How to stop my dog from throwing his tantrum?

Question

I have a 3 yo sheltie. Everytime we leave the house, he tries to stop us by barking and wanting to follow. Immediately after we are gone, he charges straight to the trash bin in the kitchen and knocks it over, throwing all the trash in the kitchen. I wld always take the bin and put it up on the sink and at times i forgot.

I cannot leave food on the kitchen counter. He wld take it down and eats it with my other old dog. I hv occassionally lost a few pounds of meat, loaves of bread etc, left on the counter to thaw and leftovers which i left to cool before i put in the refrigerator.

He really gets on my nerves and i am losing my patience. My husband wld get upset with me for losing my patience but not with the dog. He said he is normal.

Please tell me if you have any suggestion.

Thanks to all of your kind answers. I am not used to having a dog as a pet. This is my first experience.

First L, you are really hillarious. Your right though, sometimes i want to let my husband has a rosted dog dinner. Just kidding....I wldnt be able to do that, he is as heavy as me, i think.

Answer 1

Hi Sal,
I think that your dog(s) may suffer from separation anxiety. This is quite a common problem in dogs since by nature they are pack animals.

I've read through some of the things that people have suggested, such as using crates and shock collars. I didn't know that these things existed until recently, I think it must be an American thing, I've not come across any dog owner in my circle of acquaintance so far that uses any of these items!

I don't own a dog so can't speak from experience but I think those methods will cause even more stress to your dog on top of the anxiety separation that it already experiences.

There are some websites that give advice on separation anxiety and how to deal with it. It takes time and patience but it doesn't seem impossible. Basically what you need to do is to make yourself less available to your dogs when you are at home, so that they get used to being alone and becoming more independent.

If you Google "separation anxiety in dogs" you should get lots of helpful advice. I've copied out a few of the links below.
Best of luck and don't give up!
chirpy

Answer 2

Two things I'd try.

Never leave food out under any circumstances. We have a no dog in the kitchen rule in our house (the dogs are trained not to walk past a certain point - took time but they learned it by putting them in a down-stay right at the edge of the kitchen - we have a few dog-free rooms). We reinforce this rule by never leaving any food out on counters and never feeding human food. This helps reinforce that there's nothing in the kitchen for the dogs of any interest. Same goes for the trash. It's out of reach at all times. Can you put the trash can in a cabinet and put a child safety latch on it? the dogs are just waiting for you to forget - they know you do and are counting on it - so make it so you don't forget. With dogs, everything is about consistency.

Another option is to crate train your dog? We crate trained our dogs as puppies mainly for housebreaking, and though they don't need it anymore, it also stopped a lot of puppy damage until they learned their manners and gave use a lot of peace of mind. This is a good site that will help you.

Answer 3

I would consider crate-training your dog. Start putting him in a crate when you leave, for say, three days. Then let him out in the house. If he goes back to trashing the place, it's back in the crate for another three days. Dogs are smart - he'll learn that if he doesn't want to be in doggy jail, he will behave.

Some people think crating is horrible, so let me say you SHOULDN'T do it when you're home and perfectly capable of policing your dog. But it's a good way to stop bad behavior, and once he learns his lesson, the crate can go away and you'll have a more mellow dog.

Answer 4

my 3 month cocker spaniel did the same thing! he would whine and cry out loud while we are gone and the neighbors in the other apartments would hear him, when we come back the dog food bowl is turned over, food and water on the floor, and his house-training pad is all bunched up grrr it makes me mad. And he messed up the carpet, like he ripped it off the floor and needs to be glued back down. He learned to get over it though but for a 3 year old i dont know what to do!
I think you should put everything that he would knock over out of sight before u leave.

Answer 5

Simple crate training will prevent this.

Who is in charge of your home, you or the dog? Put him in the crate and he will be safe. Give him a toy to chew on and he will have something to do while you are gone. Problem solved.

The crate protects the dog from the house and the house from the dog. Not to mention, all the aggravation...

Answer 6

Is it possible to block off the kitchen so your dog can't get into it? Is it possible to keep your dog either locked in a crate or another area of the house while you are away?

If none of these are possible, how about leaving leftovers on top of the fridge? As for the garbage, I would maybe put it into the cupboard under the sink with a child type lock so they can't get to it.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Simple answer ...
Crate your dog when you leave him home alone. It's the safest place for a dog to be. Your dog and your possessions will be safe.
Also exercise your dog more. Shelties are high energy dogs that need an outlet to release pent up energy. A tired dog is usually a well behaved dog.
Good luck.

Answer 8

You need to get a crate. It helps with house breaking like nobody's business. There are tons of articles out there on this subject but the best way is to go to a Petsmart or other ike store where they can help you fit one, use t for training and give you pointers on all your needs.

Answer 9

The dog is under-exercised and hyper. Start walking him for 30 min. twice a day. That will help burn off some energy... If you can jog with him, that's even better.

Also, get a Buster Cube and some Kongs to help give him something to do when you leave.

Answer 10

Get a indoor electric barrier http://www.amazon.com/Innotek-ZND-1200-Instant-Barrier-Receiver/dp/B000A76ZYS/ref=pd_bbs_2/105-5768635-6814823?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1188228487&sr=1-2 You can set the range to give him free range of certain parts of the house, but keeping the kitchen off limits. After a few times he tries to go in there he will learn that it is off limits when you are not present. Test it out while you are at home first. It is better than crating him, because he will still have some range for movement and won't bark continously until you get home.

Another option is to fence in your yard and leave him outside while you are gone, weather permiting of course.