Need advice on how to deal with dog's destructiveness

SunBride · February 27, 2009

My beagle is almost 2 years old and has destructive habits. We thought he would grow out of it but we are loosing hope. The past week has been way worse than usual and we don't know why or what to do about it.

A bit of background...

Our dog was never crate trained, my husband didn't want to. I know people have different opinions about crate training, some think it's so good for the dogs and they actually enjoy it (they are calmer than if they have the run of the house) others think it's cruel. In our particular situation, we didn't think it was a good idea because we are gone for long days (we are away for about 10 hours a day, although for the first few weeks my husband would stay home for half the day, and the next 2 months we paid a neighbourhood girl to come let him out midway through the day, although it still wasn't enough, he coudln't even hold it for 2-3 hours for the first couple months. But he has been house trained since being 3.5 months old).

So the dog was kept in the entrance with baby gates (it's large enough that he has plenty of space to roam around). After about 6-8 months we started letting him have the run of the 1st floor (baby gates blocking the upstairs) while we were at work because he was getting better and not destroying stuff as much.

So from the time the dog was about 1 year until now, he has been destroying stuff a few times a month, like maybe an average of 2-3 times a month. About half the time it's when we are home (i.e. he'll go in another room and eat my bra, my husband's hat, a book, earphones, etc). We try to keep an eye on him while we are home but once in a while we forget and sometimes he destroys stuff. The other half the time it's when we are not home. We are careful about not leaving stuff lying around (we "puppy proof" the house before leaving) but sometimes we miss something, for example pens, a pad of paper, etc. We never leave clothes or shoes around when we are not home. The good thing is, he never touched the furniture or stuff that is always in the living room, like the wii, dvd player, stack of movies, remotes and phone which are all on the entertainment unit or coffee table well within his reach.

So last week he ate the phone (Very unusual, it's always been there and he never touched it). Saturday he pulled a bag of bagels off the counter and ate them all (somewhat unusual, although he does often "counter surf" so if I left them within reach on the counter it's not totally unusual). Monday he ate a remote control (very unusual, it's always been there and he never touched it). Yesterday I had left the pantry open and he destroyed 2 boxes of ziplock bags (not all that unusual and luckily cheap to replace).

So the weird thing here is that it's happened 4 times in a week, and that 2 of those incidences were items he never touched before even though they were always available. We can't think of any reason that would have made him act out this week (no changes in the routine or anything unusual at home).

So we decided to go back to restricting him to the entrance with the baby gates. We are really disappointed it has come to this, as he has been allowed on the main floor for almost a year now. It's very inconvenient (putting up the gates, which chip the paint at the edges, and also the pillow lying in the entrance) and more importantly it's sad that he has regressed to this point.

We don't know what to do to stop this behaviour. When we catch him doing it, we let him know he's a bad dog in a stern voice, but we don't hit him. We used to only discipline him if we caught him in action (as we were told that dogs don't understand if you are punishing them after the fact) but now we never catch him anymore, it's always way later, so we do punish him by showing him the destroyed item/mess he made.

He's got several toys to chew on (nylabones, real bones, other toys), he gets lots of exercise (walked twice a day for 20-30 mins) and we do what we can to minimize his seperation anxiety (try not to make a big deal out of depatures, give him a treat in his kong to distract him as we leave, and don't go overly crazy with hellos when we get back). I don't think it's seperation anxiety related (although it could be) I think it's more than he loves the feeling of destroying stuff. He still loves to chew and he loves to play tug a war and hear his rope or blankee rip. He loves to rip paper (obviously I don't let him, but when he gets his paws on some) and was really bad about making a mess out of toilet paper, before I changed all the garbages to ones with lids in the past couple months.

Does anyone have any other ideas as to what we could do about this?

Overall I would say he is a fairly well behaved dog (some say very well behaved and others think he's average). He listens very well to commands (sit, stay, go to your mat, comes when called, although sometimes with a bit of a delay!) and is a fairly calm dog (doesn't jump up on people too much, doesn't run around like crazy unless playing, sleeps a lot,). The destructiveness is by far the worse thing about him. The only other bad habit is that he begs/jumps up for food (i.e. sniffing what's on the counter although he can just barely reach, hangs out in the kitchen when I'm preparing food, bugs us when we eat on the couch).

lauraandmatt · February 27, 2009

I have a three year old boxer who has seperation anxiety issues similar to yours! She has eaten shoes, remote controls, magazines and books. She was in a crate till she was 1. From 1-2, she had the run of the kitchen with the baby gate. I thought that her issues would get better if she could look out the window, so she now has the run of the lower level. She's 70lbs so she needs a lot of exercise! It sounds like your dog is getting two walks a day, but I wonder if that's enough. My dog becomes destructive when she does not get enough exercise. I now take her to doggy day care twice a week. We usually go to the dog park but if it's too wet, she has a 30 min walk. I've read the books and searched the internet too for solutions!! I don't want to resort to the medications to calm the dog down. I would suggest trying longer walks or trying to tire her out with a ball. I know that it's expensive, but the doggy day care has been a lifesaver to me! (we both work long hours too) Good luck!

binzer · February 27, 2009

Your dog definitely has major separation anxiety. If you look at info on the beagle breed, you will find that they are not ideal for being left home all day, as they are definitely companion animals. As a result, you are going to have to work extra hard with your dog to keep it happy.

Unfortunately 40 minutes of exercise is not that much for a young beagle (especially if you have a high energy one). You probably want to be aiming for something closer to an hour and a half. Ideally you would take your dog out for about an hour in the morning before work, and then another half an hour when you got home.

You should also leave your dog something to keep him busy while you're gone. I recommend buying a bunch of Kongs or other food puzzles and filling them with treats before you go (you could also get him some chew sticks of some kind). There are even things you can buy that willl release kongs on a timer so that your dog can gradually receive them throughout the day.

You should also make sure to sneak out when you leave, and not make a big deal of it when you get home. If coming and going is a quiet affair your dog is far less likely to experience anxiety. I know it's hard not to act really excited when you get home and see that wagging tail, but if you act like it's a big deal, the dog thinks it's a big deal.

There is definitely no point in punishing the dog after the fact. Out of curiosity...how do you discipline him when you catch him in the act? Ideally, you want to avoid situations where he can even get into major trouble. Treat him like a puppy, and keep him in sight! If you see him going for something that isn't a toy, tell him no, give him a toy, and praise him when he's playing with appropriate items.

Your dog doesn't sound too badly trained, but you may want to watch or read some of Cesar Milan's dog training stuff, because it really works well on dogs such as yours.

In general, try to exercise your dog more (especially before you go to work), engage with him more at home (play with him, talk to him, encourage good behavior) and always try to establish that you are the leader of the pack.

Also keep in mind that your dog is doing all of this because he is anxious and unhappy when you're gone. Crating him isn't going to make him less happy...he'll just sleep. You could also give him a very small area where he can't run, but has access to some kongs/chews and a bed. This will give him something to do, but encourage him to keep his energy level low. You can also try crating him or giving him short time-outs when you catch him behaving badly. He needs to know that when he does the wrong thing, play-time is over.

Beagles are generally prone to becoming neurotic (as are many intelligent dogs who love their people) and there isn't going to be any quick fix (as a result, many beagles end up re-homed). You are really going to have to work at this, and if all else fails, I recommend hiring a dog trainer for some one-on-one time.

binzer · February 27, 2009