My 10 month old dog is destroying the back yard. I don’t have the time or money for obedience classes. What can I do?

Hello,

I have a 10 month old female Akita that I acquired from my daughter when the puppy was 4-5 months old. My daughter owns the parents and they are both finished AKC champions with champion bloodlines. She sold all of her puppies on a spay/neuter contract, but couldn't sell the one I have now, partly because it's a long hair which is "undesirable" for the breed. The puppy went to one other foster home while my daughter tried finding a good home for it, but that lady had no idea how to raise a puppy and let it do whatever it wanted, so my daughter took the puppy back. She didn't have room for it with her two other dogs and asked if I would foster it for a while, that way she knew she was in good hands and could come see her whenever she wanted. I ended up falling in love with her and keeping her for myself.

This dog has the best temperment in the world and is friendly to EVERYONE, but her behavior is absolutely outrageous! She has completely destroyed the backyard. We have a pond and she has moved the rocks and dug up the lining, including digging at the wires for the pump. She has dug holes, dug up tree roots, and plants. She chewed up all the drip system and pulls things off of the tables and chews up the hose. When she is inside at night, she has chewed up throw rugs, throw pillows, shoes, etc. We have purchased toys and bones for her to appease her when we are not here. However, she completely rips appart her toys and it's a waste of money. She also just ends up digging more holes because she wants to burry her bones and she even tries burrying her bones in the house.

We aren't here all day every day, but when we are, she is in the house with us. We walk her every day and we have tried to get her toys and things to keep her company while we are gone, but she is just destructive. She also runs away if not on a leash, which my daughter says is in the Akita's breed description because they are very stubborn and have a mind of their own. My daughter says ever since she was a puppy she was the trouble maker. She was the first one of her sisters to figure out how to get out of her whelping box and climb over the 4 foot fence she was in. She also got a pitch fork stuck through her paw somehow, she is always getting into things....

Please HELP... we have just recently put up a kennel in the backyard which is a 10 X 10, however, we are concerned she will dig out from under the fence and get out or start whinning a whole bunch. My last resorts are shock collar and electric fence and if that doens't work I just can't keep her. I am renting this house and she has already caused thousands of dollars worth of damage. I love her and I want to keep her, but I can't afford her destructive behavior. I don't have the time or money for obedience classes, so that is out of the question. If I can't get her behavior taken care of I'm going to have to give her to someone who owns a ranch and can spend more time with her if that's what she is lacking.

Karen