Destructive BC Rips carpet up while out at work.

[ewedlake]

Hi Everyone,

New member just signed up. Hoping you can all help. My 18 month BC Panda keeps tearing up our carpet in the hallway while we're out at work. The odd thing is he doesn't do it everyday. He will sometimes go for most of a week without touching anything. then other days he'll just pull the carpet up tear the underlay apart. We've tried several different things. I've got kongs for him. Changing his toys out daily. He has his breakfast out with him for when we get ready to leave. I even made him a treat box by filling an ice cream top with water and his toy and freezing it. He had eaten half the box by the end of the day haha. I've watched him on camera and it doesn't seem to be SA. I think it might be boredom. He has a good hour long walk before work every morning. I sometimes take his ball with him but not always. He has a second walk every evening after work as well. 

Wondering if any of you have any ideas on how to stop this happening. 

 

Thanks in advance. :)

 

[Journey]

Crate.

[Mark Billadeau]

You should be focusing upon what your pup could be ingesting (carpet, underlayment, tacks, etc) and less on the damage he is doing.  Crating is a way to ensure your pup cannot continue to ingest flooring materials that could lead to emergency surgery to remove foreign objects.

[aschlemm]

My boy did the same thing at about the same age.  I immediately went back to crating when I was at work and only leaving him out for short periods during the day and overnight (with me there.)  At age two I started leaving him out when I was at work, but had someone check on them mid-day.  He was never a problem again.  Just needed to grow up a bit more!

[gcv-border]

Crate.

[maeflower]

If available and financially possible at least a few days a week, a doggy daycare, otherwise a crate with maybe a small x-pen attached in an area with no carpet?

[Don Billard]

Sounds like Ceasar 911. He would say exercise, discipline, affection - in that order. Two hours a day of walking is nothing for a BC.  She needs a job to do. 

[Flora & Molly]

How long does he have to stay home alone?

[D'Elle]

I concur with others saying crate. The best way to handle this is to prevent the dog from being able to do what you don't want. 

[urge to herd]

I concur with everything the above ^^^ have said, and will add that teaching simple tricks can be both fun AND satisfy your dog's NEED to be doing something with his human. Something interactive. Something that's not routine obedience that he already knows. These dogs are bred to be doing something with their humans. Tricks can fill the bill.

He does need to be crated when you're not at home. As Mark pointed out, he could become seriously ill from ingesting all that flooring. Regular interaction with his humans, in the form of trick training, or taking him to agility classes and then working with him at home on the skills, etc will make a HUGE difference in your dog's mental health. And yours, probably.

There are books available on trick training, there are probably a ton of YouTube videos, you can make stuff up if you like. It's not a quick fix, like getting him a crate and getting him used to it, but it will work like gang busters for all of you.

Ruth & Gibbs, who at age 13, is still wanting stuff to do