley passed. So we bought a crate- a gigantic one so both could fit in it comfortably. The first few days went OK. Then Zehen figured out how to wiggle the door just right so he could get the latches undone. Today I snapped the crate shut as well as latched it shut. I came home and the dogs were loose in our room. Zehen had BROKEN the front of the crate- it's bent like an L. And the carpet infront of my door was completely ripped up from Zehen trying to get out.

His surgery got bumped to tomorrow- so he'll be feeling dumpy for a few days, and then he's just going to have to be on sedatives while I'm not home. He's going to have to stay in his crate. He's getting a gastropexy (stomach tack) and hernia repair- and I think I'm going to neuter him now and see if that calms him down.

But after his surgery, what do I do to keep him from killing my house? Our vet clinic just started carrying Reconcile. Has anyone tried that? I'm going to look into some other options too- like sending him to a doggy day care during the day, having a dog walker come by and walk them or even maybe taking them to work with me during the day (I would at the vet clinic).

Any other ideas?

kcolsey · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 7:47 pm Post subject: dog walker

Those little rascals! I would try having a dog walker come to walk them mid-day. You might even be able to find someone who will take the dogs for a hike. I have a great dog walker who picks Gracie up in the late morning and takes her out on hikes or to dog parks with a small group of other dogs. She keeps her out for a minimum of 2 hours...just long enough to tire her out! When I return from work, she is always sleeping soundly in her crate. Do some research about dog walkers in your area though. Some of them only take the dogs out for a 15 minute walk which probably isn't enough to keep the dogs out of trouble.

iceprincess3333 · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:23 pm Post subject:

Rosie has very bad SA too. She too has broken crates. She is no longer crated because it is more of a danger to have her in it. She did the same thing broke out of the crate and tore up all our carpet in front of our bedroom door Rolling Eyes

Yep, we have not even lived here 2 yrs yet. I actually wanted hardwood up there anyways...lol

weimarmom · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:41 am Post subject:

yikes!! i used to leave fooky in the house to roam by himself and he was good. i work like 3 minutes away from my house so my husband and i go home everyday at lunch. when we got miley he completely changed. we initially put miley in the crate because she was a baby and not potty trained but i think she was barking while in the crate and making him neurotic. he tore up the linolium in our hallway......a huge area of it. my husband isn't in love with the dogs like i am so he was very unhappy. I bought my Fooky from a breeder online and he got Miley for me for my birthday from the same breeder. They're my babies. so i am always defending them when their bad. we crate them during the morning for about 4 hours and then we go home for lunch, let them out to potty, then leave them in the house with us until we go back to work and then leave them in the backyard till we get home. if you love your backyard though, it's a bad idea. i think miley is digging to china. when my 4 year old stands in the holes the pups have dug, i can't see her from the waist down......and she's tall for 4.

my only suggestion is maybe getting some nylabones and putting them in the crate with them. and leave some outside the crate along with some toys incase they do break out again.

good luck.

GonePhishing · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:57 am Post subject:

My dog went through a similar phase between 8-18 months. He chewed up everything – chairs, the corners of coffee tables and tv stands were his favorite, couch arms and pillow, window sills and door frames and so on. He dug a few holes in the carpeting in my old house also. He out grew it for the most part. Sometimes I want to call him the $10,000 dog because of all the damage he has done, but I am sure he has cost me more when I tally up everything he’s destroyed. But when he lies down beside me on his back with his paws up and begs me to rub his soft belly and wiggles his nub of a tail, I forget all that.

slackastar · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 1:32 pm Post subject:

I know my aunt was doing the same thing with her husky, she would leave him in the morning, goto work, then return at lunch, then leave again.....when she would do this, she would come home to a house shredded.....so she stopped coming home at lunch....and he has been fine ever since. i'm not sure what it means in dog psychology but it must mean something

scrbear11 · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 8:01 pm Post subject:

So I'm missing my wild boy today. Zehen had his surgery this afternoon- it got bumped from last Thursday to today just in case there are any complications. He got a gastropexy, hernia repair and neuter. All went well. He had a little trouble coming out of it, but he was on a lot of morphine to help with pain. And then right before I left for the day they had heating pads and blankets on him trying to warm him up. His temperature had dropped a lot. The vet wasn't too worried because with sensitive breeds it happens after surgery- especially long ones (he was under for 90 minutes). She was going to personally go back to the clinic later this evening and check on him, and again in the middle of the night. I haven't heard from her, so I'm assuming all is well. He'll get to come home tomorrow evening, but he's going to feel so bad.

Poor Zuna doesn't know what to do without her big brother to harras!! We went and ran errands together (got dog food and got dinner) and now she's mutilating all her toys. I think the silly girl is a little bored without Zeh to wrestle with!

JacksMommy · Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:19 am Post subject:

Jack had SA issues ... we learned to give him free reign of the house (excluding the bathroom) and that seemed to suit him.

Also ~ not sure if this would benefit you, but do they have a designated "toybox"? Once we got Jack his own toybox and filled it with toys and bones this also helped.

Now he has stopped stealing from my daughter as well LOL as he knows anything that goes in that basket is his, and to leave everything else alone.