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Three year old dog has suddenly become destructive


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I adopted Lok at nearly two years old. He is now turning three this Sunday. He was extremely mellow and withdrawn when I got him but has been coming out of his shell steadily for the past year. He went from not playing with toys at all to being a wild maniac with toys who loves playing fetch with anything and de-stuffing stuffies. He went from completely ignoring strangers to being Mr. Social Butterfly who has to greet everyone we come across.

 

In the past couple months he's become very destructive, chewing up socks, blankets, any cloth item left laying around, any paper or carboard left laying around, the handles on my brand new ski poles last night, etc, etc. I can't even bring him to other people's houses anymore, because the first thing he does is find something to chew up!

 

Why would a three year old dog suddenly become destructive? I have my theories but I don't think any of them are correct.

 

1. Maybe he's not getting enough attention? But he's getting the same amount of attention he's always gotten. We play fetch outside every day and he runs for at least a solid half hour (or until I freeze). Then we play frisbee inside, which works his mind and wears him out. We do training every day, usually a couple 5-10 minute sessions. We go to class on Thursday nights. He gets rawhides to chew on at night. On the weekends he gets extra playtime, training for skijoring, outside frisbee play, etc. This has always been enough for him. And besides, the ski pole incident happened after I had just worn him out from frisbee play, no more than 5 minutes later. he didn't even have time to cool down!

 

2. Maybe he's stressed out because I have two fosters? He tends to like being an only dog, and my one foster girl tends to walk all over him (literally) and chew on him and such. I always stop her when I catch her though. And his destructive behavior, I'm pretty sure, started before the fosters came.

 

3. He just enjoys ripping things up. In this case, I could probably solve the problem by leaving appropriate chew toys out for him. However, I can't leave toys out when I have this foster girl because she takes toys away from other dogs. To the point where, Lok was sniffing at a clump of dog hair on the floor last night, the foster runs up and EATS IT right out from under his nose. Toys left out would not work, and besides, I never used to leave toys out even before I had this foster, and Lok never used to destroy things.

 

Any other ideas why my sweet mellow dog may be turning into dogzilla? Any ideas how I can stop it, apart from coating my entire house in bitter apple? If I tell him "no" he does stop for the moment, but usually goes back to the object later.

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Given the above choices, I guess I vote for #2, based on what you describe in #3. Is there any way you can work on training the foster not to steal toys? Personally, that is a behavior I don't tolerate in my dogs. And is there any way your dog could be separated from the fosters so he gets a break from them, especially if at least one of them is pushing him around and interfering with his enjoyment of toys? I think dogs deserve to be able to relax in their own home without always needing to deal with another dog stressing them out.

 

Otherwise, I would look at crating or containing him in a relatively chew proof area -- with chew toys for him to play with while contained. As far as visiting with him, I suggest keeping him on a leash and/or having him do a down stay or "place." But not to allow him to go off on a search and destroy mission. You could also give him a chew toy to keep him occupied while he lies quietly at your feet or nearby.

 

Pretty much I would treat this like I would a puppy who can't be trusted in the house -- with supervision (keeping him in the room with me) and management (crating). If this is an abrupt change in behavior, I'd also take him to the vet to see if there might be anything physical. It seems like thyroid problems can be at the root of so many behavioral issues in dogs. But given the small bit of info you've provided, I would really wonder if my dog wasn't engaging in destructive behaviors because of stress and then do what I could to reduce that stress.

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My working theory in this case would be #2.

 

When Dean experiences extreme stress - fireworks, a severe thunderstorm, being present when someone is screaming and yelling angrily, etc. - he "regresses" for a few days. He counter surfs, which he hasn't done normally in ages, he chews on things that he normally wouldn't bother. It always passes quickly, but it has gotten pretty predictable whenever he gets particularly stressed. Chewing on a bone tends to help him diffuse that stress, so I redirect him to a bone at those times and that usually does the trick.

 

If you haven't done so already, a physical might be a good idea. Physical pain, discomfort, etc. can also cause a dog to act unusually.

 

First thing I would do is provide the dog with a goodly amount of time free from the fosters. I would probably put them up for an hour or so and give the dog a chance to play with appropriate toys unhindered.

 

I don't really approach it from a "lack of attention" standpoint, but maybe lack of a chance to unwind mentally in peace.

 

Aside from that, I would increase supervision - maybe keep him with me on leash, crate when I can't supervise, etc. Still, my focus would be more on alleviating possible stress from the fosters first and foremost.

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Is there any way you can work on training the foster not to steal toys? Personally, that is a behavior I don't tolerate in my dogs.

 

Yeah, I don't tolerate it either. When I'm supervising, she knows she can't steal toys and she won't but if I'm not supervising I'm sure she'd do whatever she pleases. But either way--providing chew toys or not, I'm still having to watch them like a hawk 100% of the time that they're not crated, which is not ideal. I have adult dogs, not puppies, for a reason! LOL!

 

And is there any way your dog could be separated from the fosters so he gets a break from them, especially if at least one of them is pushing him around and interfering with his enjoyment of toys?

 

I do think I could work on this more. Now that its not below zero every day I'm sure I could push the fosters outside for a half hour or so while I play with him individually inside. The fosters like to play together anyway, so I'm sure they'll be fine. I try to spend as much time as I can with all three of them, but I'm getting stretched thin!

 

As far as visiting with him, I suggest keeping him on a leash and/or having him do a down stay or "place."

 

Sad, but that's what we've resorted to.

 

Thank you both for your comments. As for physical causes, I forgot to mention, he was diagnosed with PRA about a month ago and he's about 50% blind right now, with no peripheral vision, poor depth perception, poor night vision. I don't think that would cause him to chew on things, but it may be adding to his stress.

 

I think I just need to treat this like the digging habit he had when I first brought him home--don't give him the opportunity to do it and in the meantime deal with the underlying causes (stress, in that case also). He's cured of his digging, so hopefully this too shall pass.

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