Please help!!! Seeking terrible twos advice...

Hi there!!! I just don't know what to do any more....

My boyfriend and I have an almost 2 year old miniature pinscher mix. (Bogart) We adopted him over a year and a half ago. When We adopted him he was very sick so we were unable to properly train him straight away. But I think we did a pretty good job! He uses a pee pad, and poops outside. He knows sit, lay, twirl, and bears (a special little trick we love) ... So all in all I think we nailed some of the essentials.... That being said he has these terrible habits, we just don't know what to do about...

1. He just sits in front of us and barks.... I dont know what he wants! He has eaten, he just went out, we have been playing and tossing the ball (or other toys)... but he will just bark and bark and bark....

2. He is so destructive! When I get home from work he has destroyed anything he can get his paws on. I have puppy proofed the house, removed all the shoes, closed all the bathroom doors, took everything off the table, (because he has eaten so many shoes, remotes, and all sorts of bathroom goodies) yet he always finds something.... recently he has been pulling all the dvd's out of our tv stand and shredding all of our books too! ... At first I thought, ok maybe he needs more excersie, but that isn't it, because we have been running 3 miles every morning recently to try and see if that was what it was... but he still destroys!

We give him so much love and attention, feed him well, play with him, he has puppy play dates. We try to give him the best life a pup can have... We just don't know what to do any more..... Its so frustrating and so upsetting... We love him so much, but he makes us want to pull our hair out, we just don't know what to do!

PLEASE HELP!!!!

Has he had a full vet check up? Sometimes if they have a hearing issue they will bark like you describe. How long do you leave him for?

Welcome to Dogsey

The late Benny used to do the barking thing he just wanted attention and playing with him stopped it but I think also reinforced if he barked he got what he wanted so obviously you need to find a way to train him to stop instead of rewarding it like we did.

He also did the destructive thing when left, it was extreme separation anxiety. You need proper advice on that, we just made sure he was never left alone but obviously not everyone can do that.

He was our first dog and we made mistakes !

I've got a minpin and was well aware when I took her on that the two things minpins love to do most is BARK and BITE! If you google the breed it will be one of the first things you read!

Mine still barks at stuff - like if she hears anything outside our door or sees a dog she is scared of. Or hears a very unusual noise. But isn't the barking 'menace' she was to begin with. She started up again when I moved because of course she could hear and see different things.

But I got her to stop barking early on by just calmly picking her up and putting her outside every single time she 'barked for nothing'. Even if this meant getting up every other minute! She got the message and I was soon able to just point to the door when she started and she'd take herself outside lol! Minpins are quite smart!

She no longer barks at noises she is 'used to' like the dustcart lorry coming in the middle of the night, or other dogs barking (all round us).

In fact I've just posted a piccie of her that I took this morning - barking at our front door because someone is standing outside it talking while the wait for the lift! She's so mellow these days she doesn't bother to get up and go to where the noise is coming from - just points her head in the direction of it and barks!

Hi He sounds if he is anxious,when faye was like that,we had a dog behaviourist come in,she said she needs a job,we scratched our heads and got her a kong which we fill up with things like peanut butter and other goodies,we used to put it in the fridge,she carried it everywhereand our older dog tried to get to it but she was loudly told off.We are at home most of the times,but found she usually hides behind the furniture in the sun-room,as she feels safe there so we now put up a soft cage,radio and we dont get any destruction touch wood,we are waiting for her to come into season as her behavior may change again.I find that you are constantly on your guard,which sometimes can be wearing,but our neighbour,when they have there grandchildren over she gets an invite,and she absolutely loves being with kids,you should try to take him to all sorts of places.One of them was Morrisons,they have a large space before you get into the main store,we usually sat in there wit er,people normally want to pat te dog,at first she hid under the seat,but now she loves all the fuss,another place was the railway,we again sat in a waiting room,at first she wet herself, but again she became used to it,the worse was a busy market,but it is still work in progress.Gemini54