Training Failure!!

[AleandraOwens20]

I am just about ready to cry....my mom left Sandy home alone today and guess what? I came home to a chewed door molding, chewed antique carpet, and part of a chair chewed! My mom's gonna kill me, the carpet and chair she was ok with but we she finds out about the molding Sandy will be dead:O. I guess it really hurts me because I'm the one who said to "have more faith in her" and then she does this! MAJOR setback, all things considered...I need a solution FAST because my mom can't keep taking her to work, especially since the hot summer months are starting!
Get her a friend: thats a great idea! then they'll both start chewing....besides we tried that already by "borrowing" a friends dog and it did nothing but get more of our old house chewed and the other dog's pee everywhere. she needs human companionship.
Crate: ya, thats great for an hour or so but what do we do if we want to go the beach or my mom has to work from 10 am and I get home at 3pm? So, the crate is OUT
Music: tried it today,see how great that went :(
Seditives: My mom doesn't want to do that because she says drugging Sandy is cruel
Leave her outside: she'll chew through the fence and be gone which is even worse than her chewing the house.
Chain her: thought about it, but that would feel so wrong to me plus she'd be crying and drive our neighbors up the wall. plus anything not made of metal could be chewed through.
Dog Kennel: Small place+ Big Kennel+ lots of cash= angry mom, angry gardener (who is the landlord's best friend), no place to live
Put a muzzle on her (suggested by my "smart" father): if she could drink from her water, she could chew the door...it could also possibly come off and I wouldn't blame her because I know I wouldn't like my head muzzled!
Homeopathic remedies: tried it, doesn't work
Doggie Daycare: $30 a day+5 days a week=$$$$$
Trainer: Almost every trainer in LA is just out to make money (like most of the vets here) and chances are they couldn't help her because she's not barking or howling because if that was the case it wouldn't be that big of a deal....she's chewing and you can't divert her attention from it without being there....
Bitter Apple: tried it, a bottle is not that cheap and I'd have to spray the whole house before leaving and my mom's not to keen on doing that. Besides, one time she chewed where I had sprayed anyways!

So, you see my problem and my mom is not to happy about this...I am SO SO scared she will give Sandy up and since I do not pay for the damage, I have no say in it...Sandy is like my sister and I can't imagine not having her around....please, please help me!!!!! Also, please do not tell me if I can't afford a trainer I can't afford vet bills because one is a need and one is not and Sandy has pet insurance.My mom said the only way we can have a trainer is if I pay for it and I only have about 300 dollars which would probably get me enough to for the trainer say "your dog has extreme seperation anxiety and its gonna be about 2,000 dollars and if you can't pay, then I'm out!" Anyone have any suggestions? Is drugging them cruel?please help!

[Punkygirl0101]

How about instead of a crate, you put her in a room where she can't destroy anything. Such as a kitchen or a bathroom. You can leave water and toys in there. And as soon as you get home from school, take her for a LONG walk, and play with her in the yard and tire her out.

[Tazwell]

Five hours is definitely not too long to be in a crate. At all. Just slowly crate train her and build up the length of time she's in the crate. Isn't Sandy still young? She's just not ready to be left home alone yet. You can't expect more from her.

[AleandraOwens20]

Sandy is actually 8-9 years old and we've had her 3-4 years. Also, our bathroom is VERY small but I love your suggestion punky! The only rooms we could lock her in would be the bedroom or the bathroom.....the bathroom is VERY small and the bedroom has windows and doors...she chews doors mostly though....I take her for a RUN everyday I'm there but she still chews stuff....ugh...

[FoxHound]

Hey there,
Im new to this whole "Pethub" thing but I thought I could offer some assistance. I rescued my dog at 8mo old and it took about two days before I figured out he had severe separation anxiety. He would completely destroy anything fabric he came across (dog beds, window curtains, socks) as well as chew and scratch the heck out of the door moldings and venetian blinds and dog gates. In between all the destruction, he would cry, cry, cry. I did an experiment once and found out he was crying the ENTIRE time I was gone... even for four hours once. I got kicked out of my apartment because of this...

However, I am happy to say he no longer suffers this way. It took a couple of months to get him to this point but he has been great ever since. Here's what I did...

First of all, I agree that 5 hours is NOT too long to have a dog in a crate and that having a crate trained dog is an EXTREME benefit.

Second, it sounds like your dog has two problems... she has too much energy and she has nothing to do when your gone. Even if you run her, she is still only physically tired. She, as all dogs do, needs some form of mental stimulation as wel...especially when she is alone. A lot of times, a dog will become more tired from a half hour of training than an hour of play at the park.

What you can do is get her some "Brain Toys"... can be pricey but will be way lesst expensive than a trainer. These can be found mostly at any Humane Society but also somewhat at your local PetSmart or PetCo. They include Busy Buddies, Kongs, Treat Cubes, etc All of these toys are made for you to put treats inside of them that the dog has to work really hard to get out.

Needless to say you would have to find a treat your dog LOVES! but never gets to have unless you have to leave. I used the easiest of all these options to begin with... the Kong (found anywhere). I bought one (red or black so that the dog wont eat the toy itself) and stuffed it with peanut butter...real, cuz that fake stuff they sell is gross. Then I put it in the freezer overnight. When I left the next day I gave it to my dog. Easy Easy Easy

--If your dog is not interested in the treat, she may be too full of food... start feeding her less in the morning so that she will really want that treat and make up for the small meal with more food at night.--

My dog would get a peanut butter Kong or some other treat that takes a while to get through EVERY TIME I LEFT. By the time he got all the treats/peanut butter out of the toy, he had forgotten why he was anxious and was too tired to stress about it anyway.

Equally as important, I stopped making a big deal out of leaving... just "See ya. kid. Ill be back later" and gave him a treat... AND I began completely ignoring him when I got home for the first 20 minutes. None of this "OMG HI baby! I missed you soooo much today!! Come give mommy a big kiss! Smooch Smooch Smooch!". This is REALLY IMPORTANT! If your dog sees how excited you are to get in the door, she might think something really horrible must be happening to you when you leave.

Im not gonna lie, I still do both these things (ignoring and treat giving) so I cant say you will definitely be able to stop some day (maybe/maybe not), but I was able to lessen the value of treat he gets when I leave. And all that stuff has totally become second nature anyway so Im not even bothered by it.

If you are dedicated, do both of the things I listed, and remember that it wont change things overnight (takes weeks of dedication to this plan from EVERYONE in the household) then I am confident you will get some results.

I really hope this helps... it must suck for your lil girl to have to worry so much at her age.

[Tazwell]

Hey there FoxHound! :wave: Excellent, thorough Advice, and Welcome to PetsHub!

I'd like to see a picture thread here on the Dog forum sometime soon from you! :D

[AleandraOwens20]

well here's the thing...I have a home-made agility course and I do agility with her once a week. She gets a treat every day and she has been taught sit, down, wave, paw, and dance. We are now working on rollover as well. She goes to the park every other day as well. My mom is afraid it scares her more than being left alone with free range of the house.... thank you so much for your help though!