I HATE MY DOG!!!
Ok, I admit, I am writing this in a fit of passion and I'm sure hate is a bit strong for what I am really feeling but I need your help! I'm going to be totally honest here, at this point and time I CAN'T STAND KIRBY! He is a terror. I'm sure most of you saw my post of him on the kitchen counter, as funny as that was it was just a quick example of hurricane Kirby and I'm at my wits end and don't know what to do with him. He makes Marley (of Marley and Me) look like an angel. Today I came home to find my absolute favorite sandals in the whole world chewed to pieces. He has chewed 2 phone chargers, a blue tooth, pulled textbooks and novels off my bookshelf and shredded them, chewed the bottom out of a chair, climbed on the counter and shredded and/or ate everything he could find, ate an entire bag of ranch sunflower seeds and the list goes on and on.
By now you are probably thinking "why dont' you confine him?" I've tried. He is a little Houdini and escapes any confinement I can put him in. I haven't crated him for a full day yet because honestly I am worried about him tearing toenails or breaking teeth trying to get out of his crate in addition to eating his bedding and peeing/pooping all over the crate. He has escaped ex-pens (extra tall ones) and babygates, I can't lock him in any room because he climbs up on bookshelves and counters and could likely open cupboards. He was fine with free range of the house for the first few weeks I had him so I don't know what his deal is. He has a million toys and gets plenty of exercise so that's not the issue. I can't reprimand him because I rarely ever catch him in the act so I don't know how to teach him this IS NOT OK. Especially eating my favorite shoes :-( I am so sad about that.
Anyway, advice? Suggestions? Stories? I'm wanting to stick it out with this dog but honestly I'm having a hard time even LIKING him at this point because he has done very little to make me want to keep him. Maybe even support or stories of bad dogs gone good?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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the calming chews are essentially rescue remedy in chew form. Hopfully it works
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Permalink Reply by Cindi & Twinkie on
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I was really hoping that I would check back today and see an update about how you were wrong about Kirby and that is was a strange one-time thing. I wish you both good luck. I hope you remember that you are a gifted dog trainer and maybe he is with you because you are the only one who can train him and keep him safe.
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Cindi, I'm just crossing my fingers that I can write an update like that in the near future! He and Franklin were playing quite bit this morning which makes me really happy to see. Makes it worth it to see Franklin having so much fun with his new buddy. I just have to keep remembering those fun play times when I come home to a disaster from doggie destructo.
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Permalink Reply by Roger/Laurie on
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Kirby sounds like our Tenbys evil twin. The chewing was terrible.....he ate a loveseat, couch, coffee table and everything you named. We couldn't crate him. He came from rescue and had been caged his entire 6 months of life. Any crate or pen would send him in to hysterics. One trainer felt his chewing was just stress release. He is still a chewer at 5 years old. We have at least 8 Nylabones around the house in every room. He has learned (almost) that is what he needs to chew. He really, really enjoys chewing, sometimes at night he will wake me up with his chewing on a bone. We still pickup shoes and clothing and try very hard not to leave things where he can get to them. Our only saving grace is Chepstow. Whenever Tenby starts chewing on something or does something he shouldn't be doing, Chepstow come running. He is such a tattletale. Honestly there were times during the first 18 months that I thought rescing him was the worst thing we had ever done. And yet it was the best thing that happened to him.
He still is our "free spirited wild child", we love him, we get mad and frustrated at him..........and he still loves us so much.
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hmmm this isn't very inspiring! Lol. I dont' think I can handle Kirby's antics for another 5 years. He is a TERROR!
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Permalink Reply by Kimberlie on
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My girl is very similar. Even though she is low energy in the house when we are home she would get into tones of trouble while we are out. She still isn't great yet there is still a ways to go but it is bearable/livable. Both of the corgi's get lots of exercise which is good enough for Rhun but not Adora.
First piece of advice is exercise isn't always enough mental stimulation is just as important. Teaching adora new tricks and take a few minutes a day to work on tricks with her helped mental stimulate her.
Secondly switching things up a bit, keep them thinking (when is she going to be home, i wonder is there is toy/treat hidden, where am i going to be today, what toys will i get to play with today?). Someone told me that if you give their toys as a privilege they will enjoy them much more, so i started swapping toys each day before i leave i would grab 2 random toys which keeps them from getting bored of having the same things around them. And i take them away when we get home from a walk or the park (when i know they won't play with them anyways). This drives them to play with it while there are out otherwise they miss out. It's sounds weird but it really works for adora. Before i have a bone, jolly ball, stuffies, balls, kongs... all out at once and i would get home and all where in the same place as i left as she had gotten into things and chew the baseboards, any box she could find...
Third thing i did was switch up here i put them, sometimes i would let them free roam (as Rhun has learnt that privilege and we had to teach adora somehow) Sometimes i would pen them, and once and a while crate them. For some dogs you putting them in a particular place every time your leave can make it seem like a negative thing. Like yours Adora is a great escape artist ( knows how climb the gate and unlatch her crate) But mixing up where she is and for different amount of times and even penning/crating them for short bits (5min-30min) while we are home for no reason so they don't see them just being associated with leaving has help her to stay in even though she could still get out if she really wanted to.
And of course lastly praising them when i come home to the house being clean and unharmed (saying good boy/girl in a big cheerfully happy voice, giving them lots of affection and once and a while even a cookie).
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Thank you for all this advice. I will definitely try it. Unfortunately I have a tiny little apartment so can't switch up where he is confined all that much but I can do it a little bit. Today was a bad day (everyday is a bad day actually). I can't wait to come home to a clean house so I can praise him! After today I think I will have to crate him and hope he doesnt' go too crazy being crated all day.
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I know how tough it can be i live in a small one bedroom. Even if you step out for 5 minutes to go to the vehicle and if the house is still good praise him even then. And work up from there. Last summer when this started with Adora i would go into the yard/corner store purposely just to leave them alone from 5min and worked up to an hour just to get the concept to her that if she is good she gets praised. I know everything else i did sounds time consuming but it really isn't when u consider how much time it takes to clean up, and how much money in damages. I couldn't even list how many things she destroyed including flooring, furniture, clothes, walls, baseboards. But it has been almost a year and we are done to just small occurrences once a month maybe (ripping apart a piece of tissue on the coffee table). Im hoping by year 2 of working with her we will get down to have some months off. Oh and another thing i have found that helps a bit is having the tv or radio on as well.
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yes! TV. I used to leave it on for Franklin, don't know why I didn't think to leave it on with Kirby. I don't think any of the things sound too time consuming considering if I can get him to enjoy specific toys while I'm gone and not my table legs or books or other stuff that'd be great. I am trying to figure out where I can set up the ex-pen where he won't get out. This apartment never felt so small, I've been here 2 years and have always loved it but now that I have maniac dog I feel so cramped. Not enough room to move him place to place or try different areas for confinement.
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Permalink Reply by Snickmom on
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I wanted to add my two cents, and encourage you to keep trying. We adopted/rescued a 1 yr old rat terror (sorry, terrier) from a couple who left her home alone all day in a condo. When they came home and saw that she had chewed things up, they "spanked" her. After time she would automatically cower when they came home, so they "knew" she had been bad and was feeling guilty. The poor little thing was desperately lonely for company, wanted to greet her people when they came home but knew she would have to endure a beating first. She cowered when we came home for 4 years before she finally was able to greet us happily. I am sure you know that discipline after the fact does no good. Adding to Kimberlie's comment about "good boy" when you get home. An occasional "good boy" after you've been gone 1 -5 minutes might be the best you can do, but you have to start somewhere, right? Try to catch him being good.
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Today I came home to a dog wrapped by a chord around the table leg with the chord wrapped firmly around his paw and his paw swollen to about twice the normal size. How he got the chord is anybody's guess. I have also found out that he climbs the cat tree, as a toy that was tied to the top of the cat tree is now on the ground shredded. Not sure how long he had been tangled in the chord but he did struggle and he was laying in a puddle of his own urine. He had also pulled a few more things off the table and shredded them. He's lucky I came home when I did and he won't have any lasting damage to that foot. I am thinking I may have to just crate him and cross my fingers he doesn't hurt himself trying to get out. I don't know what else to do. I guess potentially I can lock him on my patio since there isn't ANYTHING there anymore that he can get into and no way for him to escape.I just don't know anymore. I am planning on moving in the next couple months into a bigger place, this apartment is so small it really limits what I can do with him. Maybe in the new place there will be a room dedicated to him with a pen around it so he can't reach the walls. Until then I may just have to sedate him or something to keep him safe from himself.
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