What's Gotten Into Him?
It's been a while since I've spent much time on here since we've been living with the in-laws, waiting to be able to move into our new house but I thought I'd post this and hopefully get some input.
Finnigan is 1 year and 8 months now and he's been such a well behaved boy. When we were in our apartment he stopped pottying inside, only chewed maybe 2 or 3 things his whole life and did fine when left uncrated and alone.
For the last month we've been living at my in-laws and he's been good there too. He dribbled a few times the first week but that was it. All of a sudden just in this past week he's started acting up. We came home one night and he had torn up my husband's Grandma's bible she'd loaned him for a class and he'd left the bed. Tore both covers off and shredded and bunch of pages (and I'm sure at some of it). Two nights later we came home and he had torn/eaten an envelope on the bed. The next night it was those paint swatches from the hardware store and last night it was a packet of papers that was stapled together (luckily he didn't swallow the staple). I don't get it. It's always on the bed that he chews it and he knows it's wrong. He'll look guilty then when you walk in and see it then look at him he has his ears way back, his eyes as droopy as they can get and he's crouched down with one paw raised like if you blew at him he'd fall over.
He could have chewed a million books and papers at our apartment but he never touched them so why is he doing it now? My husband thinks he's mad at us for something.
Any ideas as to what's going on and what the best way is to correct the problem?
Finnigan is 1 year and 8 months now and he's been such a well behaved boy. When we were in our apartment he stopped pottying inside, only chewed maybe 2 or 3 things his whole life and did fine when left uncrated and alone.
For the last month we've been living at my in-laws and he's been good there too. He dribbled a few times the first week but that was it. All of a sudden just in this past week he's started acting up. We came home one night and he had torn up my husband's Grandma's bible she'd loaned him for a class and he'd left the bed. Tore both covers off and shredded and bunch of pages (and I'm sure at some of it). Two nights later we came home and he had torn/eaten an envelope on the bed. The next night it was those paint swatches from the hardware store and last night it was a packet of papers that was stapled together (luckily he didn't swallow the staple). I don't get it. It's always on the bed that he chews it and he knows it's wrong. He'll look guilty then when you walk in and see it then look at him he has his ears way back, his eyes as droopy as they can get and he's crouched down with one paw raised like if you blew at him he'd fall over.
He could have chewed a million books and papers at our apartment but he never touched them so why is he doing it now? My husband thinks he's mad at us for something.
Any ideas as to what's going on and what the best way is to correct the problem?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Hi Alice. Nice to see you!
Paper-shredding is a favorite pasttime of many dogs. I doubt he's mad at you. He might be bored, or he might be a little nervous or anxious. Once he shredded the first thing, he realized it was fun/ stress-relieving to do it, and now he's looking for stuff to shred.
Considering the stressful situation he's living in, right now if it were me I would strictly work on eliminating the possibility of him finding anything to shred. Make sure all papers and books are out of reach. You might try giving him a plain box or paper towel tubes or something, so he has something safe to shred up.
After you move and you are well-settled in and he's had a couple months adjustment, if he still does it you might trick him into catching him in the act by leaving something in reach and hiding out of sight, and if he goes for it then tell him "no!" so he realizes it's wrong.
My understanding is that when dogs look guilty after the fact, they don't necessarily know that it's wrong while they are doing it. They do look at the end result and associate that pile of shredded paper with your disappointment or anger and go into active appeasement mode (ears lowered, crouching posture, nose-licking, etc). But that does NOT mean that while Finn is chewing he's thinking "I know this is wrong and I'm doing it anyway." It does more likely mean that he's peacefully shredding, and then when you walk in the room he says "Whoops, mom is unhappy when she sees shredded paper, so I'll show her I accept her leadership by submitting to her." They've done some scientific studies that show dogs don't really feel guilt.
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Permalink Reply by Alice on
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Yeah, I wasn't convinced that he was mad at us but I don't know what it is. he gets just as much exercise and attention now. He has to stay gated off on one end of the house because of their dog but my in-laws take him out back and play with him and so do my husband and I. he may not like being gated off when he can hear people in the other room so that may cause some anxiety, I don't know. The only other changes are that he's been sleeping in our bed rather than his crate and isn't crated during the day either which I used to crate him half the work day previously. We tried crating him but since my father in law is home during the day, he keeps him out. They for some reason see the crate as mean. I wonder though if the lack of crating while he is still young and potentially rebellious could be contributing.
I had the same thought, that he did it the first time, realized it was enjoyable and now does it all the time. maybe we were just lucky he didn't realize he liked paper up until now. maybe he was possessed and the Devil made him destroy the bible, or maybe he just wanted to be spiritually fed!
We're working on painting our house now so we'll be moved in within a week and hopefully things will get better there. So we should allow at least a month for him to adjust to the new house? Any tips on bringing him in such as is it better to just let him go inside or keep him leashed for a walk through?
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Since you have access to the house now, it should be easy. I'm sure you are so busy, but if you can take some time to take Finn to the house a few times. Maybe bring a blanket or something and feed him there, or give him some peanut butter on a kong. Toss a ball for him. Just try to do it in a relaxed frame of mind. Let him walk around (on a leash) and get used to it before moving day.
When you are working there, you are bringing home the smell of the place on your own clothes, so be sure to let him sniff you and your things when you come back from the house.
When you do move, move him last and crate him during the move. Once you are there, give him the tour on the leash and correct him if he tries to mark. And then treat him like a puppy for the first week or so; don't leave him loose unsupervised. Crate or pen him if you are not there to watch, then gradually increase the areas he is allowed in unsupervised over the period of a week or so. Animals can feel overwhelmed if they have a big new area all to themselves and feel safer if they realize they only have to worry about their own tiny corner of the place til they get settled in.
He should be fine. Dogs tend to move fairly easily. You might want to have some canned pumpkin on hand in case of loose stools (you might even give it to him proactively, just in case). And take him on lots of short walks a day in case the nervousness makes his bowel loose or makes him need to pee more.
Good luck! Keep us posted!
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Here's a good article: a person did an experiment where she scattered her own trash on the ground and called the dog in. The dog saw the trash on the floor and instantly looked guilty, even though the dog hadn't done it!
http://www.dogguide.net/blog/2008/10/debunking-the-myth-dogs-feel-g...
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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From the corgi perspective (think human toddler) he was laying on the bed feeling a little bored and the book was there next his nose. "Hmmm,wonder what this tastes like. Interesting when I nibble on it pieces come off......" You get the picture. At his age he is still exploring and will amuse himself sometimes with the wrong things. Too bad he chose something important though. I always say puppies make you a much neater person. Lol
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Permalink Reply by Maddy & Keke on
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The first week that we moved into our new hse this yr, Keke peed on our bed. She have never done that and she also left her poo in our room :(
I have brought her to the new hse several times and everytime she acted scare.
So, it must be stressful to her.
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Ugh! Last night my husband and I left to get dinner and stop by the new house and when we got back Finn was laying by the gate looking very guilty and rolled over as we approached. I came to find out that he had chewed two of my shirts that we draped over the foot board of the bed and he chewed my shoelaces! The paper thing was bad enough but now he's chewing clothing? Honestly, this is so unlike him. Even as a little puppy he didn't do stuff like this and I don't get why he's been a perfect angel for a month living with my in-laws and now suddenly he's turned into a little devil.
I tried putting him in his crate as we were leaving but I came to find out that my husband's stepmom let him out just after we left because she felt bad for him. Bad for him? He's chewing my things! I crated him after discovering my torn up clothing and he didn't make a peep all night. I hope he understands what he did wrong though I can't say for sure that he does. It's very frustrating.
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Permalink Reply by Natalie, Lance &Tucker on
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Crating him for now when unsupervised is the best option that way he doesnt make a habit out of chewing stuff he shouldnt. It will help in the long run, maybe you could explain that to your husbands stepmom. Let her know you dont want him to develop a long time chewing problem. When corgis get bored they definately can get destructive. Better safe than sorry. Hang in there, you will figure it out Im sure. :) Maybe give Finn a frozen kong when you leave so he has something he can chew on, in the crate.
Check out this link for frozen kong ideas:
http://clickntreat.blogspot.com/
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Great, thanks! I'll check that out. he's definitely chewed more of his Nylabone since we've been living there so maybe he is bored. I just don't see how considering all the attention he gets. Maybe he's frustrated because he has to ge gated off while their dog roams free.
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Im starting to think that sometimes they need more mental stimulation than physical activity. Maybe you could even feed Finn his breakfast and dinner from an interactive toy that has him working for his food. Just a thought.
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Physical excercise is also very good too but the two of them together is even better.
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Permalink Reply by Michelle on
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I wonder if his lack of "Finn space" and change in routine has anything to do with this. We went through a phase like this and in all honesty my husband and I were running around so busy that we did not realize that the babies were feeling left out and neglected. We made a concentrated effort to give them some "quality" time, walking, sitting in the floor passing out lovies, speaking to and petting them when we walked in the door and the acting out stopped. Sometimes we humans just get so busy that we do not notice that our behavior has changed and that our behavior toward our doggies have changed.
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