When do you begin to trust ur dog...story?

[Putty]

K....I have a 2yr old Boxer. We NEVER leave him upstairs when we leave home. Too much stuff that could get messed up. We have a finished, but unfinished basement. Several months ago we let him just stay down there while we went shopping. We came home and he destroyed something that was not his. I vowed then it would not happen again. Well, since we got rid of the other Boxer we have been babying the hell outta this one. Showing attention to him like crazy. So yesterday before we left for work the wife says "you want to leave him out in the basement".....We head down there and pick up stuff that just can't be damaged and left him down there. I even gave him the "don't F up speech". I got home yesterday, walked in, opened basement door, took him out to potty. Came back in, went downstairs and holy hell. He went ape shit. He pulled all the couch cushions/pillows off, ripped the zippers off and pulled the foam out and had it everywhere. A few down pillows opened...feathers everywhere. I simply went upstairs and placed him in his cage. No yelling. Kinda proud cause I usually freak out.

I have no idea how a person knows when it's safe to leave a dog alone in their living quarters..I feel I can never do this with him.

[Brrcats]

you may never be able to.

 

maybe you can get him trained, but you cant just expect him to know that he isnt supposed to tear stuff up down there.

[HAOLE]

call Ceaser Millan

[rch10007]

This is normal Boxer behavior. It is best for a dog to be kenneled when the owners aren't home. If he got into some shit, he could choke or swallow something and be dead when you come home.

[John Bruh]

we had a golden doodle (golden ret. and poodle) never had any issues with him. left him out all the time.

[kshymkiw83]

Are you exercising him regularly? Usually destruction is a sign of pent up energy. I would start in small increments ~30 mins. If he is good reward him, and then next time try ~1 hr. and so on and so on.

 

Also make sure he has plenty of things that he knows are his, toys, etc.... down there when you leave him.

[Main3s]

My boxer was the same way. I'd leave him in the kitchen and he would get on the counter and eat paper towels, cook books. So then I started leaving him in his cage but he would just eat his blankets. So finally (and I feel kind of stupid about this) we started leaving him out with chew toys. I left him with 3 Nyla-bones and 2 hard regular bones and a big rope bone. Now when he's loose he has his own shit to tear up. Every now and then he'll get a magnet off the fridge (yeah, how random is that) and chew it up. But giving him lots of toy options has helped. Good luck!

[AudiOn19s]

We leave our dog out all the time now. It started when he figured out how to get out of his crate. We'd randomly come home some days and he'd meet us at the door when we swore we had locked him in his crate. At first it was just here and there but eventually it got to the point where he could get out of his crate in about 15 seconds. Since he never destroyed anything while he was out, he immediatly won our trust and we decided to not even bother using the crate anymore. The only thing he'll tear up is paper if we carelessly leave it laying around.

 

Then again he's only 9lbs so his level of distruction compared to a bigger dog is minimal if he decides to go crazy one day. The only real impact is that there are constantly toys scattered around the house from him playing all day.

 

Andy

[Smokey]

^^^He gets out of his crate so fast now that I can barely put him in it and turn it around to have the door face the wall before he has it open!!

 

My wife and I struggle with this decision as well. We've crated our dog since he was a puppy whenever we leave. My wife feels more inclined to leave him out than I do, but it is nice if we're at someone elses house that I'm not always worried he'll get into something he's not supposed to....so I somewhat feel it's training for that situation.

 

We still crate him every day when we're at work, but we've started leaving him out for smaller time intervals such as us going out to dinner or running to the grocery store.

[verse]

Yes some dogs may never be able to be out of a crate when you're not home. Especially boxers b/c they are high energy dog. They don't usually get out of the "puppy" state of mind and energy until they are around 6-7 years old.

 

Are you exercising him regularly? Usually destruction is a sign of pent up energy. I would start in small increments ~30 mins. If he is good reward him, and then next time try ~1 hr. and so on and so on.

 

This is another good suggestion. He may have too much energy, but if it's just a separation anxiety, he may never get over it.

[timmy43016]

i have had tons of dogs and a few boxers too. my male when he was a pup would destroy everything he got his teeth on...toilets...doors...anything. he cost me thousands. i have learned a lot from having boxers pups. my male couldnt be trusted out of his cage until he was fixed and about 1 1/2 yrs old. you have to start with 10-15 min increments. boxers dont have the pent up aggression and it doesnt really matter how much you run them. they will run and play until they die. the problem is that boxers are very prone to seperation anxiety and that is a hard one to figure out. getting advanced training for the dog to where you can control how hyper they get (paying attention to you and only you regardless of whats going on around them) is huge. it takes a lot of work. my female was easier to do this with than the male was. what will make this easier is doing sit/stay exercises. start at 30 seconds of stay until you can get them to stay for 15 mins...then start doing stay while you are out of sight to the dog. then keep going up to 30 mins. this eases seperation anxiety and they will cease destroying things. what starts the sep anxiety is usually too much babying. meaning coming home and getting excited to see the dog. they feed off of this and just more excited each time you come home...which casues them to freak when you leave. dont pay attention to them when you come home. pretend like the dog is not even there and pay attention to him on your terms not theirs. they will get accustom to this and over time anxiety goes away. its hard work, but it works. i have 2 pit pups now (6 mos and 1 1/2) both boys and they do not have to go in the cage. the older of the 2 does no wrong and the younger is working on the jumping thing right now. keeping them in a calm demeanor at all times is key and it will translate into everything they do (eventually).

[Rustlestiltskin]

just like everybody else said, boxers have retarded amounts of energy and need to be played with a good bit each day or at least taken outside to run around for awhile. Another thing could be that ur dog doesn't respect you or that he doesn't think ur the dominant figure. he may think he's dominant thus him doing whatever the hell he wants. I got it through my dogs heads real quick that I run the shit and ever since they dont pull the "tear up, shit/piss anywhere they want" routine b/c they know who the big dog is lol. Look into a couple in home trainers. We did in the beginning and it taught us alot about how to put dogs into they're place and let them know whats good and bad and who is the boss of who w/o having to smack them n such.

You must show DOMINANCE so that they know what not to do.

 

-end cesar millan rant

[TTQ B4U]

This is normal Boxer behavior. It is best for a dog to be kenneled when the owners aren't home. If he got into some shit, he could choke or swallow something and be dead when you come home.

 

Not true. Boxers are great dogs and can easily be trained and left alone in the house. We've always had two boxers, even growing up and I can tell you that none of them caused damage.

 

Our latest is a 10wk old pup and just now, I returned to her being gated in the kitchen...not her kennel....but the door was open. I came home after 2hrs away. Zero pee, zero damage to anything and she was sleeping in her kennel on her own.

 

In the past, we've only used a kennel for their first two years. After that, zero issues.

 

Key to a good boxer is a morning walk/run and training from day one they come in the door. Be firm but train them with intelligence to actually "learn" They thrive on that. Our 10wk old is already well aware of where the toy basket is and all the toys she's allowed to touch. Not that she doesn't come running with my shoe or a slipper now and then, but she is already understanding that doing so is not cool. Be firm, but not abusive and show tons of love when they do good. They aim to please more than most dogs I know.

 

Start with short trips time wise leaving him out of the kennel. Same as the advice I've spewed here about house breaking them. Just gradually increase the duration and eventually you can leave them most all day with zero instances. Our pup is up to about 1hr now before potty breaks and has only had two mishaps in two weeks. Never in her kennel, once in the kitchen and once by the door.

Edited January 6, 2009 by TTQ B4U

[ImUrOBGYN]

Are you exercising him regularly? Usually destruction is a sign of pent up energy. I would start in small increments ~30 mins. If he is good reward him, and then next time try ~1 hr. and so on and so on.

 

Also make sure he has plenty of things that he knows are his, toys, etc.... down there when you leave him.

Good advice. This is how I've trained my dogs. First, you have to train in increments. LIke he said above, you start with small amounts. Eventually, you increase those times so as to build their trust that you'll return. The biggest help you'll find, is wearing that dog out before you guys take off. Not always convenient, especially with this weather. It's slowd down my training of my younger dog, but she's been making great progress. Titan had separation anxiety, as well. Talk about f'n destructive when he was young. Now, I could leave him for 12 hours and not a thing, NOT A THING, is wrong when I come home. I dont move anything or put anything away. IT just takes patience and training.

YOu have to have patience. You can't keep the dog caged in lieu of training. You'll only exasberate the situation. You have to make a decision: Do you have the time/patience and love for the animal to train it properly. If you cannot do that, maybe a dog isn't for you at the moment. However, you're obviously making the effort. There's some good advice if you google it, but I think you'll find much of the same advice you have here. Good luck, man. It's not always easy with this kinda problem. Our new dog has seriously cut into our trips outta the house, but she's turning into a great dog over time.

[BloodRed]

Our friend boxer was the same way. They tried leaving her out sometimes and would come home to the house torn a part. We started leaving our austrialian cattle dog out when she was about 6 months old and never had a problem. But we started slow. Just leaving her out when we would run out for say 15-30 minutes and kept working that up till it was the full day while we are at work. Now her create just sits in the basement.

[TTQ B4U]

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/107583912/medium.jpg

 

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/107583914/medium.jpg

 

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/107583910/medium.jpg

 

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/107511806/medium.jpg

 

RIP my Bubba Girl: 1997-2008

 

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/33931529/medium.jpg

[rch10007]

Not true...

 

Are you joking???

 

WTF did I post that isn't true?

 

This is normal Boxer behavior.

True.

It is best for a dog to be kenneled when the owners aren't home.

True.

If he got into some shit, he could choke or swallow something and be dead when you come home.

True.

 

I think Boxers are the best breed out there!!! So what, you had good dogs??? Does that mean that every animal out there is as well behaved as yours were? I've assisted in a few necropsies and I can tell you that it only takes once for a dog to get into some shit for things to go wrong.

 

A kennel is not punishment AND if that's what you use it for, then you are wrong. IT SHOULD be the animals sanctuary. It's a dog, not human. It needs a safe place to be when you can't be responsible for it.

 

Bravo, you had dogs that were good. Just becasue you had good luck, doesn't mean everyone has to live by your rules. If his dog gets into the trash and eats the lid off a can and it slices his intestines through and through, are you going to buy him a new puppy?

 

A kennel is you protecting your animal from it's nature. A kennel is a good thing - it's safety.

[Putty]

 

I think Boxers are the best breed out there!!!

 

 

I agree, if they didn't fart stank ass so much.

[TheHaze]

Are you joking???

 

WTF did I post that isn't true?

 

 

True.

 

True.

 

True.

 

I think Boxers are the best breed out there!!! So what, you had good dogs??? Does that mean that every animal out there is as well behaved as yours were? I've assisted in a few necropsies and I can tell you that it only takes once for a dog to get into some shit for things to go wrong.

 

A kennel is not punishment AND if that's what you use it for, then you are wrong. IT SHOULD be the animals sanctuary. It's a dog, not human. It needs a safe place to be when you can't be responsible for it.

 

Bravo, you had dogs that were good. Just becasue you had good luck, doesn't mean everyone has to live by your rules. If his dog gets into the trash and eats the lid off a can and it slices his intestines through and through, are you going to buy him a new puppy?

 

A kennel is you protecting your animal from it's nature. A kennel is a good thing - it's safety.

A kennel is a false sense of security for the owner, methinks. I use it to train my dogs until they're mature enough to behave, then they're free to live abouts the house/yard. I have a 15 year old lab mix and a 3 year old AmStaff who live together, non-destructively and cooperatively. They have "their" toys that they play with and I take them for walks and play with them often. Some people put too much thought in to dog behavior when you can simply take from nature what their behavior is.

[rch10007]

I agree, if they didn't fart stank ass so much.

 

LOL!!! My deceased female boxer used to fart all the time. She would let one go in her sleep and wake and start walking in circles looking at her ass like WTF is going on back there!

[rch10007]

A kennel is a false sense of security for the owner, methinks. I use it to train my dogs until they're mature enough to behave, then they're free to live abouts the house/yard. I have a 15 year old lab mix and a 3 year old AmStaff who live together, non-destructively and cooperatively. They have "their" toys that they play with and I take them for walks and play with them often. Some people put too much thought in to dog behavior when you can simply take from nature what their behavior is.

 

I completely AGREE that dogs can be fine in a home without a kennel. My point is that a kennel is a tool for training, just like a clicker or commands. It is also a safe place to put your animal.

 

I never used a kennel myself but I have one in my garage right now for doggie sitting. I have friends who starting using one and their dogs behavior changed for the better.

 

Some people need a kennel for pottie training. It doesn't have to be used just to keep dogs out of harms way.

[TTQ B4U]

WTF did I post that isn't true?

 

you said that his boxer is experiences are typical of Boxers....that's not true. Boxers are not known to be destructive dogs. They are known to be high energy dogs that are intelligent and stubborn, but are not typically chewers or destroyers.

 

I totally believe in kennel training. It is a dogs den, but over time, they should be able and allowed to have roam of the house without fear of destruction that is basically misplaced energy being displayed due to lack of training.

[TTQ B4U]

Some people put too much thought in to dog behavior when you can't simply take from nature what their behavior is.

 

true....and for those interested in learning more about Boxers, you may want to learn about the parents to the breed too. Too often people research the current breed standard but not the historical traits bred into it over time from the original parents. These are the true traits of what makes a Boxer so special.

 

English Bulldog

Brabanter Bulldog: The Banter Bulldogge Foundation is just SE of Mt. Vernon. Great people.

[Putty]

LOL!!! My deceased female boxer used to fart all the time. She would let one go in her sleep and wake and start walking in circles looking at her ass like WTF is going on back there!

 

 

LOL...Tyson's are all silent but deadly. I think I need to get him elevated bowls.

[rch10007]

http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/boxers.html