Charlotte123 Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Hi, We have 7 months Golden Retriever puppy who I believe has separation related behaviour problems. She has been a perfect pup until she turned around 6 months (desexed at 6 moths) and I went back to full time work (used to work 3 days a week). Before that time she would never destroy anything, she would only be playing with her toys. For the past month every time we come home something is destroyed. Table place mats, glasses for TV, papers, tissues anything that she can reach. Yesterday i left chicken breast in the bowl (frozen) very far from the edge of bench thinking that she cant get it. When I came home the bowl was in pieces and chicken breast was gone. On top of it she started peeing randomly around the house (even though she used to be perfectly toilet trained). Another situation from last night- she was calmly laying on her bed in the bathroom chewing on her bone. I was standing and brushing my teeth 2 m away from her. All of the sudden she stood up, walked around me and urinated right next to my leg. I couldnt believe my eyes because that looked like she did it on purpose, it was no accident. When we are home she never touches anything. She is a little bit hypo but if we play with her 15 min she calms down. She gets walked twice a day for at least 30 mins. She does not have separation anxiety because she seems to be ok being left alone. She never cries, whines or looks anxious when we are leaving the house. Please help because I dont know what we are doing wrong to trigger such a behaviour. How can we fix it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 (edited) ..it sounds very normal pup/teenage behaviour. You can not expect a bored puppy to ignore chewy/edible things :) things need to be well put away! Especially medicines/chemicals and plastics. As an example..try leaving a two year old human in the kitchen alone for an hour ..... bet it doesn't look as you left it!! One solution is to leave her outside ... in the yard, or a secure large run. The other solution is , if you need to leave her indoors all day , is to limit her to one room ..or a large pen ..with room to toilet, play and sleep comfortably. The random peeing could well be a bladder infection ..or just that the routine has changed, and you are not there to regularly make sure she is outside .... The amount of walking may be a bit much for growing joints several 5 minute training sessions in your yard will make her brain a lot calmer :) two short walks ..and several training sessions, interactive toys , and some restriction on where she can access .... That's my 2c worth :) Edited August 24, 2012 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 She's a young active dog, why can she not be left outside? She'll be bored out of her brain locked in a house all day, so she'll make her own fun. I would never trust a 7 month old loose in the house for hours at a time nor expect her to control her bladder for all that time. She has now learnt that the house is a place to toilet in. So why not squat next to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte123 Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 Ok, I need to clarify few things. We live in an apartment with a massive tarrace, only tiles. Shes got one of those outdoor potty training parks that she has used since we got her at 8 weeks. She's been perfectly toilet trained, you could see her running faster to her mat after she had a drink. She knew exactly where to do her business. We do not want to lock her outside as there is no protection from rain (no roof) and tiles are not the nicest thing to be running on. We leave balcony door open so that she can be inside and outside anytime she wants. The reason why I think something is wrong is because she switched within one night from being normal (she had her moments) to an absolute nightmare. I just wanted to know if there might be something we can do to calm her down or get her busy with something while we are away. P.S. Problem is- she is not food driven. Kong was absolute waste of money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzy82 Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 She's a young active dog, why can she not be left outside? She'll be bored out of her brain locked in a house all day, so she'll make her own fun. And why would a dog not just make its own fun outside too? That's why there are so many dogs that bark, dig, escape and pull washing off the line. Inside or outside doesn't make any difference, you still need to provide entertainment for the dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 She had you home all day to be at her beck & call.now she suddenly has no one so yes she is pi**ed off ,doesn't mean its separation issues. She lives in an environment that is very limited to amuse herself,the house is her yard so anything in it is fair game ,i would count yourself lucky so far. She was good because you where there to tell her no or call her away,now its like leaving a 3 yr old in a room unattended for hrs with crayons & the likes & saying don't do anything ,it won't happen especially at this age. My current 8 months has just been possessed by Satan,she has an acre to run but she is being normal.she wants to experience new things & she is doing that ,she is also a delightful dog when not being her age . At 7 months dogs become little teenagers some stay angels some don't.She is a gundog & an active breed with a smart mind & you need to exercise her mind . As for giving her access to everything at this age good luck LOL Ours earn't the privilege but even now they are not allowed in the front of the house No dog is trained at 7 months & this is a big mistake people .she had you at home for guidance now she has to learn to do it alone & this can be a whole different training . It sounds like you need to make the balcony into a dog yard that is more fun for her so she can amuse herself, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 God, my dogs have eaten far more than that :laugh: What the others said, she's a teenager and she's bored. Possible her outdoor area isn't big enough?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 It sounds like you need to make the balcony into a dog yard that is more fun for her so she can amuse herself, please make sure that she can't leap over the balcony railing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 (edited) She's a young active dog, why can she not be left outside? She'll be bored out of her brain locked in a house all day, so she'll make her own fun. And why would a dog not just make its own fun outside too? That's why there are so many dogs that bark, dig, escape and pull washing off the line. Inside or outside doesn't make any difference, you still need to provide entertainment for the dog. only ever had one dog that tried the washing on the line and sure a few dug a few holes but on the whole, nope never had any real problems with them being outside on their own. If they felt like a bit of fun they could run around, chuck toys around etc, much less damaging being outside then allowed the run of the house. But as the OP has said she lives in an apartment it doesn't matter what happens outside. Edited August 24, 2012 by Rebanne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Yeah I agree, mine will occasionally dig a small hole, but they don't really wreck anything outside, they have more room to wrestle, run around and play with their toys. Inside is a whole different ball game.... :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sares Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I might have missed if this was said already but how much training do you do with her each day. I agree with the person who said it previously, doing some short but frequent training sessions might help keep her mentally stimulated a bit more. You said she is not food motivated - do you know what movitvates her? affection? toys? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCNut Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 (edited) I just wanted to know if there might be something we can do to calm her down or get her busy with something while we are away. P.S. Problem is- she is not food driven. Kong was absolute waste of money Did you introduce the kong slowly, as in make it really easy, successful and rewarding to start with? If the food inside isn't tasty enough or too difficult to get out pup can get frustrated and give up. I 'invested' in 7 kongs for my BC pup. He is the most anti food dog I have ever witnessed. When I go out I get his daily food amount and distribute it amongst them all leaving one with something more 'treaty' in one. They're always cleaned out when I get back. Wobblers are also awesome - feeding one piece of kibble at a time. And buster cubes, same deal. It is an expensive initial capital outlay but you will end up with a much calmer and entertained dog. I don't think she peed near you for the sake of spite. I believe dogs cant comprehend spite - its a human emotion. Its well documented in the literature that toilet training can deteriorate during adolesence (along with other things). I know I have returned to basics and foundation in some areas with my previously well trained dog. Luckily toilet training is not one of them, that must be frustrating. But all this certainly just sounds like teen spirit. Keep her occupied, interested and train through it you should get your perfect adult dog on the other side :) Edit: link to kong video Edited August 27, 2012 by caind01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Wow you are brave leaving a 7 month old retriever with full indoor access! At that age my dog (lab) was left outside or locked in the laundary only if we had to go out. She sounds like a normal dog- 6-7 months is the age when they have a lot of energy and use it creatively as well as test the boundaries. Personally I'd be limiting her to one room and remove anything you don't want destroyed. The toilet training is a hard one because you don't have a backyard but I'd say you'll have to go back to basics with her- basically retrain her the way you did when she was a young pup. You may want to hire someone to have a play with her and take her out for a short walk when you're at work. There are a few individuals and dog walking/pet sitting companies who will do this. When she gets older she can go for the longer walks/group walks. TBH I think its only fair to the dog if you have a large energetic breed like a goldie and live in an apartment and she doesn't have much space to run around in but thats just my opinion. We have a small backyard- my girl likes chasing birds, digging and ripping up trees but I do feel guilty the yard isn't large enough for her and I will hire a dog walker if she's going to be alone for more than 3 hours She will eat whats in her kong if she is hungry enough. All dogs are food motivated when they get hungry enough. Stop feeding her in a bowl and put her kibble in the kong or equivalent toy. When she gets used to this, you can start making the food in the kong harder to get to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 P.S. Problem is- she is not food driven. Kong was absolute waste of money If your dog eats then she has food drive. As far as the destruction and the toileting in the house - Have her checked for a bladder infection, if you can rule that out then she's probably NOT reliably toilet trained. Go back to square one and be consistent. Crate/confine the dog when you're not home. More mental exercise as opposed to physical wouldn't go astray either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Where does she get most of her food? As SK points out, any living dog is food driven - they need food to live. The problem is that most owners give their dog food for free so there is no incentive to work for their food (hey, if my boss paid me for no work I wouldn't want to work either!). My dogs work for every little bit of food. They never, ever get food for nothing. As a consequence they love training and love their treat toys (they still need to do some training before getting these). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest donatella Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 I had a 2kg dog do all this and more at that age and thankfully she calmed down at about 12 months of age. I got through it by baby gating her from any areas I didn't want her to have access too (ie no lounge or upstairs), rotating her toys, having training times and teaching her all the fun things like sit, shake, roll over etc and stimulating her mind and leaving a radio on in the background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W Sibs Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Sounds like your pup just hit teenage phase.. let the fun begin :p I don't think its separation anxiety, I think it's just to boredom. How much outside time she gets? Do you do a lot of training with her? Tired dog is a good dog. If not a Kong, have you considered getting a Bob A Lot? Bob A Lot I feed my pup his breakfast or lunch with this. He is hungry at meal time, he will do anything for his food. This will keep him amused for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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