Training a dog to not destroy objects

[Slothead56]

Once again, I turn to the AGF Open Mic as a resource for information.....

Background—I’m not a newbie at this.

• He’s my fourth Golden Retriever, third from a very, very responsible and reputable breeder.
• He’s 18 months old, highly intelligent and trainable.
• He’s active, gets plenty of outside exercise and play time.
• He’s very social.
• Unlike previous Goldens we’ve had he is well mannered around human food but still motivated by treats.

My wife and I both work at home when we’re not on the road for business. My 24 year old daughter lives here (for now!) and works full time.

He does have a bad habit of taking objects that don’t belong to him and destroying them. Mail from the kitchen counter, packages left outside by delivery guys, trash from waste baskets, dirty laundry, socks left on the floor....you get the idea. He annihilates stuffed toys.

One would argue that most of the issues would be solved if we prevented the opportunity from occurring. True and we do.

But, living a busy lifestyle means he has to learn to live in our world.

Last night he went through a barricade of boxes that has been there every night for the past week, got into the Christmas wrapping paper and bows and went to town. (We are trying to teach him to sleep in our room.). He also destroyed a couple of soft sided parcels containing gifts.....it was not a pleasant wake-up call at 3:44 AM.

Looking for help. To save you the time and trouble:

• Yes, it’s always the owners fault;
• Yes, he is crate trained but I want a house dog;
• Yes, I can remove temptation...to a point;
• Yes, I know he’s acting out because he’s looking for attention.
• I do not believe in whacking my dog around.

But, he has to be broken of this. He may be the smartest dog I’ve ever had and he does love to please me. He’s still a pup by breed standards. The destruction has to end.

Thoughts?

[RP]

Provide lots of much more desirable and appropriate dog toys for him to chew on. Encourage and reward him for chewing on the desirable stuff. Provide a space in the house where the dog stays when you're not home and leave the designated dog toys there. If possible leave a radio or television on in that space. Good luck....

[imwjl]

Assess if the young male dog really is getting enough exercise. A sincere 1.5 - 2 hours of exercise each day has always made a difference for us. Our "worst dog ever" has needed that for sure.

Check out if you don't know establishing who really is leader of your pack. You and the dog are same pack as far as he's concerned.

Make sure you're not giving the dog treats for everything and he's not playing what kids can do - getting mom and dad to ask how high for requests to jump.

Get the dog in the unknown and where you're in charge if you think this is a standing in the pack issue. A situation where the dog thinks he might be left behind but having a good time too. A bike ride or trail run works for this.

I credit my wife for being particularly good but she can still have challenges even after decade of training dogs, horses and other people's children. No matter what she's always got a friendly and fun way but also the touch for establishing who's boss.

You can also have a very challenging dog. One we have now would be long dead or adopted if a beginner or wrong family had her. We've achieved what others could not but she'll still just be naughty dog.

Good luck.

[rlb9682]

In addition to what has been posted already, and it's good stuff. You said the key thing here

He may be the smartest dog I’ve ever had and he does love to please me.

Labs are generally people pleasers and they thrive on the attention you give them. Conversely, they also react strongly to you expressing negatively towards their behavior.

Labs are very trainable just by voice and inflection, but as the previous poster stated, they need to know who's the Alpha. Most times that's as simple as starting them down while reprimanding them.

I love labs and grew up with them, my aunt bred and trained them, and they're fantastic dogs but they need a hierarchy, lots and lots of attention (especially from 1-3 years old) and lots of exercise and chew toys.

One of the best things I've ever found for Labs is the thick tug ropes which are great fun for you and the dog and he'll carry it around in his mouth and chew on that by himself, or sleep with it if it's something he associates with you.

But yeah, up until 3 years, male labs are a handful with their exuberance. The last 2 I had I used to use my rollerblades when we "walked". They'd run, I'd roll and after after a couple of miles of that they'd settle down...for a few hours Good luck.

[Brucebubs]

I owned a Golden Retriever and an Airedale Terrier.

They were known as 'Search & Destroy'!

[buddyhu]

Follow RP’s advice.

And:

I am not a dog expert, but I know a bit about learning theory. Best learning conditions involve both discouraging what is unacceptable and encouraging what is acceptable. You can’t discourage/punish unacceptable behavior unless you intervene as the behavior is happening. So I am not optimistic that you can let your dog be a “house dog” until you are watching him closely enough so that you can catch him “taking” things several times and successfully punish that behavior and then immediately reward another alternative behavior, like playing with HIS toys.

I’d recommend that you give up or postpone the enactment of some of your list of wants until your dog is older/more mature, AND until you have had a few dozen successful learning trials which discourage the taking and/or destruction. Go back to crating the dog at night and when someone isn’t able to closely monitor his behavior (and to intervene as needed).

And exercise him more. A tired dog is a good dog. Even if he is already playing 4 hours a day, if isn’t tired, it isn’t enough. Send him to doggy day care and agility training, so that he is more active, spending time with other dogs, and is being taxed mentally. Pay a dog walker to do an additional hour of exercise with other dogs. Whatever. But give him more activity and more dog-to-dog interaction everyday.

Good luck.

[Mr. Jelly]

When he does wrong withhold human attention from him and isolate him. But make sure there is a strong identification for the dog to know why it is happening. When he does well reward him with attention. For a dog to be a good dog they need allot of interaction and attention. I used to train police dogs for police and sheriff departments years ago. Dogs are allot of work and that is why I don't have one.

[reeve21]

Hi Slothead,

I could give you a ton of details about my long history with dogs which leads me to make this recommendation, but I'll spare you

We have an 8 year golden mix. He was a major problem when we got him, and I tried all my tricks to fix it. No soap.

I was at my wits end, and finally got some professional help--yes, I'll admit I paid a dog trainer. Some of the best money I ever spent, and it didn't take all that long to turn things around. Maybe $300, tops.

Most of us have had a guitar teacher at one time or another. Professional help is sometimes the best and cheapest solution in the long run!!

We have had several Goldens. Wonderful dogs. Yours sounds like he will turn out just fine with a little bit of training.

Best of luck!!

[RP]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

When he does wrong withhold human attention from him and isolate him. But make sure there is a strong identification for the dog to know why it is happening...

How does the owner "make sure there is strong identification for the dog to know why it is happening" while withholding human attention at the same time???

[ahorsewithnonam]

IMG_0198.jpg

Our Bella. The sweetest dog in the world. Her first 18 months she loved to chew on everything even baseboards! She kind of just stopped on her own.

[aknow]

What could be more fun than ripping through xmas paper and ribbons? Even humans love to do that. My male G.R.'s usually needed about 24 mos. to grow out of that behavior. As others have said, regular exercise helps a lot. The females seem to be better about this. Maybe add some filling, human food, like supplementing rice to his regular meal, that seems to calm my lab/pointer mix. Homeopathic calcium and valerian root if gone for long hours and your dog is alone.

[Fogducker]

I had a dog training book and knew the exact page and had high lighted it;

"This too shall pass!"

but that was after about 18 months!



Fog

[Golffishny]

Our current dog needs lots of exercise. That's the most important thing. As far as the crate our dog wont destroy things at night, but keeps changing positions and keeps waking us up, so she stays in a crate. The crate is always open in the living room and she will go in and out of it as she pleases during the day. It's her safe place. You may also want to look up trainers who specialize in problem dogs. They don't have to be bad dogs, just need direction for specific issues. Good luck and enjoy your dog.

[Tnfiddler]

I’d love to be able to give you some magic advise that would solve your problems, but our Standard has a thing for pens and pencils and counter surfing for food! He’s 18 months old too and I know he’ll grow out of it. Our female standard we lost a few months ago was a terrorist when she was a pup and then grew into the best dog we’ve ever had.

[mdhttr]

Been there, done that with our two and a half year old lab/husky mix. Got her from the shelter as a "behavior problem." Previous owner described her as "destructive" because she tore up the carpet in his apartment. Well no wonder--this dog needs lots of attention and activity. The behavior problem was the owner leaving her alone in an apartment, not the dog. But that said, although she has not destroyed anything really valuable or irreplaceable, we have been through five harnesses, one collar, dozens of "chew resistant" dog toys, two dog beds, and many other items. Agree with what has been said above about activity--ours does much better when she gets out for a walk, run, hike, dog park, etc, every day--and about needing attention--she's a 75 pound lap dog at heart and loves any kind of interaction with us. We've resorted to taking her with us in the car to run errands as a last resort when there's bad weather and we can't get her outside. Interestingly, as big as she is and as much as she likes to chew, she's not a big eater. But she does seem to be getting better with age--more and more just enjoys laying at my wife's feet as she works from home and has settled into a routine quite nicely--so I would say there's hope. I wouldn't completely abandon the crate--as said above, it seems to be a safe place for ours and she wants to go in it at night rather than feeling confined by it.