dog advice

[jc]

Well my dog did it again. He destroyed some of my wife's shoes. I was in a hurry and I forgot to close the door to the closet. He knows he did wrong, but punishing him after the fact doesn't seem helpful. Is there a way to get him to stop? I thought about spraying bitter apple on the shoes.

[gcantu]

Leave some shoes out and monitor the dog to see what he/she does. If he goes for the shoes then discipline him. Other than that he will never know that doing what he does to the shoes is wrong. I had to do something similar with my bulldog when she kept eating the cat's food when we weren't looking. She loves to sneak snacks here and there all the while the cats were losing weight.

[MRSBIGBIRD123]

My bulldog used to do this, I believed it to be separation anxiety. She never did it when I was home, only when I was gone. Cadence would actually line up several pairs of shoes, in my bedroom, and it was funny, they would all be in the left/right coordination. I continued to keep my closet closed, it didn't take her too long to stop. I have honestly never heard of the bitter apple spray working, but give it a try. Hopefully everything works out. (It also gives your wife an excuse to go and buy new shoes)

[RayAllen]

Dogs usually chew on human objects because of boredom or as mentioned seperation. The two go hand in hand really. Dog by itself or alone at home so he chews on a leather shoe. Dogs love leather which is why so many toys are made out of it or other typers of animals skins. Id suggest you buy a lot of toys. My pug has an entire toy box full and thats for only one of them. I worked with a dog trainer as an assistant a 6 or so years ago and from what I come to find out about bitter apple is that it only works sometimes.

Side note. In all honestly you can really never blame a dog for doing anything wrong. In this situation you left the door open, he was bored and got a hold of a yummy leather shoe. Growing up with bully breeds; they also need lots of excersice (walking and running) not just time in the backyard to keep their energetic personality at a medium.

[jc]

I acknowledge my fault in his behavior. I knew I should have left the door closed. I'm glad someone mentioned separation anxiety. I think that is what it is. He only does this when we leave him alone all day. Besides not leaving temptations around what can I do to help him cope when we are gone? Since we got him I have been a full time student so I spend a lot of time with him. What's he going to do when I start working? We walk him almost daily, but always at the end of the day.

[littlewrentx]

Catch a few episodes of The Dog Whisperer. The show has some creative tips on problem behavior.

[Kristy]

If you can crate him in a large crate or even babygate him into an enclosed room, that really helps in a lot of ways. Being enclosed in a "den" seems to reduce the separation anxiety and comfort them during the time away, plus it makes sure they have no access to the stuff they shouldn't get into.

Also, if the dog is a people pleaser, it can be very effective to catch him picking up a shoe and then shame him about it a great deal, letting him know sternly how unhappy you are about it.

[MRSBIGBIRD123]

May also try taking him for a walk before you leave.....