Crimes against house & furniture (a.k.a.: G*dMotherF*@!ingDammit)

[River]

The scene of the crime...



In case you are wondering, it's a mixture of a destroyed Ralph's reusable shopping bag, what's left of a small scarecrow (ornamental thingy), some stuffing from a sofa, and a lot of urine...on a wood floor.

The culprit (Dun da DAH!)



Meet Sunny. 

Sunny has committed other heinous crimes.  He really likes leather...and the stuffing therein:



Then there was the tragic witch hat destruction incident  :



Sunny is very sweet and very cute, which goes a long way with me and which is why I haven't done anything decisive about this, until now...

The solution: INCARCERATION!



I really should have done this a long time ago.

Problem solved!   

[ducpainter]

It wasn't me...

honest...

I'm a victim of circumstance...

[River]

Me thinks you doth protest too much.

[krolik]

Oh, the caninity! 

[CapnCrunch]

my fiance is an amature animal psychologist and she says that it's separation anxieity, and that a kennel is actually the answer. It's like their own little den. drape a blanket to cover three sides to make sunny feel less exposed.

[River]

Thanks, CapnCrunch.  Good call on the blanket.   

Yes, that's why I picked up the kennel...and he's now sleeping in it while I'm in the room.  I gave him a bunch of treats just for going in there the first time, put his favorite toy in there and a nice little bed to lay on so he'll feel like he's in his own little safe place and not like he's being punished.  Hopefully this will work.  I have two other dogs who are older and don't need to be kennled any more.  I just don't want him to feel like the outcast.  We'll see...

[supakpow2]

Oh, the caninity! 

Nice! 

[somegirl]

Glad you worked out a solution.

How old is Sunny?  If he's an adolescent, that would explain part of it too.

Mine still get crated when we're away.  It's not the evil that some people seem to think it is (as long as it is not abused).  Although mine are much older (10.5 and 11.5), it's just safer, especially living in an apartment where maintenance people might sometimes need to enter.

It is so cute the way they go running to the crate.  I use it for feeding as well.

I have a big crate that my two share, although Watson seems to like little tiny ones...when we have a dachshund friend visiting, she can sometimes be found squeezing herself into his tiny little box.

And even if you don't use it regularly, it's a good idea to have your dogs accustomed to crates so that they can be confined when necessary for medical purposes.

[Howie]

Amazing what dogs and children get away with. 

[TiNi]

omg what a disaster!

i do not miss that part of having a dog.

i had a fox terrier that did the same thing to leather furniture... hope the crate works!

[DY]

If i were cesar millan, I'd say your dog has a lot of pent-up energy and needs to be taken outside for walks/to the park more often.  That and I'd hiss "Tisss Tissss" at him.   

[Sinister]

Thanks, CapnCrunch.  Good call on the blanket.   

He'll suck a blanket through those bars and eat it...ask me how I know.  Plastic crates, while less 'sexy', provide a better 'den' feeling which dogs love.  Both of my dogs were crate-trained from puppyhood.  My wife has said, "God made puppies cute so you wouldn't kill the little bastards."   

[iDuc]

We used crate training for our German Shepherd puppy, mostly for housebreaking but also for chewing. She's almost two now and we can leave her out, but she still likes her crate and often choses it by herself.  We tried the blanket over the top, but she pulled it in and chewed it up (after chewing up the bedding mat).

[swampduc]

I use towels instead of a blanket, but it all gets eaten eventually. Unfortunately, my Lab has recently decided she likes to chew open my down comforter, the little turd.

[River]

OMG Paula, that is the cutest video clip! 

We crate trained our other two dogs, and we aren't sure how old Sunny is, but rough estimate from the vet is 1 to 1.5 yrs.

Plastic crate: The reason I purchased the reinforced wire crate (because I USED to have a plastic one) is that another little monster of mine, Mackey, one day got fed up with being in said crate a chewed a hole in it big enough to get his 55 lbs. body out.  And then he barfed plastic for two days.  Yeah, even the heavy plastic stuff doesn't work when you have a dedicated chewer with a large and strong jaw.

Sorry about your comforter, Swampduc.