Thank you for replying again.

I have baby gates at the top of the stairs. He was coming upstairs (I didn't trust him downstairs) but he was jumping on the beds so I stopped him coming upstairs and leaving him downstairs with my other dog. To be honest I really don't want dogs upstairs.

He has stuffed kongs. I tried his usual biscuits and peanut butter to seal them in. It works sometimes.

I also forgot to mention whilst he's bending the bars in his crate (he doesn't always do this) he's cutting his nose.
I don't want him to hurt himself.

My other issue is i have to work. Admittedly I'm never out for longer than 5 hours. But I'm a couple of weeks I have to work in London. I will leave at 6am. DH is leaving at 8am. My friend is coming round to walk them both at around lunch time, and I should be home for 5pm.
Worried what he will do but I have to work, I'm self employed x

Just read the article. Everything it says I've been doing the exact opposite. x

I don't know what to say. But I can offer that if I put Sophie behind a closed door while I'm home day or night she would eventually tear the door down somehow. Not an exaggeration. even if she ripped up her paws the door would be destroyed. That's how strongly she feels about being with me.

Rach , I've just removed the link . Sorry , my bad. Dont get upset.
Its good general advice but I think its a litle extreme now . I woudn't totally ignore a dog when going out and coming in but dont make a great fuss or big deal either.

The link was given to me a few years ago when i adopted Pip , he didnt wreck things but used to howl and bark . I should have read it properly before i gave you the link .

If you google separation disorders you should find lots of info.

I'll get back to you later with some tips.

Thank you.

But what happens when you go out? Is she free to roam the house? If so is she destructive? X

It sounds to me that destroying the dining room was in frustration at not being able to reach when you were upstairs in the house where as trying to destroy the door to get out and forcing his way out of the crate is more panic.

Did he try to jump over the top stair gate to reach you ? If not you could try leaving him in the utility room with a dog gate and go out for a couple of minutes and film him to see what he does. Some people with big dogs put two gates up to stop their dogs jumping over . some dogs are more calmer behind gates than closed door as they can see more and not feel shut away.
I would leave old stuff that he can rip up like the towels so he can take his frustration out on that.

If this were me I wouldnt crate him when you go out , he could really hurt himself.

Can he open all the doors?
Have you tried shutting the dining room doors when you go upstairs and leaving him in the hall ? I talk to my dogs when they are behind the gate and I'm in another room so they know I havent forgotten them .


Desensitising . Just pick up your keys , drop some treats and walk out the front door saying Back in a minute , shut the door , walk a few steps and then go sraight back in . Dont make a fuss of him , just say hello and carry as you were before you went out.
You need to go back before he kicks off, repeat this often every day and gradually increase the time you are outside little by little, The Back in a Minute becomes a cue that you are leaving and that he will be ok .
Use a kong when you start leaving him for more than a few minutes .
Dont use the cue if you are not going to back in a short time.

Ignore any damage, dogs are good reading our body language try not to look cross or get tense . Thats really hard to do !

DAP collars are recommended for dogs that get stressed, they are expensive but they could help if used in conjunction with desensitisation.

Bear in mind that while you may only be leaving the house for a short time , that time can seem an eternity to a dog that is anxious .


A better link than the last one

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/iss...y_16044-1.html

See we're fortunate that with revolving work schedules there is usually a human somewhere in the house around the clock. She is destructive with the couch and living room chair, her own bed...she digs a space for herself meaning she has wrecked furniture. We tend to get used living room furniture at this point. The other thing she'll do out of spite is pee on our bed. So our room is tightly closed when I'm away. Mostly they tell me she lays in her chair or upstairs with my daughter. When I get home she's my shadow. I think having Callie helps though. He's the self taught watch dog of the house. I think he makes her feel better, more protected when I'm gone.

He hasn't tried to jump over the baby gate yet, it is a tall one so I will be amazed if he gets over there.

He has only tried to open the one door in utility.
The kitchen leads straight into the dining room and there's no door on to there, hence why the baby gate is across there protecting our furniture.
I could certainly move the baby gate though so it's across the utility room instead. There is a step from utility up to kitchen which again will make it harder to clear the gate.

I'm going to set up a camera this morning to see what happens whilst im out. Will be gone for 3 hours.
If it's a case of he's just chewing been a puppy then maybe it won't be as bad. But if he's clearly stressed in the crate then I'll certainly have to think about trying him out of the crate. My husband is worried about leaving him out of the crate as we only had our utility room done just before we found him.
And as I said in my first post we weren't even considering getting a dog.
I do feel like everything happens for a reason and that we were meant to find him.

I should also say another thing he does quite often is when my other dogs bed is next to his crate. Eric (the lurcher) will get his nose through the bars and pull his bed through the bars resulting in him destroying it .

I will let you know how I get on today. Thank you again x

Good luck . It can't be easy especially as you have a two year old to look after as well.

I have found animals before or they have just turned up and I have kept them, like you say , it felt like it was meant to be.