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Bandi
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Location: Wakefield UK
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 112
Female 
 
24-12-2014, 12:05 PM

Oz destroys Christmas !!

Hi everyone,
Oz is nearly six years old. I put my xmas tree up 7th December and left some presents under it. Oz has never bothered with the tree or presents before. Just over a week ago my husband wrapped my presents up and put them under the tree. the next evening we went out to the supermarket leaving Oz free run of the house as usual.... came back to a bomb site! he’d opened all the presents that hubby had wrapped,(left the others) and there was make up and decorations all over the carpet. He was sent to the garage to reflect on his behavior while we cleaned up. Moved the presents out of the way and put the tree back together.Everything as normal, I went out yesterday afternoon came home everything fine, no damage. Both me and hubby went out last night for about an hour and a half, came home and decorations all over again! Can’t put the tree in another room,(open plan) last time we left Oz in the kitchen he tore a claw scratching at the door, as well as ruining the door and frame. Sorry to go on but is this just about the tree or will he start destroying stuff around the house? Afraid to leave the house now! any advice please?
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Jakesmummy
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24-12-2014, 12:27 PM
Can u cage him while your out .
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Bandi
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Location: Wakefield UK
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24-12-2014, 01:45 PM
Had a crate for him when he was a puppy but he hated it and would get very distressed. He pushed against it one time so much that he broke the door on it and was running around the house when we got home. Ever since then we’ve let him have the run downstairs and never had any problem leaving him.
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Chris
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24-12-2014, 01:56 PM
Sounds like the tree and decorations are what he finds fascinating. Can you perhaps 'cage' off the tree while you are out if it is impossible to remove him from the room it is in?
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Azz
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Location: South Wales, UK
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24-12-2014, 01:58 PM
Do you have a smart phone? If so why not get one of those Pet Cams - so you can keep an eye on him when out, and the better ones let you talk to your pets via the App - so you can tell him to 'leave'

Other than that you could try some citronella spray around the tree and presents - most pets do not like the smell.
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mjfromga
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Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
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24-12-2014, 02:20 PM
Oh, gosh. I'd be livid if my free runner did something like this. I'd probably give him away! No, I'm only kidding. Jade would no doubt do some awfulness like this if I let her run around the house all the time while I wasn't here. I let her once, and she peed on EVERYTHING! She doesn't do that, so it was surprising. Nigredo doesn't bother anything, though.

Try some Bitter Apple spray and see if that works. DON'T just spray it and leave the house, make sure it works by testing it out first. Spray it and then step away and see how he reacts, some dogs tend to love the stuff... which is why I say to do this.

Also, and this seems to be a problem I keep seeing. It's not usually a good idea to give up on crating like that. People keep doing that and then they end up with issues like this that they have trouble with. Breaking out of a crate should not be rewarded with him never having to use one.

I don't use a crate for my Nigredo because he is now nearly 90 lbs and simply grew out of it and I didn't see the need to spend another billion dollars on a special GIANT crate, but I made him learn how to use one when he was little (weeks of yelling, crying, and trying to get out) and made sure he was comfortable with them in case he ever NEEDED to use one. Took ages but worked eventually, as it almost always will.

I think you should go back and crate train, it can turn out to be rather important. If he decides tearing things up is too fun, this issue could get a lot worse and a crate would really be helpful.

Also, Nigredo is left in my room instead of the entire house sometimes. Maybe you can lock him in a smaller room? We have cats and when they are moody, dogs can get attacked and things can get knocked over. He knows he's not allowed to fight back against them, so he runs and dodges, knocking things over and making a mess.

EDIT:
Since you said he also destroyed the kitchen door when you locked him in there, sounds like he has a bit of separation anxiety. If you look this up, there are many ways to help deal with this issue.
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JoedeeUK
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24-12-2014, 02:31 PM
Putting your dog out is pointless, your dog will not understand being punished for what it did possibly hours before, the only thong CM getting right about dogs is that they live in the now.

Can never understand leaving presents under the Xmas tree for adults in advance of Xmas day(well at any time really) especially with pets of any description around & then blaming the pet for being bad.

If you have pets & what to have Xmas tree etc, then never leave the two together unsupervised, you wouldn't do that with young children, or would you ????

My dogs love oranges, satsumas etc so critus spay would only encourage them

Dogs don't naturally take to crates, they have to see them as their safe space for them to work.
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SusieL
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24-12-2014, 07:21 PM
Maybe you are leaving him on his own more than normal at the moment with extra trips out in the evenings because of Christmas etc. Could be he is just bored with too much of his own company. Maybe you could give him a good walk before you leave him in the evenings so he would sleep instead of looking for entertainment.
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Timber-
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26-12-2014, 01:05 PM
Do you have a fake tree that is used every year or is it a real tree? Maybe the scent is off so now he's noticed it more than usual. How about the decorations, what type is there?
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chlosmum
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26-12-2014, 02:09 PM
I've never had a problem with any of my dogs and the Christmas tree as they've always ignored it. But every year my cat will knock it over at least once (it's a small tree) and try to remove all the decorations which fascinate her. This year on my little dog's breed forum I read a couple of posts where people who'd bought real trees were having problems with their males dogs cocking their legs and peeing on the tree!
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