In need of some advice - rebelling puppy.

SpottyTB

SpottyTB

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Hi there, I'm having a few issues with my sprocker, he's 9 months old and he's had his knackers off so that can't be a reason for the behavior..

He is a lovely boy and when he's with us, he's very obedient and does as he's told.. HOWEVER he rebels something chronic. As soon as he's put into his cage, or left and he's not with us or with a person he rebels..

He was put out in the garden yesterday morning (10 mins max), my MIL was in and out of the garden throughout the 10 mins but because we weren't out there or because someone wasn't giving him attention he decided to dig up all the plants and rips them to pieces..

Today, he'd been walked, played with, groomed and let out in the garden every half an hour/to an hour.. i popped him in his cage and left him for 30 mins max, he had a bowl full of food and water. Came out and the sod had bloody ripped a hole in the lino (kitchen floor) - through his cage!!!

He can't have a bed, because he rips it to pieces so we're forced to put a mat down and an old blanket..

Everytime he does it, it's because we've left him or not given him the attention he wants.. We walk him twice a day, play with him, groom him and OH takes him to work with him every Tuesday (he's a farrier).. so it's not lack of attention..

What can we do? we've tried the nice way and ignored him and put him in the cage.. we've tried the harsh way.. growling at him and smacking him on the bottem!

Tonight, we growled at him and smacked him on the arse and then put his muzzle on in the cage.. but i don't want him to be scared of us or live with his muzzle on constantly =/


Any idea's?
 
do you give him a stuffed Kong or anything?

Do you ever have him shut in the crate with you in the same room? So he's not only in there when he's either been bad (which people always advise against) or being left?

Sounds like Seperation Anxiety, but I am far from an expert!
 
I wouldn't call it rebelling, dogs don't really have any concept of rebellion IMO.

Lots of dogs dig up flower beds...they do it because they are bored and because it is a fun thing to do. Either distract him, train him out of it or restrict his access to the plants.

You might need to up his time in the crate when you are in the room with him. It sounds like he is identifying the crate with a punishment, he is associating it with isolation and people leaving him.

If he is able to drag stuff through the bars, look into a VariKennel or Sky Kennel, the plastic air transit crates which are more enclosed.

Rather than leaving food in the crate, leave something like a frozen stuffed Kong or a butchers bone to occupy him.

My dog chews beds too, so he has a towel or an old fleece.

He will detect that you are angry and frustrated so try to remain calm. It's a matter of training him to be able to spend time on his own and that it can be fun (getting a Kong or bone) not a punishment - smack, growl, muzzle, cage...that is not making it a fun place for him to be, by association. Try not to lose your temper.
 
Galaxy - he has SO many toys, but actually nothing that he can actually play with to get a reward (ie - kong stuffed with food!) .. so perhaps i shall get him one of these!

He goes in his crate at night, whilst we eat dinner/cook dinner and when we can't watch him 24/7.. thinking about it, when he was a puppy, we never really left him on his own.. he was occasionally left with my grandparents but never on his own so perhaps it is separation anxiety..:confused:

CC- The flower beds aren't such a bad thing - we've fenced them off now, to avoid the temptation.. he has two other dogs whilst outside that he's got to play with and lots of toys out there! Like i say he's not un used to being in his crate but thinking it through properly, he's not in there A LOT when we're around because we didn't want to prison him in?


I think the next step is to get him a treat toy and up the time in the crate but make it rewarding.. how can i make it a fun place to be?

thanks for the replies!
 
You need to change your mindset, if you think of it as a prison and treat it as such, so will the dog. It's a cool den :p

Get a few Kongs and stuff them and freeze them, get down to the butcher and cadge some bones, give him something to work at and occupy him while he is in there.

Short periods in the crate while you are watching telly or making dinner, then out again, will teach him to be more comfortable in there. At the minute it is only somewhere he is shut when you leave him alone and that is what he is associating it with and why he is getting upset.
Rewire it so that it is the place he goes where he gets awesome things.

Re toys, I don't leave toys around for dogs to play freely with...they belong to me and I bring them out and make them active and I instigate the game, if they are left around all day then they become boring.

I know some people probably think I am a mean mummy but teaching a dog never to be alone makes a rod for your own back in case of emergencies (working late, hospital trip, etc)
 
Harley would never "play" with a toy in his crate.... but a stuffed Kong is another matter!!

I have 3 so there's always one ready in case I need a quick exit!!
 
Thank you so much for your idea's! I've just been in to chat with the rest of the family, we've just made some new toys for him and put some of the OLD toys in (from months ago that we'd forgotten about).. tied a bit of rag to the top of the cage for him to play with - he's in his element!

Cant get out to get anything until friday but friday i'm making a trip to pets at home and getting kongs and treat toys and i'll trip up to the butchers tomorrow if i get time!

Thanks again!!
 
smackign himi after the deed won't do any good. Putting a muzzle on will do no good (what does a 9month old sprocker have a muzzle for anyway?). does he have a kong? How long is he walked for? Does he attend training classes?
 
All the behaviour above is typical energy of a high energy puppy, all of it and it's all behaviour I would expect.
Toys as suggested as pretty useless unless a human is interacting and making the toy fun, not many dogs will entertain themselves with a toy but will try to get a human to play with them and this is why as suggested a stimulating treat is far better than a non stimulating toy.
Swap and change the treats you leave him daily, (dogs get bored) when left in the crate with his goodies (always scoop them up) when you return home, they should always be associated with "rewards, for lone time/crate time" and as suggested by galaxy a very important rule with the crate is the have him crated for periods when you are home aswell as "out" and offer up rewards at both time so he does not associate always being in there with you dissapearing.
I never leave food in the crate Iif it is not wanted) it will get tossed about, esp by a pup. I generally give a meal in there but with the door open (as a positive association) and any food not eaten in 10 mins is removed. Kongs/bones/pigs ears/treat balls always given when the door is closed.

As you said yourself he has always been with you or your parents and now you are needing to use the crate more (he does not understand) why he now finds himself without your company and he needs to associate the crate with positive things.

With the garden (again) very normal puppy behaviour all the digging:D if you want to put him out alone then hide some treats out there to encourage him to scent them out, this then gives him something to focus and preoccupy him when otherwise bored and digging.
Don't smack him for displaying (normal behaviour) otherwise he will learn to avoid you and do a runner and you will get more frustrated in return.
Get a crate with a plastic/metal tray in the bottom (is there any bottom on the crate or is he pulling it up (as suggested) a sky kennel or a better qaulity crate with a metal bottom.
He is obviously a bright puppy and needs alot of stimulation, alot of pups don't need big luxurious beds and will indeed instead make a nice little game of "shred the bed":p a matt or piece of vet bed will do him as you are giving and will save you on buying the latest posh bed;)

I have a crate guide if you would like it pm me your email and I will send you one, it will give you a little better idea of what the crate provides and how best to get him in a routine with it.
 
SuzieT- the muzzle is not his, it belongs to our rescue collie x who used to bite people on meeting them. He however had it on tonight after we CAUGHT him finishing off the floor. He gets two hours walking a day plus letting outside throughout the day. Obedience is not the issue, so he doesn't go to training class- he will do anything for us, follow at the heel, retrieve, drop, leave, sit, lie down - you name it. He has plenty of toys but thinking about it they arent that interesting.

CAYLA- thanks for your reply, really useful info thanks :D! Foods left down as he's a grazer, we tried the 10 minutes thing and ended up with a puppy going 2 days without food and was extremely weak because of it! He has his food left in and usually it's gone within the hour! Have to have the door shut otherwise greedy lab and jack russel finish it up!

Toy wise he actually plays on his own for hours, he throughs the ball in the air, let's it bounce and then chases it! He's extremely clever and can keep himself entertained for hours! Saying that, he is rarely left for any time over an hour as for a dog so young I've always felt its un fair to leave him for great amounts of time!

We found a tray to go in the bottem tonight so we've put that in with a couple of towels and he's quite pleased with his new toys and bed!

Will go and get him a treat ball and bones ASAP and hopefully that'll work! :-)
 
He is not going to associate muzzle with eating the floor.. It's not the obedience it;'s the mental stimulation a training class gives, interacting with other dogs, an outing etc. Agility sounds like it might be something you could pursue, and you can start the basic training for it now (can't do the actual classes/jumping etc. due to young bones). It's all about mental stimulation I would say, so find some 'work' for him to do as he is a mix of two energy breeds.
 
SusieT- yep we've already pin pointed agility to do! He's got his own tunnel and a hoop to go through and he loves it, can't actually get him to stop going through to he tunnel (he does laps!).. He is actually soon to be trained to the gun so will then have a "job" to do as such so will be a lot more focused! Muzzle is off and in the box as both OH and I agreed its not how we want to persue things - it was the MIL who insisted it go on. We're doing a few fun dog shows at the weekends too because we wanted to up his interaction with other dogs and he's really enjoying it! Thanks for your advice:)
 
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