I Can't Do It Anymore

[KitKat]

*hugs*

I can say i know the feeling - i'd probably consider looking into the dogs diet, electric/static collar type fencing (certainly helped with one of my dogs - until one of the other dogs started chewing the static wire etc) and even look at possible sedation?

[Burkes]

Glad to hear Champa is OK Kirty. Venting is good, its a lot better to take it out on the keyboard than on the dog!

My Rotty was a destructor dog also. After the 2003 bushfires burnt out my yard i spent $10,000 on landscaping to try and get rid of the burnt mess. Rommy ate 29 pittosporums, 3 japanese maples, 2 magnolias, my sprinkler system, the outdoor lighting cables, and went swimming in my water feature causing the pot to fall over and break. To this day my backyard is still just the mud and weeds that he left behind.

He was a gorgeous dog though and I was very sad when I lost him last year. I was mad at him sometimes, but a vent made it all better.

[Nekhbet]

either get him medicated or get him an e-collar. No dog grows out of mass destruction, you are the rational human being who needs to make the changes on his behalf not get angry when he repeats behaviours.

If you're absolutely at your witts end contact Dr Robert Holmes http://animalbehaviour.com/

some animals need more then the sheer basics of dog care. He's obviously a special case and should be treated as such. If his problems are so severe he is injuring himself or he is suffering due to stress then consider euthanasia.

Edited July 8, 2010 by Nekhbet

[Kirty]

The frustrating thing is that he won't do anything for months and months, then he will do something like this. I was home the whole time he was doing this today, just didn't hear him. He seems perfectly happy 95%of the time. He doesn't bark or dig or cry or whinge to come inside. He is normally very happy to just chew on his bone and play with the other dogs. He LOVES the other dogs and they all sleep together, play together, etc. He loves his walks, he gets a good run offlead most days, etc.

He has never injured himself and today is the first time I was actually worried about his bloating. He is not stressed as far as I can see. He always seems happy to me. Quite often his targets will be something totally new so its hard to predict his behaviour. As I said, I don't put collars on the other dogs now because he eats them (and I am not just talking about chewing them off - he EATS them) and they don't get beds. They get blankets and I buy very cheap coats so I can afford to replace them as required.

[Robbi]

It is the most awful thing to experience walking in on the aftermath of a destructive episode

Abbie my latest arrival did quite a bit of damage in the first few weeks after she arrived and I really didn't know how i was going to manage her behaviour-2 mobile phones eaten, two chairs and one couch shredded, half my mattress eaten in my bedroom and probably some things i have blocked from my mind :D

Thanks to Lisa and Kobe for lending me their pen which I have set up in my dining room, actually it takes up most of my dining room, I had to remove all the furniture and convert it in to Abbietraz, now whenever I cant supervise what she is up to its straight in the pen with her kong but I am sure she still would eat the house if I let my guard down.

So no advice from me just a kindred soul, hoping all settles down and Champa ceases and desists his appetite for destruction.

[Teebs]

Glad He is ok, i know exactly how you feel, atlas is 8 next month and still can not be left alone, pulls washing off the line and chews everything. The amount of things that he has destroyed is amazing. I could have written your first post 100 times over.

Good luck, hope you can find a way to keep him out of the garage

[Tilly]

When I was looking at your sig I was thinking it was Champa.

I was thinking it was Maisie ... as that face looks far too sweet and innocent :D

I am ready to kill both of mine...

My beautiful yard is looking like a disaster zone with holes, temporary fencings etc just to protect what is left of my garden. I need to keep my dogs seperate during the day as they can fight from time to time - so they are only together while I can supervise them. For days I was coming home and finding the older dog in the same side of the yard as the younger one. I paid about $500 for a chain link fence between both side of the yard - he was either digging under it or actually pulled the chainlink fence until he ripped a hole in it. He has also destroyed the temporary chainlink fence (attempt to protect a hedge along the back fence ... and just when I thought I have finally managed to fix every hole and block every possible entry point - I come home tonight to him on the other side of the yard again. I think he is having a mid life crisis!!! Trying to be young again to show off to the younger boy...

The pup is not innocent either ... he started digging a hole under a bush (I let him have it as a sleeping hole initially) ... it has now extended to under the pavers that sit under the gate area leading into his yard. It was so bad that you couldn't walk on the pavers on the left hand side because they were just sitting on a thin crust of dirt. They are now gone and the hole is over a metre deep - his trench is now heading under the garden edging towards what is left of my lawn. Filling it in previously has just been a waste of time. I am now going to have to buy about 2 or 3 cubic metres of dirt to fill this one hole (don't know where all the dirt has gone) and another load of large rocks to stop him from digging in that area again.

[KitKat]

Tilly...it's surprising how much dirt they can hold in their coats...even normal coated boys like yours perhaps cement everything and put in fake hedges?

Edited July 8, 2010 by KitKat

[Kirty]

Thanks again everyone. Sorry for my rantings, I would never hurt my dogs - I was just so angry and upset.

Tilly, Maisie is my good girl! She is NEVER naughty. I have given up on a backyard though. Its just not worth the stress really. The lawn is full of craters where they bury their bones but I'm happy to let them have that.

[Aidan3]

The frustrating thing is that he won't do anything for months and months, then he will do something like this.

Did he eat anything unusual prior to this episode?

[Nekhbet]

electric fencing is a godsend for dogs. All I need to do now is put white string around things and they wont dare try it after a few good strong zaps with the ping string.

As for Champa, if he bloats occasionally do you think his destruction could be from anxiety and pain? Starts to bloat, hurts like hell, goes potty, poos everywhere then feels better and all is happy again. He may seem happy but maybe you miss his stress signals?

[sas]

Kirty,

My bastard one can't exercise much either as he has Osteo.....I tell ya the Zone collar was the best investment, keeps him safe and me sane.

[Kirty]

Aidan, as far as I know he hasn't eaten anything unusual. The dogs are fed the same diet consistently. Raw bones and dryfood.

Nek, he only bloats directly after a meal which, wasn't the case this morning because he gets fed at night. And even then, he is only bloated for maybe half an hour and its just a little bit, nothing that would indicate he was going to torsion or that he was in pain. Only other time he bloats is after he eats 8kg of cat food. His previous record was 3.5kg so today was a super effort. :D

sas, will definitely look into those collars. Knowing him, it wouldn't stop him though. This is the dog who once ate so many lemons, his lips were ulcerated. But he kept eating them (he was climbing the tree to get them). Can you imagine how much it must have hurt to eat lemons with ulcerated lips?? Deterrants such as pepper, etc don't help either because he'll just eat it.

[labsrule]

When I was looking at your sig I was thinking it was Champa.

I was thinking it was Maisie ... as that face looks far too sweet and innocent ;) :D

I am ready to kill both of mine...

My beautiful yard is looking like a disaster zone with holes, temporary fencings etc just to protect what is left of my garden. I need to keep my dogs seperate during the day as they can fight from time to time - so they are only together while I can supervise them. For days I was coming home and finding the older dog in the same side of the yard as the younger one. I paid about $500 for a chain link fence between both side of the yard - he was either digging under it or actually pulled the chainlink fence until he ripped a hole in it. He has also destroyed the temporary chainlink fence (attempt to protect a hedge along the back fence ... and just when I thought I have finally managed to fix every hole and block every possible entry point - I come home tonight to him on the other side of the yard again. I think he is having a mid life crisis!!! Trying to be young again to show off to the younger boy...

The pup is not innocent either ... he started digging a hole under a bush (I let him have it as a sleeping hole initially) ... it has now extended to under the pavers that sit under the gate area leading into his yard. It was so bad that you couldn't walk on the pavers on the left hand side because they were just sitting on a thin crust of dirt. They are now gone and the hole is over a metre deep - his trench is now heading under the garden edging towards what is left of my lawn. Filling it in previously has just been a waste of time. I am now going to have to buy about 2 or 3 cubic metres of dirt to fill this one hole (don't know where all the dirt has gone) and another load of large rocks to stop him from digging in that area again.

:rofl: sorry nothing constructive to add, I just love the description of your older boy . Sounds like your older boy has been teaching your pup some bad habits and he is now burrowing his way to China :D , little buggers aren't they

[~Shepherd~]

Crap Kirty, What a sh!thead of an animal. I have a crate you can use if you need it. I couldnt deal with behaviour like that, just shows your strength of character and loyalty pursuing a pet dog who can sometimes exhibit extremely destructive behaviour especially with kids in the mix. Your a good woman and I'm really sorry about your stuff.

I'd like to help you replace some things for your rescue you work so hard at.

What was destroyed and what do you need?

[sas]

sas, will definitely look into those collars. Knowing him, it wouldn't stop him though. This is the dog who once ate so many lemons, his lips were ulcerated. But he kept eating them (he was climbing the tree to get them). Can you imagine how much it must have hurt to eat lemons with ulcerated lips?? Deterrants such as pepper, etc don't help either because he'll just eat it.

If it stops my boy it will stop yours.....mine's a wee bit unstable also....that's being polite :D

[Amika]

Just a thought......I'm assuming he is desexed? Some of my medical friends believe that desexed male dogs are prone to dementia....from the lowered to nil testosterone levels. I don't know if any one has done an actual study, but it's something which I wonder about, having worked in aged care.

[westiemum]

Kirty. I think you are amazing - I'm lucky enough to have 3 westies who come and go through a doggie door whenever they need to without any trouble at all - the youngest rescue seems to have an occasional chew on my right ugg boot (never the left) and an an occasional 'up you' wee in side. - but thats it

I really feel for you and admire you - I don't think I'd cope... :hug: from the westies.

[percyk]

i can understand how youre feeling...id possibly feel the same but im not sure that i would

i kinda always blame myself when things like this happen...i dont know...maybe i just feel that i shouldve known better

our youngest boy in the family gets angry at the dogs sometimes...if they get into something or whatever..we dont have a lot of problems with any of them because theyre little dogs and they tend to mature but our son still goes into the blame game

our latest dog has done some damage...to doors..and frames and these will be replaced...hes chewed a bit of the couch but it's old anyway...if it were new..id feel bad..undoubtedly but put it this way...if he got to it id blame me or the kids for not supervising ...i dont think id resent the dog

if it were a visiting dog maybe id feel more resentful...not very noble lol but you know how it is lol

ive heard of dogs tearing up the insides of cars for instance while being left alone...but again if that happened id only blame myself

animals dont seek to annoy us...they just follow their instincts so thats why i dont get angry at them...sure i have been dismayed at the damage..and it would be really bad if were renting for instance but i wouldve just coughed up the money fixed it and figured out another way to keep the dog contained

it is hard to bond to an animal that is destructive...this latest one of ours has been different and far more challenging but overall he is still a pretty good dog....the things that are good about him far outweigh the crappy things he gets up to ...if the scales were tipped the other way...say he wasnt affectionate or was aggressive towards us...as well as destructive then the story would be different im guessing

sorry it all happened for you...what a waste of stuff....what a dreadful mess to have to clean up...really feel for you as you go about cleaning it up...especially cos the dog went to great lengths to get into an area that was supposedly dog proofed

[spoilt lab lives here]

electric fencing is a godsend for dogs. All I need to do now is put white string around things and they wont dare try it after a few good strong zaps with the ping string.

Oh isnt it just!!! Ours isnt connected to zap anymore but they still wont touch it. In a few weeks I need to section the dogs off the main grass yard to try and salvage the grass and all im going to do is set it up around the parts i dont want them on and voila, dog free zone! Best money ever spent!