Our 6 month old pup is getting into everything when we leave. We cannot keep him out of the garbage, and we cannot stop him from being destructive. Can you help us?

Question

Hello. I know that you have a lot of mail so I'll try to make this as short and sweet as I can. We have a 6 month old male, black lab and golden retriever mix pup. This dog loves garbage!!! He refuses his dog food even after several brands have been tried. We have tried every thing. Taking trash out before we leave the house, tying him up, putting gates up so he can't get into certain rooms and the cage. Nothing works. He chews through the leash, destroys the room he is in and jumps the gate and gets out of the cage!

    Friends have said to use a muzzle but we really don't want to do that. To make matters worse he poops & pees all over the house. And I mean all over. Any room he can get his butt into is fair game!! He gets his normal walking everyday. And I always walk him before I leave the house in hopes that an empty bladder and bowels will stop his party. It never works. Dublin is never alone for more than an hour at a time. What do I do? He really is a great dog and he is so good with our children. My husband says that it is time to find him another home. That is not an option to me. But if Dublin doesn't get it soon my husband is going to do it... Any suggestions that you have would be a great help. We have consulted with our vet and he suggested the cage and said Dublin would grow out of it....? Thank you for reading this.

    The Chartrands

Accepted Answer

This is not a difficult issue. Here is what needs to be done:

Get a metal dog crate and use it. Clip the door of it closed with dog leash clips.
Obedience train the dog so it understands that there are RIGHT AND WRONG things in life. If you would like to learn something about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes.
Put mouse traps, or RAT traps in your garbage under a piece of paper. The dog must learn that there are consequences to sticking his nose in the garbage can - yes it will snap him - no it will not hurt him that bad. When you consider the fact that your husband wants to find him a new home - a good lesson with a rat trap will create a lasting impression on him about garbage. So the alternative is giving the dog up.
Switch this dog to an all natural diet - rather than the crap commercial food you are trying to make him eat. Get the little $9.00 book we sell on Natural Nutrition in Dogs and Cats. You can read about it in my list of books on my web site. It's a great book. Your dog will eat what you give him and be happy - it seems you like him - then feed him good food.
Leave the dog with a giant Kong with peanut butter or crème cheese in it (or a big cows knuckle bone) when you leave him in the crate. This gives him something to do.

Leashes and child gates never work when you are gone - especially with young dogs - they are not stupid. They figure out how to get around them. Muzzles are just as stupid. This will not solve anything other than make the dog neurotic. He may get more destructive rather than less because he is frustrated.