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Destruction From Boredom Or Sa Help!


Guest BrindleLuv

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Guest BrindleLuv

Hello I'm new here and fairly new greyhound owner and I'm hoping someone can help me with my current problem. I adopted my 3yr old named Trapper about 6 months ago. He is a sweet boy but doesn't really seem to like a lot of attention of be a very velco greyhound like my co-worker's grey. He loves walks but has no interest in toys. When I first got him I took a long weekend and worked on leaving him alone and then for the next few weeks had my father come to my apartment during the day to let him out for about 20 minutes. He vocalized loughly and exstensively for a week then settled down. I would crate him everytime I was at work or out.

After 6 months of crating Trapper has decided he hates his crate and has been chewing it. I have a wire crate and he has actually bent/broken bars. So to prevent him from hurting himself I let him stay out in my apartment, slowly building up the number of rooms he could be in. He has been good all day except for knocking something off a counter or table and sometimes vocalization for 10 minutes after I leave but if I go out in the evening (which is maybe once or twice a week) or go somewhere on the weekend to ran an errand, gym or go to hang out with my boyfriend or even just go downstairs to watch TV with my neighbor, he goes into super destruction mode. He has chewed a chair, some books, various papers that he went to great effect to get, and the blinds which my landlord is charging 3x more than the actual cost to replace. All these items were available to him while I was at work but it wasn't until I went out in the evening that he decided they were good things to destroy. Time wasn't a factor since the blinds he did when I was only gone maybe 30 minutes to the store and another time I was gone 4 hours and he only pushed stuff off the coffee table. I'm at my wits end because I love my dog but I don't want to be a prison in my own apartment or be the person that takes her dog everywhere because of this. I walk/jog with him in the morning and make sure he gets a walk before I leave for more than a few minutes and I leave out toys but while this seems to work for the morning it doesn't work in the evening. I've tried leaving music, lights, and/or TV on in the evening and that doesn't help either.

I know 6 months isn't too long but I feel he should have settled in by now especially because my routine hasn't changed since I got him. Daycare and dogwalkers aren't options because it's during evenings and weekends plus I'd have to plan for that.

 

Does anyone have suggestions to correct this? Should I address his crating problem or the destruction?

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I am sure more experienced people will chime in with training advice.

 

In the meantime, if you don't want things chewed, you could always put his muzzle on him. Also, do you leave him with anything when you go? You can freeze some food in a kong and that might distract his attention when you leave.

 

For the record, my grey is a bit aloof too, definitely not clingy (which I prefer). He took a good year or two to really settle in and start playing with toys, come over willingly for rubs, etc. :)

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Have you tried Kongs? Maybe give those when you go out in the evenings if that is when he's misbehaving. Also, maybe he needs a good long walk when you come home from work. My hound, Marlow, is pretty quiet during the day, but seems to "come alive" in the evenings. He gets a walk in the AM but his longest walk is in the evening. Others will chime in soon and I know you'll get lots of god ideas. Good luck!

<p>Kim and the hound - Rumor
Missing my angels Marlow, Silver, Holly and Lucky

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Guest BrindleLuv

I have a kong that I chill with a mix of PB and applesause and one of those toys you put treats in they dog has to roll around to get them out. Unfortantely he manages to get everything out of them fairly quickly and the frozen kong he usually licks for a few minutes then ignores and lets melt all over the floor.

 

Trapper is a little be more hyper and definetaly gets into more things at night but doesn't seem to enjoy longer walks at night. He usually starts lagging at about a mile and I don't blame him we are up to almost 3 miles walk/jog in the morning. Also PM walks are hard to do here in Florida due to heat and rain. It's still a little too hot for a mile or so walk as soon as I get home. I tried yesterday because it was only 78 but he was panting to hard for me to push him even with a water break. In the middle of the summer I had to wait until 8 or 9 to take him for a really good walk without worry of burned paws or overheating.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one with stand off-ish grey. He loves to greet people but then doesn't really care what they do after that.

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Guest grey_dreams

The destruction you describe is from anxiety, not boredom. You should continue to do alone training every day, and at all times when he will be alone. Alone training during the day doesn't transfer to evening/night, because so many things are different (e.g., it's dark, there are more sounds from neighbors at home and coming and going). Same thing for weekend days: alone training during work days doesn't transfer to weekend days. So continue doing alone training during all days of the week, including weekends, and during evenings. It takes some dogs longer to get used to being alone than others. Search the forum with the keywords "alone training" and you will find a lot of tips and tricks. Good luck!

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There are lots of really experienced people on GT who have really great advice. I am just wondering if you have other animals or is your dog alone all of this time? My dogs have always done well while we were at work, but there is only so much time they will tolerate being alone.

 

Also, if chewing is a problem, you could try his muzzle, especially if you are just running to the store.

61bd4941-fc71-4135-88ca-2d22dbd4b59a_zps

Payton, The Greyhound (Palm City Pelton) and Toby, The Lab
Annabella and Julietta, The Cats
At the Bridge - Abby, The GSD

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Guest BrindleLuv

I don't have any other animals because he is cat aggressive. My lease only allows one dog and even if I could get another dog I don't have enough room for another grey and he can't be trusted with little dogs unless the little dog is aggressive. I did muzzle him today but it's not a solution in my option for more than an hour.

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