I Can't Do It Anymore

[Miss BeRidgierent]

Reading this thread I feel guilty and need to make an open apology to my magnificent boy "Rocky" a 13 month old big Rhodesian Ridgeback. Rocky, I thought you were being naughty when you do not instantly follow a direction. I realise now you are an absolute champion, you have free run of the house and the yard yet have not broken, or knocked over anything in the house and our house is full of trinckets and shirts left hangin up after ironing. While Rocky has been challenging to train, so far he walks beautifully on the lead and when released off the lead responds on recall. SO sorry Rocky for me making unreasonable expectations of you and on the way home I am going to pick up a BBQ Chicken just for you simpley because you are the dog that you are! "I love you Rocky"

Rocky has displayed a very independent streak and is very confident in temperament. In the beginning from an 8 week old pup he resisted me being Alpha, however he never got away with anything and from day one NILIF was applied. Gentle and firm guidance have always been used with Rocky. We use the positive training methods as our philosophy but the cornerstone of our relationship with Rocky has has been routine and consistency.

Good luck to all of you with your dogs.

Please come and post some pics of your boy in the Ridgeback thread (found in the breed sub forums)

[Dame Aussie]

I feel your pain Kirty, it's so upsetting when they do things like this.

When Mosley was a pup he ripped up the carpet in our rental property ripped the lino in the kitchen and pulled the phone point out of the wall, got into the pantry (don't even ask me how as the door had a knob not a handle) and ate EVERYTHING in there, pissed on our bed and ripped the mattress to pieces, clawed all the doors in the house and got into some paint I didn't even know we had and spilt it on the carpet.....

When he was settling for the night he would slowly turn his head and start chewing on whatever furniture was in reach......

He's almost 2 now and is soooooo much better, but we still can't leave him inside unsupervised.

[tez]

Thank God for DOL so we can vent to people who understand not only what it is like to live with our "Devils Sporn Dogs" but also why we still love them to bits and persist and persist and persist with them!

I was telling someone at work about Jane's latest escapade and she looked at me in all seriousness and asked me why didn't I just get rid of her I was so shocked that I was speechless for a sec before I could reply!

Edited July 9, 2010 by tez

[all that glitters]

Any tips how to NOT end up with a destructo dog? I thank DOG for my blessed shepherd I have *touchwood* she can be left in the entire house unattended and touches NOTHING, how do I ensure my next dog is the same?

[Inka3095]

My beagle has been reading this thread I believe.. and it has given her bad ideas....

We leave her in the spare bathroom when we're out because I'm too nervous she'll escape in the backyard unsupervised (she likes a good dig). So far this hasn't been a problem. Came home this afternoon, opened the front door saying her name, looking forward to seeing her, yay! Went to open the door to the bathroom but the handle wouldn't open... stood there stupidly for a few good seconds, trying the door over and over before it sank in that she had locked herself into the room. We have push locks on the inside of our bathrooms which I gather she had pushed in whilst attacking the door from the inside.

She was most unimpressed as I tried to explain to her what was going on. Could only push a strap under the door as a small measure of solace while I waited for my bf to get home. Half an hour later, an amused bf and a very disgruntled beagle waged war upon this innocent door. Eventually, after dismantling the entire handle, we sprung miss Abby out.

First thing I saw was a sodden hand towel on the ground with a chunk of it lying next to the towel proper. "BOTHER" exclaimed I, "I forgot to put that away this morning." Then my eyes roamed to the destroyed rubber plug. "BOTHER" says I once more. Didn't even know that was out. Then I hear a quiet "what the hell" from the bf. It takes a little while, but I soon realise the chunk of towel is not a chunk of towel. It's a chunk of the wall. Then my horrified eyes find the scene of the damage. In a 95% tiled room she has found the only wooden section and chewed and scratched a large chunk out of the moulded door frame/arcatrave and left long gouge marks from her claws up the sides of the wall and a part of the door.

Bf no longer amused. I am no longer amused. This is a rental property. =(

Crate training is now of utmost priority....

[dancinbcs]

Any tips how to NOT end up with a destructo dog? I thank DOG for my blessed shepherd I have *touchwood* she can be left in the entire house unattended and touches NOTHING, how do I ensure my next dog is the same?

Bascially, destructive dogs are born that way and they can be in the same litter as a perfect angel of a puppy that never destroys a thing. A lot of it is just luck of the draw. The start of the behaviour can usually be seen by about 6-7 weeks in a puppy that is always busy and is already digging and chewing more than it's littermates. Having said that though there are ways to reduce the amount of destruction.

Some tips for raising puppies.

1. Never give a puppy access to anywhere until it earns the priviledge. Keep it securely confined where it cannot do any damage unless it has your undivided attention so it doesn't develop a habit of destroying things. The same principle applies to housetraining. Don't let the puppy make a mistake. Don't take your eyes off it even for a second until you know it can be trusted 100%. Every mistake it makes is a positive re-enforcement to do that again.

2. Provide lots of toys that the puppy can destroy and teach it the difference. Praise lavishly when puppy is playing with or destroying his own possessions and give a meaningful growl if he even looks like tasting anything else. Just providing toys is not enough. You must actively teach the difference of what is allowed and what is not. My two angels (ages 6 and 9 yrs) that never destroy anything and have the run of the house know that if Ihand them something they can tear it up. Today I unpacked some new cookware and gave them two cardboard disks that they happily shredded but they wouldn't dream of touching any other cardboard item in the house.

3. Teach puppies self control. Just like toddlers, puppies find controlling their own actions difficult. Do lots of practice on stay exercises, especially lying still on their side until you release them, to teach calmness. Remember to praise when the puppy is just lying calmly in the house. Many owners are quick to reprimand for wrong behaviour but forget to praise the desired behaviour. Praise desirable behaviour even if you didn't ask for it.

4. Teach the command "leave" with toys to start with and progress to food, until the dog will spit out anything in it's mouth. The leave command can also be used if you catch the dog about to touch something it shouldn't.

5. Provide chronic chewers with tough things to chew. Large bones, a chunk of safe firewood, etc. I had one large piece of firewood that was chewed by several generations until it was reduced by about half and looked more like petrified wood.

6. Provide plenty of exercise and training time. A tired puppy is a good puppy.

[Snowysal]

Oh dear Kirty

It seems we all have our lists of destruction , Ive seen an entire huge expensive soft toy collection transformed into a 3 foot high pile of 'snow'stuffing and random arms, legs, tails ears and eyes.

Lost count of how many lounges and chairs have 'bitten'the dust.Other random pieces of household furniture.

2 full wall size plate glass windows fell victim to the dogs Nija moves around the lounge room.

metres of carpets,metres of arcatrave, doors and door handles, fences and gardens.Flyscreens do not last 30 seconds.

We have 3 GSP's one of whom is a darling but the most complusive thief on the planet . Currently lying on the lounge next to me - If I left the room something - anything would disappear from the kitchen - it always does.

So we crate and we shut them in damage control spaces and we have resorted to K9Force in Sydney. We got great advice and techniques that worked on some issues we were experiencing. Life this week is calm - who knows what the future holds.

Hang in there - do what you need to so you recover and step up.I feel for you - that anger is a terrible feeling.

[Kirty]

I'm pleased to report that Champa has recovered from his ordeal. I unfortunately came down with gastro two days ago so have been stuck in bed and unable to tackle the garage. My husband was not happy to find his games room trashed. The deal when we bought the house was that the garage was an 'animal free zone'. Oops.

[Snowysal]

Good to hear Champa has recovered and you too.....dog enclosure complete with concreted no dig out fenced panels and maybe the curry powder or vicks vapour rub or something similar to coat the garage in.Something that stings or burns lightly without damaging the dog.