Riley

Here is our dilemma: We have a great black standard poodle: Intelligent, Social, etc. Our problem is when we leave him alone in the house, he goes crazy!! Its like Mr. Jekyll and Dr. Hide...

We thought it was the length of time that we were leaving Riley alone, well..last night I left him alone for 10 minutes, only to find out that he was jumping on the couches, ate papers, chewed on furniture....everything he does not do when we are in the house. Riley does not do any of these things even when we are on different rooms and no-one is watching him, as soon as we leave, the party starts.

I do not want to confine him when we leave the house, so I am looking for training tips to change the behavior.

Thx

R

PoodlePowerBC

OMG ... that sounds exactly like our last Black Spoo Roscoe!!! He passed suddenly before he turned 6, and we were never able to leave him alone in the house. He started this behavior very young, and I even got a professional trainer in to try help deal with it. We finally installed a 12 x 12 pen in the basement that opened by doggy door to a 12 x 24 pen in the backyard. Otherwise he would get into every and anything he could. Garbage, shoes, banister rails, he even learned how to slide open the pantry door. I just thought it was a Spoo trait until we got our new boy Russell.
Sorry I can't be of help ... but good luck

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Walk with someone who will accompany you willingly, preferably a dog.

fjm

I think some kind of confinement is essential - whether he is playing up because he is bored or because he is anxious, the more often he rehearses the behaviour, the more established it becomes. I would get Susan Garrett's Crate games, and a stock of really good chews and chew toys - Kongs stuffed with chicken or roast beef, for example - that he only gets when he is alone. Set up a safe area - a large crate or a dog proof room - and teach him to enjoy it using the ideas in Crate Games. Give him the super duper chews. Leave for a few seconds at first, building up gradually, keeping the time random and variable. Once he is relaxed, and reliably settles down, you can give him more freedom, but it sounds as if there are just too may fun things to do with paws and teeth to risk it at the moment!

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To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden,
where doing nothing was not boring- it was peace.

~ Milan Kundera

Rayah-QualitySPs

Dear Riley;
If you had a child would you say the same thing with the same reasoning? That you would not use a crib or a play pen to confine the child?
Whether you want to or not you should confine your dog for his own safety. Can you afford the surgery if he eats something that needs to be removed? or what about if he chews an electrical cord? You are protecting your dog if you keep him away from danger!
If you have difficulty with a crate buy an exercise pen and confine him in that.

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Rayah Quality Standards
Quality not Quantity

Sookster

How old is Riley? If he is young, I would say this could be puppy immaturity and he may grow out of it. Then again, Nova cannot be left alone and she is 2.5 years old (I have only had her 7 months, so no idea what she was like as a puppy). So she is crated when I'm gone and she can't come with me. This isn't very often, though.

Our labrador is 3 years old now, and has only been able to be left alone and unconfined in the last 6 months or so.

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Jennifer J

I have to agree with crating or restricting Riley's access to the house while you are gone. My Claire is what we call a "shredder" She can be left in the house for a very short time and not chew anything, but longer than 15-30 minutes and she is looking for trouble. If we leave her out of her crate, we must make sure that all books, shoes, remotes, glasses, etc are put away where she cannot reach them. Therefore, to keep her safe, she is crated while we are at work, etc.

Claire is also a wonderful, obedient, loving dog. She just likes to chew things. I leave her a big knuckle bone, a stuffed Kong, etc in her crate to keep her busy while we are gone. Ellie is fine uncrated, she will only try to get in the trash if something smells especially tempting (we try to empty it in the mornings before we leave for work). Claire loves her crate, she spends time in it voluntarily when we are home as well, she just goes and curls up and takes a nap in it. The crate is not a horrible place, it's a safe place for her.

Ellie will still go in if we need her to as well (our crate is big enough that both of them can stay in it for a few minutes if I have someone at the house that I don't want them bothering).

Good luck with Riley.

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Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. ~Roger Caras

JE-UK

I'd agree with others ... set up a dog-safe room until he's earned free-rein privileges. The more he practices behaviours you don't want, the more difficult it is to eliminate them.

Remember that dogs are contextual ... in his mind, staying off the sofa when you are home is a completely different thing than staying off the sofa when you are gone.

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"Yes is so much important than No." Dominique Barbier