I'm at a loss with Rogan's destructive behaviour...

Rogan has been home just over 3 weeks now, but in the last week he's taken to ripping up/destroying things overnight, or when I've been out for an extended period of time.

It started with a roll of kitchen towel and progressed to tissues, magazines, dvds, my wedding planning file, a tube of Savlon and the top part of a hot water bottle. He even chewed open and ate a sealed yogurt while I was upstairs for 10 minutes.

Rogan spends his time in the living room with a pet gate across the doorway while my 2 cats have been getting used to him. He's got his basket and comfy pad, water dish and toys, and he gets chewy bones and such that'll occupy him when I go out. He was fine for the first couple of weeks, but it's got to the point where I can't leave anything on the coffee table or sofas because it'll be knocked off and chewed or lost. I like to spend time downstairs with him during the day, but I can't bring any crafts or drawing material in with me to work on, because I know I'll have to lift it into another room if I just want to make tea or go to the loo. The thought of coming back down after a few minutes to a ruined craft makes me feel a bit ill.

Now before anyone says, I know it was my fault for keeping these things within his reach. Luckily there hasn't been anything of too high value, other then my file, but I know it's probably only a matter of time if I'm not concentrating constantly. However, if this carries on the only things left in the room will be the furniture and I don't think I could handle him tearing up the sofas My kitchen looks like a bomb site, the breakfast bar is piled high with things that have been taken out of the living room and brought back in when they're needed and while that isn't an unlivable situation, it's far from ideal.

So I'm looking for some advice... Like I said, he has his own toys (a 3 knot rope and a medium Kong toy) and he doesn't lack for treats and attention during the day. He gets 2 walks and garden time too, and we've started a bit of clicker training. He goes to bed at around 10.30pm, and I get up at 9am. The main problem lies in that I never catch him doing it...I'll come in to mess and Rogan will refuse to look at me. If I close the pet gate behind me as usual, he'll lie down in his basket, wag his tail and completely ignore me when I tell him to come to me, when he's usually so good. If I leave the gate open, he shoots past me, up the stairs to mum's room and wont come when I call him. I know it's useless punishing him after it's happened, but it's getting so frustrating, and I KNOW he knows he's done wrong by the way he behaves when I walk in, even before I react (belly low, slinking, tail down, head nearly on the floor).

So if he's aware he's been bad, but I can't punish him because I never catch him, how on earth do I stop him before the living room is just a bare cell for him?

Have you thought about a crate to pop him in when you leave the room?

Can i ask you how old your dog is, and which breed?
You say you have a Kong do you put food in it a give it to him when you pop out
And have you taught him the no touch command...
And as been said maybe crate train him

I think your expectations are a tad high tbh. well trained adult dogs can generally be left with things on coffee tables etc but not even all of them are completely trustworthy, lots of adult dogs will even try to clear the worktops for you. Even my 14 year old cat has been known to destroy the odd roll of kitchen towel when left overnight. I also think the time he's left overnight is rather long, mine go to bed at 11pm ish but I'm up again about 6 to 6.30 ish. Also he has his toys but he only has the two so he's looking for something to entertain himself with. I also think it's pretty accepted behaviour to have to put things out of their reach when leaving the room if you want to guarantee they haven't been interfered with on your return. Sorry but dogs are highly inquisitive and generally want to have fun he just needs to learn what is accepable and what isn't and you need to learn to stop leaving temptation in his way.

Agree with the crate training. I don't know how old he is, but I have had 2 pups in 3 years and Corrie, was a NIGHTMARE! Funnily enough, she was fine when we actually went out and she was put in the kitchen, it was when we were here. She has chewed a hole in my carpet - in the middle so I can't cover it up! and went through numerous clothes and shoes! However, she did grow out of it and now it's Jim's turn, although no where near as bad as Corrie.

I actually put him in a cage when I go out (but not for long periods of time) with a kong and that puts a stop to him destroying things.

It can be so frustrating but I think you just need to break the cycle and prevent him from doing it at all.

Helen

He has two toys that he has all the time

And fun new different stuff he can chew and pull appart on the coffee table

Crate training can help, and not leaving anything about he shouldn't have
Also more toys, still only two at a time but rotated every few days so they don't get boring

Different types too, MIA likes to destroy, but thankfully dosent eat so I give her stuffed toys she can rip the stuffing out of, then I stuff it back in and she rips it out

Empty fizzy drinks bottles to kill
Cardboard box with newspaper scrunched around treats in
Frozen Kong

The more you give him fun things and prevent him getting stuff he shouldn't the more chance he will learn to wait for you to give him stuff to chew

Thanks for the responses everyone, you've given me a lot to think about.

Rogan is a Rough Collie X JR and we're unsure of his age. The Dogs Trust put him at around 9 months, but everyone who has seen him thinks he's around a year or so, he was also neutered before he came to us.

Trouble - Thanks for putting it into perspective, I guess I am expecting too much too soon of him. He has other toys, but they're not all out at the same time as he gets tired of them quite easily. As for the times, I care for my mum full time which is exhausting, and work mostly to her schedule. Unfortunately there's nowhere in the living room that he can't reach, and I know he has no qualms about clambering over the furniture when I'm not in the room to keep an eye on him. I understand that things need to be kept out of the way, but in my case 'out of the way' means completely out of the room and the situation is getting somewhat ridiculous...

As for crates, I had thought about it, but I don't know much about them. Wouldn't putting him in one everytime I leave the room just prevent rather than cure the problem? For a dog that likes to follow me everywhere given the chance, I'd imagine that could be quite stressful as well.

I think, bearing in mind your domestic circumstances, that environmental management is the most realistic approach.

Is he stressed by the gate?

If not, why should he be stressed by the crate?

One of the tools in "curing" a problem is "preventing" the dog practising it.

During this time you can teach the dog that "forbidden fruit" is not necessarily more attractive than what you provide him to destroy.

How is he fed?

Have you thought of ONLY feeding him when you leave the room?

It would mean an initial layout on kongs, buster cubes, kong wobblers, tug a tugs etc but it may be cheaper in the long run.

You could stuff these with his daily ration (freeze some if necessary) and dole them out during the day.

There is no NECESSITY to feed your dog from a bowl. This would occupy his mind and his jaws.

Just a thought.

He doesn't know he's done wrong at all, hun. What he's doing is picking up on your body language, tone of voice and possibly a history of being physically punished by his previous owners for similar behaviour. He's not thinking "Oh no, I shouldn't have chewed all that stuff up that I'm not supposed to", he's thinking "Oh no, mum left me on my own and now she's come back and she's angry with me - I better make appeasing gestures and keep away from her until she calms down as I'm afraid of being shouted at or smacked". He does not associate what he's been doing because he's been bored, frustrated and lonely while you were gone with your displeasure. He has no idea why you went out happy and came back angry.

I'm dealing with a young dog I adopted about 7 months ago and she's still got seperation anxiety when I leave her. I think your lad does too but instead of barking incessantly like my girl, he chews stuff up to relieve the stress and boredom. She used to get really anxious when I left, pacing and whining when she saw I was ready to go out. She was great for a couple of months then she relapsed a couple of weeks ago. So I started leaving the house and coming back randomly, teaching her more tricks to excercise her mind and leaving her with a stuffed kong full of cream cheese and other treats. Now she gets excited about me leaving and can't wait for me to give her the kong. She only has it when I'm not with her and I take it off her the moment I come in regardless of if there's food left in it. It's her special treat for when I'm not there. Might be worth reading up about seperation anxiety and trying the kong trick even for short times when you are making a cup of tea. Leave the room and come back for no reason for a few seconds each time. Ignore him and do not make a fuss about leaving and returning - just calmly and quietly get up and leave, then come back, sit down and pick up where you left off. You're not aiming to catch him in the act and tell him off, but to make you coming and going no big thing so he stays relaxed rather than it being a cue for stress on his part. If you do catch him chewing something when you do that, just calmly and quietly take it off him. Don't shout or reprimand him as it will just stress him even more while he is feeling like he is right now.

Amongst all the other great replies on here, the advice about feeding him from treat dispensing things is a brilliant idea if you feed dry food. He needs things to fill his time with while he is alone and learn to be calm and relaxed. Expending mental energy obtaining his meals will contribute to him achieve that state.

I think you are expecting far too much from him as you have only had him
For 3 weeks...and dog know what happened to him before he came to you

Collies become unhappy if left for long periods of time without the companionship of people or other pets, and unhappiness can result in chronic barking or destructive chewing.

It is a very good idea to give him things he can destroy ...

If i leave my dog for any length of time i make sure there is not anything out he may want.
I defiantly would not have or leave kitchen towel out where he could get it or mags
Kitchen towel lives in the kitchen cupboard and mags in draw
Dvds live in the dvd cupboard. sorry if its a bit harsh but everything in my house has a place
And that is where it lives..... a tube of savlon why is this in the lounge... once you have used it put it away or one day he will eat something that will make him ill as for leaving food out well what do you expect..... you need to teach him what he can and cannot do
You should maybe think about going to obedience classes... and maybe some Agility
The more you do with him the better he will be to live with

One of the most effective ways of solving a crewing problem is crate train - it doesn't mean he will be crated forever, but it does break the cycle that he has obviously got himself into
Chewing is self-rewarding, so each time he chews, he is rewarded, and so is more likely to do it again By preventing the chewing happening then that reward is removed, and you can begin to get to the bottom of the underlying problem

This is a period of development known as adolescence which is often compared to the teenage years in humans - dogs begin to test the boundaries that they are limited by, to see where they are and how much they move They may also develop behavioural bad habits - which if not corrected can become established and difficult to eliminate


Dogs often chew because they are bored.... You can also try leaving a radio or tv on

All dogs need a lot of training, care and attention in the early months/years, and in this case, she will need extra attention to help her settle in and become a loving companion....