How can I stop my Old English Bulldog Puppy from chewing everything when she is left home alone?

Question

My puppy is about 7 months old and very sweet. She is extremely well behaved and completely potty trained. We tend to spoil her and take her with us everywhere and she is constantly around people. Since we got her, she has rarely been left home alone. We used to lock her in the kitchen (only for short periods of time)using a baby gate, but also leaving her access to the back yard. Once she got big enough she learned to jump over the gate and started to destroy anything and everything she could get her mouth on in the house. She was looking for things to destroy, things she wouldnt even bother with or notice if we were home with her. She knew what she was doing was wrong. The second we would come home to find her mess, she would be cowering under the table or running away scared. My questions is this...other than the obvious punishments (bad dog, shown the mess, locked outside), how can I cure her of this habit? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

My puppy is about 7 months old and very sweet. She is extremely well behaved and completely potty trained. We tend to spoil her and take her with us everywhere and she is constantly around people. Since we got her, she has rarely been left home alone. We used to lock her in the kitchen (only for short periods of time)using a baby gate, but also leaving her access to the back yard. Once she got big enough she learned to jump over the gate and started to destroy anything and everything she could get her mouth on in the house. She was looking for things to destroy, things she wouldnt even bother with or notice if we were home with her. She knew what she was doing was wrong. The second we would come home to find her mess, she would be cowering under the table or running away scared. My questions is this...other than the obvious punishments (bad dog, shown the mess, locked outside), how can I cure her of this habit? Is there any way OTHER than crate training? Thanks.

She has plenty of toys around the house and scattered into the backyard. She is destroying things on purpose, such as gettin gon the table and shredding magazines, books, eating the stems off pumpkins (all things she doesnt even pay attention to if we are around). She is very smart and is completely potty trained. I am convinced she destroys these things as a punishment to us for leaving her alone. Our goal is to be able to leave her in the house to wander around and out the doggy door at her own will while we are at work. I think it would be too long to leave her locked in a crate for the 8 hours before we get home. We could potentially just leave her outside, but there is no overhand and the weather is sometimes extreme.

Answer 1

I worked with a professional dog trainer for a period of time and one way that can help this is bye leaving the house for a few minutes. Leave your dog in the home and leave for several minutes, a short enough period of time so your dog will not begin to destroy things. When you walk back in give your dog a pet and a very mild praise. Then increase the time you are gone to maybe 15 minutes. Make sure to put away things that do not need to be out if possible. I have an American Bulldog who had a MAJOR problem with destroying things. My dad would leave her in the house for hours and she would destroy, literally, dozens of pillows. If you are careful enough with time allowances your dog should begin to stop. You could also try letting your dog have free wander of the house at night after some of the training, but for now keeping her in a crate away from at night so you may get her used to you being gone.

Answer 2

Crate training is the best way. I have an English Bulldog puppy of the same age. You can buy the bitter apple spray to use as a deterrent to chewing, but that only works as long as it's wet. When you can't watch her, she needs to be in the crate. It's not cruel. Once she gets used to the crate, she'll feel like its her own little personal space away from everyone else.
Also, there's no point in punishing her once the damage is done. Unless you catch her chewing on something right in front of you, she won't associate your punishment with her behavior. Although you may think she's cowering or running away, dogs just don't think that way.

Answer 3

My friend had a bulldog years ago that was exactly the same way. Hers was considered to have separation anxiety. They kept him crated when they were not home, which is a good way to keep chewing under control. In my friends case, they ultimately decided he needed more people time than they could give him and he went back to the breeder to be found a home that could accomodate his needs.

Crate training is probably your best source to stop this behavior as it is very possibly due to separation anxiety (tho there could be other things involved).

Answer 4

It's a stage, keep her out of places with chewable stuff. Keep chewable thing out of the way. Keep her in an area with very little objects to chew on. Only give her the toys. If you need to keep the dog in a crate most of the time and supervise when shes not in it. when you do catch her chewing clap your hand loud and say "Nuh uh", just to get her attention away, if you can't get her attention, and when the attentions away take the object away and replace with a toy. Or just take it and replace, whether or not she has your attention, but make sure to say no when you do it so she knows. English bulldogs are a stubborn breed, just live and learn!

Answer 5

I've learned that my dogs hate a "short" leash in a very isolated area in the backyard... boredom kicks in after a couple hours and they start whining. After the whines I wait about another hour and let them loose. I always be sure to bring them to the damage and show it to them before I punish them. That way they're not confused as to why they are tied up all be themselves... and be sure to use the word NO a lot. They understand that after a while. My mastif/american bulldog mix is about 7 months also and I can leave him inside the house by himself with sneakers laying around. When I come back, everything is still in order. My other is a pit/boxer and he's well trained with that method also - he's already 2 years old. Oh, and don't forget to reward her when she does good... Good Luck!!

Answer 6

Your dog is mad at you! She is taking it out on you the only way she knows how, by destroying your stuff.
A dog like this is usually babied. Oh there is nothing wrong with loving your dog! My Mr. spoiled his dogs rotten and one even dragged the couch over to the door to take it outside! His books were destroyed! They even destroyed the front door because they could. If he did not close his bedroom door they would drag all the bedding outside. I was his neighbor and watched from my house as they did this. These are English Mastiff dogs which are a good 170 pounds and are HUGE.
If you and your pooch went through puppy class or even secondary class to teach you and your pooch who is the alpha "dog" in the house I bet your pooch would learn you are boss.
If no time you need to learn to kennel your dog since the kitchen is no longer a option. You could pretend to leave your house, watch from the window and when she goes to tear something up scare the crud out of her. Keep doing this till she thinks twis about tearing up whatever she has at the moment, this is a quick way of dealing with problem.....another quick fix is that chemical they sell at the pet place called bitter apple, or something equivalent to it.
Other wise she is very angry that she is left behind! From the bulldogs I have been around they can be "bull" headed as well...
If I remember correctly these are one of the top dogs who get stolen so be careful about this as well! They sell for so much....Mr. would and still does have the lock on the gate. He used to lock it up when ever he left for work so when his dogs were pups they would not get stolen...
Good luck!

Answer 7

If you are really against crate training, try putting 2 gates up. If she can jump over two gates on top of each other, you have a very talented dog! I used to have to double gate one of my pups in the kitchen too. If there are certain things she chews on that you know of, spray them with bitter apple. Dogs do not like the taste and if you keep up the spraying, they will associate the object with the bad taste. It sounds too like she might suffer from separation anxiety. Have you tried leaving on a radio and/or tv while you are not home? Dogs hate silence. Give that a try. There are also scents that you can get from pet stores that are suppose to calm pets suffering from separation anxiety. Good luck!

Answer 8

Crate-training is a wonderful tool. Besides being an effective housebreaking tool (because it takes advantage of the dog's natural reluctance to soil its sleeping place), it can also help to reduce separation anxiety, to prevent destructive behavior (such as chewing furniture), to keep a puppy away from potentially dangerous household items (i.e., poisons, electrical wires, etc.), and to serve as a mobile indoor dog house which can be moved from room to room whenever necessary.

Answer 9

definetly crate her when u are gone! that way,she cant get out and destroy everything. otherwise give her lots and lots of chew toys. puppies get bored just like kids do and then will destroy things. as for you bringing her everywhere with you, she got used to that and is now probably suffering from seperation anxiety when you leave the house. please get your puppy used to being home alone for longer periods of time too. she will need to get used to this since there are times you may be gone for long periods of time that you cant take your dog with you.

Answer 10

Buy a large cage or crate to put her in. Give her a treat (A handful of Cheerios or something light) when you and she will gladly go in. When you are around, you are there to tell her what to do and what not to do and she feels secure. When you are gone she has no higher order in her "pack" to tell her what to do and she feels insecure. It is strange, but dogs do not think like people. Punishment will most likely be ineffective. She tears up things to occupy her time and overcome her insecurity. The cage will set boundaries and she will feel more secure.