New Dog - Major Problem

Parker · September 2011

Recently got a new dog, he's a four yr old Alaskan Malamute and he's from a local shelter. He's a great dog, knows how to walk on a leash, sit, shake, etc. There's only one major problem that I'm not sure what to do about. Whenever I leave him home alone he gets loud and destructive. The first night that we left him home alone he tore the trim off of our front door. After that incident I decided to buy a wire cage from Petco. He can escape from the cage and he has torn up furniture around the house and loves getting into the garbage when we're not home. We live in an apartment and this destructive and loud behavior isn't beneficial to us or our roommate. Anyone have any advice/been through something similar? I also have 2 videos of him doing these things if anyone is interested.

Garnet · September 2011

0.0 may i see the videos to see what exactly he's doing? so i know what to say haha xD

HuntersGATHERING · September 2011

A trick I use for my dog. Is leave a can a peanut butter out so that our dog is distracted with that. Or get one of the kong toys and put some treats in there. Or you can take the dog out for a nice run or walk to get them tired so they won't be that destructive. I hope this helps.

Troglin · September 2011

It sounds like your dog has separation anxiety. It isn't an easy fix, but as long as you and the others in the household cooperate, it won't be an incredibly difficult task either. There are plenty of websites that talk about the causes and treatments of separation anxiety. Many will likely suggest medicines to calm their anxiety, but it just covers up a problem and doesn't help the dog. How much exercise does your dog get? Alaskan Malamutes are bred specifically as working dogs. They have amazing endurance and a high energy level. Alaskan Malamutes don't do well in confined spaces, such as apartments, unless they get their physical and mental needs met. Even an older Malamute will require daily stimulation in order for them to remain stable. Physical stimulation would be focused exercise in a safe outlet. If you take him on walks, he will need a sixty minute minimum walk. This has to be a moderate to a fast pace, he cannot sniff unless you allow it, and he cannot pull or be in front of you. This makes him learn new boundaries and makes him focus on you and moving. Think about it in this way -- if a human (dog) walked 1 mile in an hour, but stopped every so often to take pictures (sniff), how beneficial was that exercise to the human (dog)? The body wasn't active enough to go deep into energy stores, and therefore the impact of the exercise is minimal. - You could also purchase a dog backpack. You'd want him to introduce it to him while it's empty, but then gradually fill it to no more than 1/4 or 1/3 of his body weight. - If you have a bicycle, you can train him to run alongside the bike for a good thirty minutes or so. - If you have skates, you could train him to either run alongside you or pull you. I don't recommend pulling you unless he already has solid obedience (woah/slow down/stop) or you'll be in a safe area without vehicles. - If you can obtain an appropriate cart and harness, training him to pull would be ideal. You'd start off with an empty cart and then gradually increase the weight to no more than 2 or 3 times his body weight. Some things that you could put in the cart would be groceries, books, trash, etc. Since you live in an apartment, this might not be as feasible if you're above the ground level. Mental stimulation would be games that challenge their mental capabilities and encourage problem solving behavior. I can tell you that he's already an incredible problem solver, as he's already learned how to escape the crate. You will want to find new ways to challenge him. He's intelligent and if you are repetitive, he will get bored quickly. You can try new obedience commands, agility courses, treat cubes, hide-and-seek, and dozens of other activities. After you meet his mental and physical needs, you can work on desensitization training. Basically, you want him to associate leaving with something pleasant. Save a kong filled with his favorite treats in the freezer, and give it to him 10 minutes prior to you leaving. It works really well if you can stick his treats inside peanut butter, as frozen peanut butter makes it more challenging to get the treats. You'll want to begin carrying around your keys, jacket, purse, wallet, etc. as if they're just every day things. He currently associates certain behavior with your departure, but in a negative way. If you carry them around but don't leave, he won't stress out as much when he sees them. Eventually you'll work up to touching the door while holding those things, and then opening the door, and then walking outside, and then closing it while you're outside. (Spread out over time, not all at once.) When you get to the point of closing the door, with you outside, you'll wait a few seconds and then come back inside. You will gradually increase the time you spend outside your door, until you can stand there for 10+ minutes without him becoming upset. Just a note on any training though, if you move too fast it will do damage. You must pay attention to his body language and make sure that you don't over-stress him. Here are some sites on separation anxiety. I glanced over them to make sure they weren't supplying bad information, but definitely look up some sites on your own. ^^ <a href="http://www.metpet.com/Reference/Dogs/Training/separation_anxiety_in_dogs.htm"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.metpet.com/Reference/Dogs/Tr ... n_dogs.htm</a> <a href="http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/separation_anxiety.html"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/do ... xiety.html</a> <a href="http://www.wagntrain.com/SeparationAnx.htm"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.wagntrain.com/SeparationAnx.htm</a> *Edit: Here are some good sites on activities you could do with him if you have the time. <a href="http://www.skijor.com/bjarticle.html"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">Bikejoring</a> <a href="http://www.skijor.com/canicross.html"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">Cani Cross</a> <a href="http://www.dogscooter.com/"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">Scootering</a> <a href="http://www.cartingwithyourdog.com/"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">Carting</a>

Parker · September 2011

I actually went out and bought him a kong last week. He licks it to death, hasn't figured out how to get the treats out yet. It's pretty funny to watch this giant dog licking the kong hoping that he'll get lucky and the treats will just come to him. He's not at all interested in the kong when we're not home, he just whines and tries his best to escape. (I'll msg the videos to you this evening) Today was probably his best. He was home alone for at least 3 hours and was still in his crate when I came home. He was actually laying down when I walked in the door, but he was howling up until the point that I walked through the door (I could hear him from the parking lot). The cage was absolutely mangled though, I'm surprised he didn't help himself out. Do you think it would help to reinforce the crate with rope or something so that he can't pop the connecting pieces together? I'll start trying to remember to carry my purse and keys around the house, and we'll have to start going on longer walks. Currently we go on about 5ish 15 minute walks a day and he does do a lot of sniffing on those, they're not just pure exercise. Good Advice, Ana.

Troglin · September 2011

Parker wrote:

Do you think it would help to reinforce the crate with rope or something so that he can't pop the connecting pieces together?

Tying it together would probably be futile. Rope can be pretty easily chewed apart. If you use rope, you could try covering it in a Tabasco sauce/lemon juice mixture or bitter spray. Usually dogs don't like the flavor, but I've never tried it with a stressed dog. I wouldn't suggest trying metal 'ropes' or chains. If he becomes extremely agitated, he could wind up breaking his teeth on them. I'm trying to think of other ways to secure a metal crate, but I'm not coming up with anything else. I do have one question. Is his crate used just for when you leave? Or does he go in there to sleep/hide? If you wanted to try something in addition to desensitization, then here's some other info that you might find worthwhile.

You could perhaps try pheromone collars/scents. I'm not entirely sure if they work, but it may be worth trying. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Appeasing-Pheromone-Collar-Medium-Large/dp/B000HPVH78"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">D.A.P collar</a> <a href="http://petcomfortzone.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&gclid=CNm9kpPxrqsCFQXe4AodNSZHLw"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">Comfort Zone Plug-in Scents</a> I've heard a lot of great things about the <a href="http://www.thundershirt.com/?gclid=CJyftanxrqsCFUNN4AodlzIdHw"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">Thundershirt</a> as well. I've never had any personal experience with it. It might be a good thing to try, rather than the pheromones. I'm not sure if your neighbors will complain about the howling or barking, but there are ultrasonic bark controllers that might help. Of course, there are shock or spray collars that you could try. The only downside to any of the bark controllers (collars or ultrasonic) is that an agitated dog might build resistance to the correction. Hopefully your neighbors don't care too much though.

Parker · September 2011

Yeah, the crate is only for when we aren't home because if he's left out of the crate he goes nuts tearing the front door/trim up. He doesn't like it at all, you've gotta use treats to trick him in there in the first place. It seems like he may be calming down some because the past 2 times I left he didn't escape (and the cage is so mangled it shouldn't be that hard to escape from now). The Pheromone collar is actually really interesting, I didn't know they made such things. I'm going to look into that a little further, but as for the barking collars, I'm not a fan of those at all. I'm just lucky that most of the time when I'm not home neither are most other people in the building, so we haven't had any noise complaints yet. && Gonna have to edit those videos for you -- they're too big to upload in a reasonable amount of time

DiamondPuppy0809 · September 2011

I saw a very similar dog on Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan. Her name was Sara, a German Shorthaired Pointer with major seperation anxiety. She used to chew up doorknobs, trim, rugs, etc. trying to escape due to it. If you're still having issues with you dog: Even if you don't agree with Cesar Millan's techniques (everyone has their own opinion and way of dealing with their dog =D), it might be a good idea to watch the episode and maybe pick up a few ideas for you to mold into your own techniques and solutions. (: Just PM me if you want to see the episode because I have a good link for you to go and watch it so you don't need to search for it on the TV. (I watched it there too).

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New Dog - Major Problem

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