I have 2 dogs that unless always entertained they will tear anything in their site up. During the day they stay in the back yard and have access to our garage for those cool or hot days. They have eaten holes in the dry wall, the 2X4's, dig holes in the yard, eat the little trees trying to grow in the back yard, and just today dug up our water sprinkler line and busted it and water was going everywhere. I don't see them do any of this so how can I punish them after the fact. Will they remember what they did if it happened hours before. I don't know how to get them to stop. We give them so much attention while we are home. Unless we are gone they are inside all the time and even sleep with us at night. How can I teach them not to do these things??? We have given them tons of toys and bones but that doesn't seem to matter.
2006-09-27 12:10:22 · 15 answers · asked by Angie 2 in Pets ➔ Dogs
They sound like spoiled children. I would teach them not to dig by burying something they want, cover the area just beneath the surface with lots of pepper and let them get their snout full of that and see what they think about digging.
2006-09-27 12:13:53 · answer #1 · answered by fun_guy_otown 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Punishing after that fact does little good as it does not teach them anything as they have no clue as to what they did wrong.
It sounds like you could use the help of a behavioral trainer to tackle a few of these things at a time.
If they are this destructive all the time I would crate them in the garage when you are gone so that you have a house left when you get there. It would also serve as protection for them so they do not hurt themselves.
Depending on the age and breed of the dogs some get better with age and do not dig as much or do as much damage but these two sound like they are pretty uncontrolable.
2006-09-27 19:22:42 · answer #2 · answered by tlctreecare 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
These dogs sound like they have some serious behaviour issues. First of all, you cannot punish a dog unless you catch him in the act - the dog has no way to associate punishment with something he did even 10 minutes ago. Dogs live in the present.
How old are these dogs? What breed? It sounds to me like you've got 2 seriously bored dogs and, of course, if you have more than 1 dog, they just egg each other on. You need to work on training these dogs, get them really tired out every day both mentally (obedience or agility) and physically. In the meantime, to protect your yard, they need to be confined to crates or even exercise pens.
2006-09-27 19:35:30 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is it possible that your dogs are bored when you are not there? In my experience dogs will often show destructive behavior when bored or when upset over being left alone. I would suggest confining the area they are allowed to be in when you are not there. A dog run ? Could you crate them when you are gone? I used to have a shepherd that would chew MY shoes when I would leave her- nobody elses shoes-just mine. She would also poop in the basement when I left. I never punished her but I did point out the problem and started crating her until we worked out her separation anxiety.She became the best dog I ever had.
2006-09-27 19:31:44 · answer #4 · answered by june.johnston 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your dogs sound like they are bored. Perhaps you should build them a kennel for while you are away. That way your yard and garage will not be destroyed while you are gone. Then when you get home you can bring them in and do what you and your dogs usually do.
2006-09-28 02:30:42 · answer #5 · answered by kittykat 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Are they puppies?
What breed of canines are they?
You must catch them in the act to punish them...later they want remember.
We bought 2 Large dogs that was trained by a DEA officer. They were good as long as we were home. We went off a day & came home to find they had eatten up a very EXP. motorcycle seat. My husband left the seat down so they could go after it again & he hide & watched them. When they started chewing on seat again, HE TOOK HIS LEATHER BELT & BEAT THEIR ***.....They never tore another thing up. They are 10 yrs old today & are very good.
2006-09-28 06:28:32 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try giving them EXERCISE.They're destroying everything because they're bored.
Take them somewhere they can RUN off-leash every day for at least 45 minutes before you leave them for the day.
A tired dog sleeps.It does'nt destroy things.
I have'nt had anything ruined since we got our second dog.But when the one destroyed something I'd show him what he'd done and scolded him while I shook my finger at him.
My husband yelled at him and he'd walk away but when I pointed he knew he'd done bad.He'd hang his head and turn it away from me acting most uncomfortable.
I think both of my dogs would take a beating rather than have a finger pointed at them.
2006-09-28 08:47:25 · answer #7 · answered by misbehavin165 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Confinement works best, build a dog run.
But the dog would have to understand that it was doing something wrong before punishment would do any good.
2006-09-27 19:14:08 · answer #8 · answered by tom l 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
just pleaze dont hit them its not their fault i mean my dog spike eats eveything i mean it chairs., digs holes, bits the moldings on the wals, plays wid imprtant papers, eats our hoework, ters up expensive shoes, bites on clothes and socks...dam i can go on forever but we love him so much we dont get him inrotuble we just go and get brand new things....but what u can do is buy a spray thingy bottle, [they sell them at the staore for like 1 buk empty so tat u fill it and then put water in in and when they do somein bad just spray them and tell them wat they did wrong and then for the next time they will know tat when you take it out they are doing sometin wrong.
2006-09-27 19:20:58 · answer #9 · answered by ▌«♥dσσdette♥«▐ 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
try giving them some outside toys to play w/ if u havent already and see if they play w/ those instead of tearing up stuff
2006-09-27 19:19:40 · answer #10 · answered by fleagurl2000 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋