Sheepie Tearing Up Everything!
 (Its very annoying! But I still love him to death!) But when we let him in when we come home, he will have torn up EVERYTHING! He makes a mess out of what ever he can find! Even if we only put him there for 2 minutes so he can calm down! One day, he even spilt dad's screws and nails ALL OVER the garage floor!  What can I do to stop him from doing this?? 
-C & Mr. Muggs |
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| My Maggie is also a shredder -- cardboard, papertowels, toilet paper, newspaper, firewood, sponges, etc. I crate her to keep her out of trouble when I am not home to keep an eye on her. |
I feel your pain.  I have a 7mth old sheepie that loves to chew up everything - and we are fostering another 7 mth old sheepie. So between the two.... Double the Trouble.
When we are away from home - we limit the area she is in by shutting all doors. We sometimes will leave her in her crate with toys to keep her busy while we are gone. I also exercise her a lot - long walks, play ball with her (we purchased one of those huge rubber balls from Walmart) - both of the pups love to roll it around and chase it all over the yard. The more exercise she gets the less destructive she is in the house. A tired sheepie is a calm sheepie. Just know you are not alone and eventually they do grow out of this stage. |
| I think you'd be best confining him to a small space where he's safe and your things are safe. If he's already hyper going in there, setting him loose with all those temptations is only going to make him worse! He may also be destructive when you leave because he's nervous and suffering a bit of separation anxiety. I think getting a crate or giving him a small gated off area and keeping him in the house where's he's happy and comfortable with the environment would make everything a lot easier. Good luck! |
| I agree with the suggestion of confining him to a smaller space
or crate when you will be away for a while. Is there any way you could walk him when you know he will be alone for a while? I don't mean a five minute walk, I mean to tire him out enough that he will be more relaxed when you leave him? Also, you could give him a stuffed kong or something like that to keep him interested and occupied for a while. It sounds like he may be anxious about being alone or maybe he is just plain bored. Shellie |
| Crate. A crate will keep your puppy out of everything he's not supposed to be getting into. You can keep it in the kitchen or living room so when you put him in there to calm down when he's getting too hyper, he can still be near you and see what's going on in the house.
A crate is also excellent for bedtime too, because you can be sure your puppy isn't getting into anything naughty/dangerous. That brings up another point: no matter how much you think you've puppy-proofed the garage, he might still find something dangerous to get into (oil, tools, paint thinner, etc.). You can read up on crate training in the crate training section of the forum. Barkley loves to chew cardboard boxes too. Something about paper/cardboard. I can rest easy when he's at home alone though, because he's in his crate with some water, a stuffed kong and some toys. Good luck! |
| I'm a big believer in crates. My sheepie (and my BC) are notorious for destroying things when we are away. They've chewed, bottles of water, rugs, my Vytorin bottle (and pills), the legs and seats of the dining room table, numerous "wall" corners, etc. Pirate is almost 3, and Keira is 2, but they still are goofy, so they stay in the crate with safe things to play with. They don't seem to mind, and I know they are safe. |
| I agree that you shoud crate him. Mr Muggs sounds a lot like Callie. We started her in a crate very early, so she doesn't mind it at all. She has outgrown the puppy phase, so she doesn't ever destroy things when we are home. (She does occasionally get into the bathroom trashcan and shred paper, though.)
We tried a few times leaving her out in the house while we ran short errands, but every time she got into trouble or chewed something up. I have read that when sheepies have too much space and/or time and aren't sure what they are supposed to be doing, they get anxious and often end up destroying things. Now when we leave, Callie always goes in her crate, and she doesn't mind. (She's certainly not excited about us leaving her, but she is agreeable about it) If you are thinking of crating Mr. Muggs, I would go ahead and start him now while he is still a puppy. It is much easier to get them used to it sooner rather than later... |
| I agree with the other posters - crating and exercise. At that age, they have so much energy! LONG walks or a romp at a dog park really help. Bailey is nearly 2 now and is past his "I'll chew on anything" days, but we still crate him when we're gone because he seems to like it in there. Must be the special treats he gets in his crate |
You have to crate him to keep him out of trouble  |
| Mr.Muggs is probably teething too, so make sure there is plenty of chew toys for him to sink his teeth into. Crating is the best when you are not there, that and a few chewie toys in there with him to keep him occupied.
Hopefully the destruction will settle down when the teething is over, been there with one sheepie girl who just about destroyed my laundry when she was little. Door frame, dry wall and bottom of the washing machine, she settled down once the teething stopped. Wish I knew about confining to a crate when I was out back then. 
Now the only things she destroys is Bries stuffies  she is nearly 12 you would of thought she would of grown out of that too by now, so my time at home is spent supervising the stuffie toys so madam does not rip them to pieces.  |
Bear with it, Muggs will find other things to do as he gets older. Here's Charlie at a year old-- one minute innocently lying with his stuffed friend-- the next minute...
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| EEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MURDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's what Keira does to her dollies! (love hurts!) |
| Talking about tearing things up, this is what I do.
I give Winston boxes like from pop and empty milkbone boxes and I let him destroy them. He has so much fun doing that. I have noticed that he tends not to destroy other things because I let him use up his energy on an empty box and he loves it. |
 Oh my goodness. When Willoughby was a puppy, (he's 18 months) he slept in a crate at night for safety reasons (and peace and quiet). As he grew, I had a much larger crate. I got him used to my leaving by going out for 10-15 minutes at a time and lengthing the time away.I was working at home so this was easy.
I left him with a few dog biscuits broken in half and placed around his space which I gated with baby gates. He had one treat with a "sit" and two favorite toys. I also had the assistance of my senior cat, Edwina who always came down and minded him from a safe perch on the ledge beside the door when I went out. The radio was ( and is always on), tuned to the classical music station. Even now, in a different house, with a different gaited space I come home to find one of the cats with him on the other side of the "fence". Usually W. is asleep or watching a cat and eveyone is listening to music!:lol: |
| I agree with everyone, crate training, exercise, and toys toys toys....
He sounds bored and maybe anxious about being alone... and also probably teething... Throwing his toys and chews in the freezer first is usually a big help to sore gums,..  |
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