De-Crating??

[cwarner]

I feel horrible about leaving Kodiak in his crate when we are not at home.  About a month ago, I tried leaving him out of his crate since at that point he had gotten to the point where I was sure that he would not "go" in the apartment.  So I decided to let him roam free, but limited him to the Kitchen, (which happens to be the biggest room in the apartment, and has tile floor so messes would be easy).  Well there are 4 Doors in the kitchen, the outside door was obviously locked, the bathroom door was shut, the doorway to the living room (no door) and the door to the bedroom, (which doesnt latch, just friction shuts).  I put Kodiak's kennel in the doorway to the living room to block that off, but left the door open so he could enter his kennel, and put a couple of chairs in front of the bedroom door to discourage him from going into the bedroom.  The first couple of days went real well .. no problems, no trouble, he wasnt all riled up when we got home like he usually is when he's crated.  Then the trouble began.  The first time he got into the garbage ... probably my fault for not thinking to put that in the bathroom with the door closed, but there wasnt much in there so no biggie.  Second day,  the guys came to mow the yard, and Kodiak just HAD to see whatever that noise was that he was hearing, knocked the chairs to the bedroom over, got in and chomped the blinds about halfway up all the way down in half and had them all over the bedroom floor when i got home. My girlfriend said that it looked like an alligator chomped them right downt he middle.  Strike 3 was when he got into the cupboard below the sink, where he got into a box of 250 garbage bags, which were all over my kitchen floor ... luckily he didnt get into the cleaning supplies which are stored under there, i never would've forgiven myself. 

So after strike 3 he's back in the kennel and doing ok, but when it's time to go in, he mopes around and avoids the kennel, and i feel terrible about putting him in there.  Anybody have any suggestions about a way to let him run free when he's home alone and keep him occupied enough that he doesnt get bored and get into trouble?  Usually i leave a TV or radio on for him for some noise and obviously some lights if its going to be dark when i get home. Would he have gotten less bored if i would've left the whole apartment for him to roam around?  Obviously i'd have to leave the blinds up a little for him to look out so we dont loose anymore of those.  Thanks for any help!

[MollyGirl]

I would start by letting him have the whole apartment for short intervals like a trip to the store and gradually increase the time and see how he does you will never know unless you try.  I would leave the blinds up so he can see outside.  Shut any room doors that he is not welcome to go into and dog proof the rest of the house. How old is he?  Have you tried toys that you can stuff treats or kibble into to occupy his time?  Good Luck.

[Nicole]

Hmm...well, I guess I'd be of the opposite opinion. If he's proven that he can't handle the kitchen, then don't give him MORE freedom, give him less. I know that it seems like intuitively, more space=more interesting stuff and less boredom, but really its more space=more stuff to mess with that isn't appropriate to mess with.

I would keep him crated, but make sure you give him good stuff. Like Mollygirl said, toys that you can put treats into that will keep him occupied, fill Kongs with peanut butter and freeze them. He'll spend hours licking and trying to get that frozen peanut butter out...ummm...t hat sort of thing.

Also, I've never heard about it myself, but my neighbor told me about a study he read. The study involved playing music/radio/TV for dogs while their owners were gone. I guess the results of the study were that dogs actually responded better with less stimulation when their owners were gone than more. (Cats actually did better with the radios and TV). Just a thought. I know a lot of people leave radios and TV's on for their dogs when they aren't home, but its something to consider. Maybe he's getting overstimulated .

Just a few suggestions! Good luck!

[cwarner]

Thanks for the responses.  He turns 1 sometime this month, not really sure, we adopted him and they said he was 8 months old at the time so we figured october sometime is his b-day.  Thats interesting about that study.  Another reason i left the radio/tv on for him when home alone was because he gets quite vocal when he hears sounds but cannot hear them ... car doors shutting near the apartment, people talking things like that, especially after dark.  (thats when he's on duty)  he is 100 times more vocal after dark and i thought the sound of the TV/Radio would drown out any of that other noise.  I've tried the treat in the toy trick, it's not a kong but the same idea,  i've put the treats in there right in front of him, but he doesnt get the idea of trying to get the treat out, or he tries and gives up easily.  The hole is alot smaller than his tounge though, maybe i could cut the hole bigger and try the peanut butter, he's never had that before so maybe the greater smell will entice him more.  I'll have to try that.    Any other thoughts?   Give him more room?  Less room?   

[navarre1316]

I can sooo relate!!!  Now granted Issy is a bit younger so I knew that I may come home to a surprise.  I started by just letting her out for short periods of time and she was fine.  Mostly I come home to all the toys out and all over the living room and some of the throw pillows on the floor, no biggie.  Came home one day, she had gotten into the recycle bin and had gotten some newspaper out and shredded it, she likes paper, again not a big thing. (Keep in mind that in the meantime she is getting more difficult to put in her crate when I need to!)  Came home again one night, (luckily the girl that lives upstairs had let them out so they weren't in), there was paper all over my livingroom.  At first I thought it was newspaper again, but on closer inspection it was my $98 lab workbook for my anatomy/physiology class!!! 
I'm a proponent of the less room, so back to the crate she went!!!  I started feeding her every meal in her crate, the only time she can have her bone is in her crate.  Oddly enough, now she goes right in her crate without me having to herd her in there!  Maybe two-three nights she can stay loose, she actually does fine at night it's just the waking me up as soon as there is a sliver of sunlight that's annoying!!!  But if I'm not going to be home for awhile, she has no freedom and won't have any for awhile!!  Sorry so long, but this really did just happen within the last few weeks, so I feel your pain/disappointment!!  Good luck!

[cwarner]

I usually do take him for about a 1/2 hour walk before i leave for work in the morning.  If he's not ready thats ok, like i said, i just felt bad about keeping him on lock down.  This is my first dog in many years so i'm still getting used to having him around, and dog proofing the house is the next step.  The big thing i'm worried about this the cupboard below the sink where the cleaning supplies are, he's only attempted to get into there that time i left him home alone, never when i'm there.  Going to have to find some kind of child proof lock or something. Great responses!  Thanks All

[2Criminals]

Phelan just earned his freedom in the livingroom and kitchen within the last 2 months (He's 16mos), he's like Kodiak....HATE S his crate. We give him a toy box with different things to chew on, rubber tire, real bones, frozen kongs... My Bullmastiff LOVES to chew! So if Kodiak is part Bully be prepared for lots of destroyed chew toys!  What we have been working on is putting anything that he is allowed to chew on in the toybox first. As much as you want to keep him entertained, try to limit the number of toys that are ok, too many and he will think that everything is fair game. Toys are picked up and put back in the box multiple times a day at our house so he must return to the box to get them. So far it's working pretty well, anytime he's chewed something he wasn't supposed to is really our fault at this point for leaving it out Home depot has lots of child safe devices for keeping cupboards closed, baby gates work very well for shutting off rooms

[schelmischekitty]

omg, akita's are infamous for getting upset when they're left alone.  they love their family so much, and get horribly upset when they're away at work, etc.  axle is 4 and STILL destroys my blinds sometimes, looking for me when i leave.  we have a leaving the house routine.  we lift the blinds, put the curtains to the side, put the trash out (yes, every time we leave) pick up any loose papers, toys, etc.  and potty him and play until he's played enough he's tired.  we crated for the longest.  neutering helps, if you haven't.  also, walking or playing really rough until he's tired helps, because he'll sleep most of the time you're gone.  honestly, if i was you, i'd crate for now until your pupper mellows out.  axle ate a lot of things (including picture frames, door frames, walls, etc) that could have been disastrous when he was a puppy.  he will mellow though, lol

p.s.-  navarre i'm sending a crate so you don't have to worry about him when you leave lol

[cwarner]

Well, i think we've been lucky that Kodiak doesnt really do alot of chewing outside of his own toys.  I havent really caught him chewing anything he wasnt supposed to as of yet and i'm keeping my fingers crossed.  Kodiak is a lazy pup,  he just lays around all day when we're home, he really only gets excited and jumping around when i ask if he wants to go "outside" and he loves being out, but when he's inside he's as calm as can be.  Every once in a while he'll bring a ball to me and want me to throw it in doors, but we have to initiate inside when it's playtime.  I'll def look into those childproof locks for the cupboards, and i tried the peanut butter in the kong yesterday ... he loved it!  I didnt think his big tounge would fit through the hole, but when i got home, he had it squeaky clean on the inside!