Re: Dog Advice Needed
 

4,

I have a ten month old that has a lot of energy. She does a lot of what you say as well.

For us, it tends to boil down to exercise. If she gets enough exercise then she is fine. If we don't take her on a long walk, a couple shorter walks, a run, or a trip to the dog park then we know that we will pay for it later.

She also has pretty bad separation anxiety. This also depends on exercise. If she doesn't get enough today then tomorrow morning when my wife leaves for work she will whine and bark. If she has enough today then she will go back to sleep after my wife takes her out to pee and feeds her. If she is bad, when my wife leaves I get up and sleep on the couch and she sleeps on it. She doesn't sleep in our room at night, so if either of us are sleeping on the couch she tends to sleep by our feet.

So the main advice is to make sure she gets enough exercise.

Re: Dog Advice Needed
 

The first problem is almost definately separation anxiety. It's pretty common in Shepherds. I don't know how to fix it, but she's not tearing up the apartment because she needs to take a [censored].

Re: Dog Advice Needed
 

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Idk how you feel about sticking her in one of those dog cages for two hours until you wake up, but that would take care of your problem.

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This is a really terrible way to treat your wife, even if it means that dog would stop chewing stuff up.

Re: Dog Advice Needed
 

Cesar Millan can help you too.

Re: Dog Advice Needed
 

I'd suggest having your wife put her in the kennel from 6am until you wake up. If she barks...tough. You gotta keep her in there, give her plenty of things to chew on. She'll start to fall into the pattern of kennel @ 6am...

I'm in a very similar situation. We've got an 8 month old shephard mix spayed female and live in apartment...my gf teaches and leaves early, and I don't wake up until 8 to leave for work.

But after my gf leaves, she sets Sascha up on the bed and she sleeps aside me until I get up at 8, walk her, and put her in the kennel all day while we're at work.

It was really tough for us to come to grips with kennelling her all day, but the folks at obedience school said she can't have the place to herself when we weren't home because she would begin to feel as if she owned the place.

Re: Dog Advice Needed
 

Try crate training when you can tolerate some barking i.e. not at 6:00 am. I have three big dogs including 2 bloodhounds who definitely have a mind of their own. I have them crate trained. I'll admit I use bribes i.e. I give them a little treat when they go in the crate. Don't really have any problems at all getting them to obey.

Re: Dog Advice Needed
 

I agree with the advice to use a crate. A lot depends on the dog. Like I said in the other post I made give them a little treat when they go in the crate. Also you might want to consider giving them something to chew on when they're in the crate. Not all dogs will chew in their crates but many do. Sounds like your dog needs some structure so give it to him/her. Make it something the dog likes (such as a treat and something to chew on) and that should work most of the time.

On the walks just use corrections. You might try socializing your dog with other dogs and people as well. Dogs actually do like hanging with other dogs. It takes some work but can be well worth it. I've got a male bloodhound that's not quite 2 years old and is 95 pounds. He is the most social dog I've ever encountered so when he's out on a walk every person and every dog is his brand new best friend. My wife and I have had to do a lot of work in toning that down so it isn't necessarily easy. My experience is that problem 1 is much easier to solve than problem 2.

Re: Dog Advice Needed
 

Yeah dog parks are awesome and a lot of fun. Not just for the dog, but you get to see and pet all kinds of different dogs and play with them.

To the OP: If you get a kennel, make sure it is plenty large enough for the dog to sit up in without crouching their head, and big enough for them to lay down in (not necessarily stretch out, but lay down).

We were using a tiny miniature schnauzer's kennel but our dog grew out of that and so we bought her a large $60 kennel.

Re: Dog Advice Needed
 

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Yeah dog parks are awesome and a lot of fun. Not just for the dog, but you get to see and pet all kinds of different dogs and play with them.

To the OP: If you get a kennel, make sure it is plenty large enough for the dog to sit up in without crouching their head, and big enough for them to lay down in (not necessarily stretch out, but lay down).

We were using a tiny miniature schnauzer's kennel but our dog grew out of that and so we bought her a large $60 kennel.

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Yeah definitely make it comfy and also consider crate pads.

Re: Dog Advice Needed
 

You have a dog and it sits in a cage all day? [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]