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Post by roselladaville on Apr 10, 2012 13:33:25 GMT 1
We have had Manny from a puppy at 8 weeks old and he has been fantastic. We have been able to leave him for a few hours, with my border terrier, and always make sure there are toys/bones/chews for them to occupy them.
He is now 10 months old and in the last 3 weeks has started to gnaw at the skirting boards and wooden tv unit whilst we are out, causing a considerable amount of damage. He has also started peeing when we go out. I know he can hold it for several hours, but he is sometimes (not always) doing it even if we go out for half an hour. We always put him out to the toilet before we go anywhere so there is really no excuse.
He is quite hormonal, we have booked him in for the snip next week as he has been humping our terrier and generally being quite obnoxious recently, so are hoping that will help.
Can anyone advise - is this just a hormone/age thing or the start of things to come? Does anyone have any tips of how to prevent chewing furniture etc?
Any help gratefully received!!
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Post by roselladaville on Apr 10, 2012 13:34:50 GMT 1
I should add - they are not left alone a huge amount! My partner works shifts so we often cross-over and they are left for a couple of hours but it is only once or twice a week, the rest of the time there is someone around in some capacity, most of the day.
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Post by whippetywoo on Apr 10, 2012 14:05:28 GMT 1
I am certainly no expert, but our 16 month old Whippet, went through the same sort of thing. She was completely housetrained and then unfortunately had to go on steriods and we blamed this for messing her up. At just over 12 months, she would wee in the garden on request, but if we went out, we would come back to a really huge puddle. We didn't know why she started doing this. We didn't make a fuss, just put a thick lot of newspaper down near the door where she used to go, and then cleared it up (really really soaking wet) when we came back. We were worried that a habit had been set, but one day, the paper was dry and (touch wood) she has not done this anymore. To us , as inexperienced Whippie owners, it was a mystery. But now solved hopefully. As for chewing - we have a really strict routine , whereby all our dogs know exactly when we are going out and for how long. When she was younger, we had a log basket full of logs in the room they were left in which was not hers to chew, but she did chew it and we left it there on purpose really. It is a log basket no more........... !!! but she only chewed this. She didn't ever touch the furniture. We think this was her 'chewing habit'. If we had taken it away, we think she might have started on something else. Also, we always walk them before we go out, just for a bit of physical and mental stimulation, and their routine is to sleep while we are out. In fact if we break that routine on occasion, they sleep whilst we are in the house (because it's the routine they know). This might sound a bit restrictive, but it worked for us. We never ever leave them a minute longer than they are used to. I probably haven't suggested anything here - but this is just my experience.
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