chiwolvesfan
New member
Hey, All:
I am about at my wits end with my "little boy" Exelby and could really, really use some advice & suggestions. I just don't know what to do about his tendency to shred!
Here's some background... he is a rescue (he had a very rough first 6 months of life), is about 18 months old (we've had him just over a year), he has two older "siblings" (newf mix and a great dane/husky), neutered, and in good health. For the last year, we have crated him whenever we are gone. Typically, we are never gone more than 5-6 hours at a time. Our other two dogs were out of their crates by the time they were 6 months old. We have been **slowly** giving him more and more freedom -- maybe for an hour or two at a time with the hopes of being able to put away the gianormous crate in the middle of our family room. Unfortunately, it looks like we may never be able to do that. Over the last 6 months, he has proceeded to shred 3-4 throw rugs, about 10 stuffed toys, 4-5 towels, the corner of an area rug, and has destroyed the skirt to our couch. He is always left with lots of non-destructible chew toys (stuffed kongs, nylabones, etc).
When we are home, he is fine. He does not sleep in his crate at night -- instead he sleeps in the hallway outside of our bedroom.
I'm guessing it is a case of separation anxiety, but I had hoped that by being out of the crate with his siblings, he'd have an opportunity to play and feel the comfort of sleeping next to them on the couch.
So... should I try some of the holistic "calming" solutions? Do I just die to having the crate in my family room and figure a way to decorate it? Will he ever outgrow this?
Sorry for the long post... and thank you for whatever advice you can share.
I am about at my wits end with my "little boy" Exelby and could really, really use some advice & suggestions. I just don't know what to do about his tendency to shred!
Here's some background... he is a rescue (he had a very rough first 6 months of life), is about 18 months old (we've had him just over a year), he has two older "siblings" (newf mix and a great dane/husky), neutered, and in good health. For the last year, we have crated him whenever we are gone. Typically, we are never gone more than 5-6 hours at a time. Our other two dogs were out of their crates by the time they were 6 months old. We have been **slowly** giving him more and more freedom -- maybe for an hour or two at a time with the hopes of being able to put away the gianormous crate in the middle of our family room. Unfortunately, it looks like we may never be able to do that. Over the last 6 months, he has proceeded to shred 3-4 throw rugs, about 10 stuffed toys, 4-5 towels, the corner of an area rug, and has destroyed the skirt to our couch. He is always left with lots of non-destructible chew toys (stuffed kongs, nylabones, etc).
When we are home, he is fine. He does not sleep in his crate at night -- instead he sleeps in the hallway outside of our bedroom.
I'm guessing it is a case of separation anxiety, but I had hoped that by being out of the crate with his siblings, he'd have an opportunity to play and feel the comfort of sleeping next to them on the couch.
So... should I try some of the holistic "calming" solutions? Do I just die to having the crate in my family room and figure a way to decorate it? Will he ever outgrow this?
Sorry for the long post... and thank you for whatever advice you can share.
