Sugar Magnolia and other dog people

[Big Country]

Hey all -

 

We've got a lab that is 7 years old. We've always been able to leave him in the house when we go out anywhere, no problem. He never got into anything, never made a mess around the house, etc.

 

When we moved a year and a half ago to a much bigger house, he took to going upstairs to take care of business if we were gone. So, we went the route of putting him the front room so he could still see out but putting up a baby gate so he was restricted to the one room. No more going to the bathroom in the house, etc.

 

A few months ago my parents came to visit so we took the gate down so they could use the spare room. Our dog behaved fine having full run of the house.. that is until a few weeks ago. He has now taken to knocking over and getting into the garbage cans. We pick them up and put them on the counter now whenver we will be out of the house for a decent amount of time, as short times were not a problem, until the last couple days where he did it when my wife just stepped out to go get the mail.... fortunately she had just emptied the trash so there was nothing in there. Just today he took it to a new level and busted into some Christmas gifts my wife was going to wrap.

 

He knows what he is doing is wrong as when he has done it, rather than greet us at the door when we come home he goes and runs to our bedroom or hallway and looks around the corner sheepishly.

 

We'd prefer to not have to go back to putting up the baby gate and secluding him to one room, and leaving him outside is not a real options as he is a howler/barker if left outside alone.

 

Any thoughts on what may be causing this recent change in behavior and suggestion on how to remedy the situation?

[gbpfan1231]

Sorry for chiming in without having any answers or help for you - I just wanted to add that we had a dog that did similar things years ago.

 

It was amazing that this dog knew that what he did was so wrong that it was sad to see how the dog would cowher and look so sad because he knew he got into the garbage and it was wrong but everything we tried did not work.

 

It got to the point where it almost seemed like no matter what you did you got the impression the dog enjoyed getting into the trash so much it was worth the consequences,

[piratesownninjas]

During this time did you start giving the dog less attention?

[HowboutthemCowboys]

It was amazing that this dog knew that what he did was so wrong that it was sad to see how the dog would cowher and look so sad because he knew he got into the garbage and it was wrong but everything we tried did not work.

 

It got to the point where it almost seemed like no matter what you did you got the impression the dog enjoyed getting into the trash so much it was worth the consequences,

this post describes our dog to a "t".

[Big Country]

During this time did you start giving the dog less attention?

 

Not that i can think of, and this was one of my first thoughts as that seems to be the primary reason I have found for dogs acting out. I suppose with it being the holiday season, my wife has been out a bit more during the day and we've been gone a bit more on the weekends, but it doesn;t seem like more than usual.

 

The one main change that i can think of is that my wife is about ready to pop with our third child, so I suppose he can be picking up on that, however, he did not act out like this prior to any of the other children being born, and he was around for both of them.

[SteelBunz]

The boxer we rescued was like this, but from the get go. A perfect gentleman on a leash, but take the leash off or in the house? A terror. He was neglected his first three years.....so like you said, ANY attention was good attention. Even if it was bad.

 

Now.....I have to preface this by saying I talk to my dogs like children.....lol. And they love that. So when getting stern didn't work (he'd wag his tail at my bad dog voice....masochist.....lol), I decided to take the completely opposite route. And ignored him completely. No talking to him....no affection. His needs were met.....but nothing more.

 

It worked. He learned that I wasn't the "fun mommy" unless he was good. He got plenty of love and affection, but with his destructiveness hitting a total of $3000.....something had to change. He was a sweet boy, but had a rocky first 3 years.

 

If your dog is suddenly being destructive BC.....in his mind.....something has changed. It might not seem that way to you, but it does to him.

Doesn't really matter that he knows it's wrong....you paid attention.

[rajncajn]

When we first got Phoebe we would let her in the back yard while we were gone. We have a fairly big back yard so I thought she'd be fine. After a while she started digging out so I put down bricks where she dug. Well, finally after putting more & more bricks she started breaking the boards out of our fence. So, the next step was to keep her in our garage, which is what we usually did when it was raining or too cold. We even put an AC unit in there to make sure she was comfortable. That went well for about a year, but then she started getting into stuff in the garage. But what was worse was more & more when we had a thunderstorm she would tear stuff up trying to get into the house to the point where she would hurt herself in the process . So finally we gave in and started letting her stay in the house while we are gone. We do have to close off the bedrooms & flip up the couch cushions so she won't get on them while we are away and we ahve to make sure there isn't any food items laying within reach, but so far she has been much happier staying inside. We did have one instance for a while where she was chewing up the blinds, but we started leaving them open for her and she's happy again.

 

Honestly, all-in-all I think it's more a matter of them being bored. They don't really have anything that they can entertain themselves with, so they just go with whatever. In your dog's case he probably loves the smell of the garbage and even though he knows he's not supposed to he can no longer resist the curiosity of what is in there. It's up to you to take away that temptation and find something to replace it with. Maybe a good rawhide bone or a kong filled with treats. Something that will occupy him for a good part of the day and keep his mind off seeking out other things to get into.