My dog is acting up. Help?

[riegfinnid]

Lately, my dog has been acting up.
3 times just this week i came home to find that he knocked over the trash can AGAIN....yesterday, i left half a pizza and some chicken bones on the table by accident...and guess what, he ate it all. (i know, chicken bones are bad) Somehow he got it off the table and ate it.
I'm pretty upset. He's been doing this alot lately and he KNOWS its bad.
When he does something bad, like gets into the trash, as soon as i get home and just LOOK in the direction of the kitchen, he gets into submissive position and then quickly runs off and lays on his bed like a 'good' dog and stay there. (when he is punished, i sent him to his bed and make him stay there until i say its ok to get up).
So he KNOWS he's not supposed to be doing all that stuff but he still does it, and then lays quietly on his bed like a good dog with that sad puppy 'do you still love me?' look in his eyes.
He is about 5 yrs old now (give or take, we dont know since he is adopted).

I think he might be bored while we're away at work. He DOES have toys, but i guess he's not that interested in them...the toys that he LOVES, like tennis balls, rope and the such...last him about 5 mins lol

Any idea what i can do to fix this?
I'm really getting sick of getting home to find that i have to clean up the kitchen floor.

Thanks ahead of time.

ps. if you want to see pics of him, its in my gallery.

[RavenRose]

Have you started working more recently? Or anything that has taken time away from him?
You and he may not like it, but the best thing may be to get a crate for him... it would keep him and your things safe. Or if you're not willing to do the crate thing, is there a room that you can put him in that doesn't really have anything he could destroy? The only problem with that is, if he gets mad or bored enough, he may scratch a hole in the carpet, scratch up the door, chew on the walls, etc.

[riegfinnid]

no my work schedule hasnt changed...everything has been the same. I cant think of any changes.
I cant do a crate...that wont work well for his size and strength lol
And i dont want to lock him up in one room. The only room that i could lock him up in is the bedroom, but it gets pretty hot there if the door is closed (my air conditioning SUCKS)
and i have other pets in that room that dont take heat well.

[mr gerbil]

How long are you at work for?
Dogs can go mad and start destroying things if their owners are away for too long. (over-attatched?)

[RavenRose]

Hmm... is he just getting into things that have or have had food in them? My husky is VERY good unless it comes to those things. You may just have to find a cupboard/closet to put your trash in, or put it behind a baby gate somehow. And just make sure before you leave that any food is put up out of his reach. That's what I've had to do with her.

[jilfina]

Might be Seperation Aiety*. It happened with one of my dogs as well. It seemed to come out of no where.

It took me a couple of months to work with her to get her to stop.

*a-n-x-i-e-t-y [for some reason it won't let me keep the word normal]

[riegfinnid]

there's no food in the trash...It looks like he just gets into it and smell it or what not. Even when there IS something he could eat, he doesnt eat it.
I've had him for 3yrs now. He used to do it occasionally...but lately its almost every day.
I"m so lost.
I'm at work for 8 hrs...its not like i work long hours or something.

He does have somewhat of a seperation aiety, always have. When i go to get mail and come back he acts like i've been gone for days...
But why would he start acting up so much NOW

jilfina...what did you do to make it stop?

[RavenRose]

That's why I was asking about changes... not to get personal, but you haven't started dating anyone, have you? Even a simple change like that could effect his behavior. Even maybe a new neighbor that has dogs or something?
Other than what I've already said, I'm afraid I can't help... I haven't had to deal with seperation aiety, just my chow hound wanting anything to do with food! So if it's not food and absolutely nothing's changed recently, I don't know. Sorry I couldn't be more help. Good luck!

[riegfinnid]

nope...my bf and i live together and we adopted him together as well. Nothing new at all.
I'm just as lost as you are lol

[RavenRose]

Well, that sucks! Not about you and your bf, but that nothing's changed. LOL.
Anyway, again, sorry I'm no help and good luck. Maybe someone else here will have some better suggestions. :confused:

[riegfinnid]

well thanks for trying to help me!

[froglover051094]

My dog is the same way. Its aiety. We need to give her pills to calm down. Lol. You should try looking into that.

[riegfinnid]

i dont want my dogs on pills...
he's not that hyper and he does listen.
Just because he gets into trash is not a reason to put him on some chemicals.

[RavenRose]

Yeah, unless your vet truly recommends it, I wouldn't want my dogs on pills either.
Another thought.... have you spoken to a pet trainer at all?

[RavenRose]

LOL, this is totally off topic, but I just read your profile and I love your bio! That's hilarious... "one day I was born..." That about sums it up, doesn't it?

[froglover051094]

Oh.. I thot ur dog wuz hyper.

sorry.. missunderstood.

Well, howwe taught my dog to get outta the trash was to put it on the basement steps, with the door closed. That way she can't even get at it.

[RavenRose]

Hey, misunderstandings happen and you were just trying to help. No reason to be sorry. :)
It's nice to have suggestions, even if we don't like or use them, right?

[froglover051094]

Right. Thanks (*;

[riegfinnid]

i'm still hoping someone can come up with some advice how to break him of this lol

if i just hide the trash then he'll find something else to get into.
Sometimes he chews up little sticky notes i leave around lol

[RavenRose]

Sticky notes?? odd little thing.... lol
hmm.. give it a little bit of time here... the people that seem to have the best advice (at least in my opinion) are a few of the people who are actually vets or vet techs and it's a little early in the day for them to be on.

[riegfinnid]

but i want advice now! :::stomps her feet::: NOW!!

lol sorry, i had too much coffee this morning

[RavenRose]

LOL
Caffeine is our friend!!

[riegfinnid]

its one of my best friends.
Sarcasm is a good friend too. lol

[RavenRose]

Oh, definitely!
A persons 3 best friends: caffeine, sarcasm, and these little monsters... er... sweet, loveable angels? that we like to call our babies, our pets

[riegfinnid]

yep...my babies. they eat and live better than i do lol i sooo spoil them all.

[RavenRose]

Oh yeah! And, not that this is a good thing, but I almost never go to the doctor... only if something's seriously wrong. If my animals sneeze they're at the vet. Ok, so that's a slight exageration, but only slight!

Well, it's been a lot of fun talking to you, and again, I hope someone comes on soon and gives you some good advice, but it's my day off and all I've done is sit here at the computer... I should get off my butt and do some housework. What fun, what fun....