Okay guys. So I really don't want to kennel my boy Elios anymore . I think it's in fair and I want to keep him out in my room 24/7
I did this with my boy Koda and it was great.
But Elios is almost two now. And he still grabs my things and plays with them and chews them.
Is there anything I can do to stop this behavior?
I'll do anything.
Or is it just an age thing? Will he grow out of it?
Make sure you teach him a firm leave It command. Always offer him approved toys when taking your stuff away. By 8-months mine had this down. He does not touch our stuff. I would just remove the sock and firmly say leave it...then playfully toss him a toy or chew and praise and encourage him to play with it instead. You could keep him leashed with you in the house for awhile too. That way if he tried to pick up your stuff you can correct it immediately. Once the shoe has been eaten correction is a bit late. We used a crate in the house, and later a tether and eventually weaned off both. I crated through the night for the first year and just used it occasionally for containment after that. I do not even keep it out now but he still knows what it is if we have to drag it out and use it for some reason.
Some dogs get this faster than others and some take longer to mature emotionally than others.
Lisl has only successfully been out of her crate for going on a month now. I tried three times before with less than perfect results. She gets it now though.
I've always had plenty of toys for her to play with and redirected her a lot when she was very young and growing. She never was very 'grabby' of my stuff when I was with her, and really didn't get into very much when I tried the three previous times to give her the freedom of the house.
A bit like potty training, it is sometimes difficult to teach a dog not to do something when you are not around but it can be done with most.
Some dogs never get out of their crate their whole lives when no one is around to supervise them.
Have plenty of HIS things to play with and chew. Put things away that you don't want him to have. Don't leave shoes out and toys that are not his that you don't want him to touch. Make it very black and white what he can have. I don't leave anything on the ground in the puppy's play area that he can't have. Why set him up for failure? Now, when he sees shoes or other items on the floor, he sniffs them and moves on since they aren't HIS things.
My son asked when Varik was going to be able to stay out of his crate at night. I told him when he (my son) moved out. He was a little insulted. *grin* I don't have a place that I can puppy proof at the moment so am waiting until my son marries and then plan to turn his room into the dog room. I'm in no hurry to do so however! (don't want to give my son ideas!).
Okay thank you guys! I will start doggie proofing everything and work on ot if I ever cath him. And leave out / offer plenty of his things for him to have !
Like others have said dog proofing is essential. I wouldn't leave out anything that you think could be tempting.
Once you think everything is set start working your way up from 5-10mins alone unsupervised. I would start on weekends or days you don't work. Give lots of toys to play with and chew on. Puzzle toys are a great way to get out energy, take up time, and engage their brains. Mine love their kong wobbler.
If you come back and find an item chewed it's time to take that item and all others like it and put them out of reach. Try again at a lesser time interval and only move forward when you have success. This was how we trained to be able to leave leave my GSD and Siberian Husky out all day. Now they both do great with no issues. Best of luck!
Although this may not help your situation I came up with an alternative to kenneling dogs to calm them by providing a safe quiet place with sensory deprivation so they don'think get overwhelmed by everything going on around them. I erected a small children's tent in my living room (yeah Im a bachelor so I can do get away with that kind of stuff) and put a doggy bed in there. My one dog will nap in there often and I assume It replicates a little den for him.
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