August 11, 2014
My 2 year old dog needs to be crated when I am not home because he will destroy things and it makes me feel like a bad owner. I will be purchasing an ecollar, would it be ok to use it to teach him what he's not allowed to grab?
Full Question:
Hello,I have a two year old Belgian Malinois that I'm currently in the process of training.
My only problem is that I literally can't keep him unsupervised without him getting into trouble. My yard is fenced in and I have to make sure there is nothing he can destroy when he goes outside. A table, chairs, etc.
Because of this, I have to keep him in a crate when I'm not home or even when I leave the house just for a few minutes which makes me feel like a bad pet owner. So far, nothing has seemed to be working to stop him from being destructive and I am desperate. He gets plenty of exercise daily.
I will be purchasing an E-collar as I've been doing extensive research on the product and feel it would be useful for other parts of my training, but would it be wrong to also use it to teach him what he's not allowed to grab?
Thank you
Cindy's Answer:
When you have a dog like this I would suggest continuing with supervision and confinement. You can use an ecollar when you are there, but it's highly unlikely to carry over to being able to leave him loose without supervision especially if he's 2 years old. He's likely had enough repetitions of being destructive to override any type of correction when you are not there. He may also be doing this because he's anxious about being alone in which case corrections will amplify the anxiety.
I would continue to use the crate when you can't watch him.
Don't feel bad about confining him. Unfortunately there are quite a few dogs out there that simply haven't earned the right to be loose without direct supervision. It's much better to crate him than to let him destroy things.
Cindy Rhodes
I would continue to use the crate when you can't watch him.
Don't feel bad about confining him. Unfortunately there are quite a few dogs out there that simply haven't earned the right to be loose without direct supervision. It's much better to crate him than to let him destroy things.
Cindy Rhodes
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