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Any help with behaviour whilst out please?
Posted: 12 Apr 2019, 15:08
by Alex09gp
Hi we have a male mini that is nearly 9 months old. So far he has been in his crate during the day when we are out at work 3 days a week. He gets let out 3 times a day during this time. We have decided that he needs more space now so have put up a gate giving him the run of the kitchen and dining room. Unfortunately he is just pulling all his bedding apart every time he is left. Today he even pulled the table cloth off the table! Do we go back to putting him in his crate for a week and try again or do we just persevere with him and keep telling him he’s been naughty when he does it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Any help with behaviour whilst out please?
Posted: 12 Apr 2019, 15:43
by Riesen16
Leave him in his crate - he won't suffer but you will. You can't tell him he's been naughty unless you catch him in the act.
He will live through this!!
Re: Any help with behaviour whilst out please?
Posted: 12 Apr 2019, 15:43
by Riesen16
Leave him in his crate - he won't suffer but you will. You can't tell him he's been naughty unless you catch him in the act.
He will live through this!!
Re: Any help with behaviour whilst out please?
Posted: 12 Apr 2019, 16:01
by Alex09gp
Riesen16 wrote: ↑12 Apr 2019, 15:43
Leave him in his crate - he won't suffer but you will. You can't tell him he's been naughty unless you catch him in the act.
He will live through this!!
Thanks for the fast reply. How long would you suggest putting him back in his crate for?
Re: Any help with behaviour whilst out please?
Posted: 12 Apr 2019, 16:34
by schnauzer
I would leave him in his crate. My boy Gino will be 2yrs on 9th May, & is still in his crate overnight at bedtime but it's his choice. We still crate him if he is going to be home alone for an hour or so. But I do leave him the run of the house if we just nip out for up to 30 minutes & he lies up on the window sill to watch. His crate is in our bedroom.
Re: Any help with behaviour whilst out please?
Posted: 12 Apr 2019, 17:57
by Oscar 12345
Yes I agree with others, if he has been fine in his crate leave him in there. Wait until he is a little older and not bothered about bedding and other stuff etc. It will come. He is still a mischief maker at that age.
Re: Any help with behaviour whilst out please?
Posted: 12 Apr 2019, 19:20
by Dawnspell
He feels safe in his crate when you are not there. He's probably pulling his bedding apart because he's stressed and doesn't feel safe with the new space.
Don't try to fix what's not broken
Re: Any help with behaviour whilst out please?
Posted: 12 Apr 2019, 21:02
by mikegoodson1
I agree that you should not chastise him when you get home after the event, you need to speak to him at the time of the incident.
Isn't it possible that at nine months old, your boy is just showing frustration at being left alone? Obviously when in his crate he cannot do much as I doubt there is much room to do so. Obviously crating him again would help in the short term.......but maybe there is a larger issue here?
Re: Any help with behaviour whilst out please?
Posted: 13 Apr 2019, 09:39
by Oscar 12345
Alex, if it helps, I let Otto have free run of kitchen/dining area once he reached 12 months. Having said this, the area was completely free of anything he could damage like table cloths, towels he could reach etc. and his bedding has always had to be indestructible because he loves chewing holes in things.
Re: Any help with behaviour whilst out please?
Posted: 13 Apr 2019, 12:18
by Alex09gp
Thanks for all the replies. I have been thinking that maybe we have set him up to fail in truth. He was neutered last week so is only on short lead walks. I am thinking him having all this extra energy will not have helped our situation at all. We have decided to crate him again for a month maybe two. He does not mind going in his crate at all, he goes in there as soon as I get him a treat out of the cupboard. We also didn’t really introduce him to having more freedom slowly we just done it over night. We will try again in the future as we do not want him to be in his crate forever.
Re: Any help with behaviour whilst out please?
Posted: 16 Apr 2019, 11:44
by Riesen16
Enya is 3 yrs old and still sleeps in her crate overnight. She watches late night films with us and chews on her "Rumen" or some sort of chewy "bone". At some point she barks at both of us and we settle in her crate. Typical female, she likes both of us to accompany her to the crate, give her a handfull of kibble and wish her "sweet dreams".
She is our first female. We trained our males, German Shepherd, Briards, etc. in dog sports and they had a very different life, I guess one could say "more fulfilled". She has a better nose than all our other breeds and tracking has become a very absorbing past time for us both.
When she is running free in the house, everything "loose" from hammer, screw driver, secateurs, etc. is safely secured. Food for human conumption is obviously not "available".
I read that a lot of Schnauzers are very interested in items which you have recently held in your hand.