- Buy a better crate. Once a dog has figured out that he can break out of a crate, he will continue to try doing this. He has already been rewarded for his efforts before! Buy an aluminum crate if you have to. You've probably spent more money on stuff that has been destroyed because of crappy crates that you could have bought an aluminum one already.

- Did I read that right? He is 1 year old? A 1 year old dog is at his peak of destructive behavior. He is a bratty teenager now. If you can't supervise him he should be in the crate, no exceptions. Ever.

- Mental stimulation for 5 minutes wears a dog out better than a 30 minute walk.

- Prong collars - you're not gonna put holes in his neck.

- Destructive behavior is likely an age thing at this point. With some dogs you can exercise the hell out of them and they'll still be brats when given the freedom to be bratty.

- It sounds like you are doing obedience with the dogs when they are together. Is this right? Seperate them when doing obedience. There should be no distractions, just focus on you and the reward that comes from you for doing what he's supposed to do. There should be no "feeding off eachothers energy" because the other dog shouldn't be there to begin with.

- Irritability -- eat food and relax before you work with the dog. If you find yourself getting annoyed, learn the self control to put him in the crate while you go away and relax for a few minutes.

The dog sounds perfectly normal to me. What I usually see in situations like this, is owners that humanize the dog too much. They feel bad about crating the dog for long periods of time. They feel bad if they feed the dog late, or skip a meal for whatever reason. They take it personally when the dog does something annoying, like the dog did it intentionally to annoy the owner. My advice to people with these views is always the same: Take a step back and realize that the dog IS A DOG. He is not being spiteful, or doing what he does on purpose. He is just doing what instinct tells him to do. Except for my 2 pups, because they're just snot faced brats that live to torment me

If he has to go in the crate for the whole day for some reason, then he will go in the crate for the whole day. What is better? Letting the dog have some freedom and coming home pissed off every day because the dog did what a 1 year old dog does? Or spend time in the crate and enjoy the quality time you have with him because he's not ABLE to do the things that are annoying?

I just bought the diffuser yesterday along with a supplement that contains trypiphan. Neither has any effect because he just gets too upset when I leave.

I've been reading Ed's articles and think perhaps I need to start from sqaure one developing a pack structure - crating most of the day, leashed when outside the crate, the whole nine yards .

If you could see this gentle beast laying with his head on my lap and snoring away, you would understand why it is so difficult to start him from the beginning can having him crated! I feel like I'm punishing him but if I am to "save" him I have to do it!!

This site and its members are wonderful. Thank you for all your help.

Mike

That's one of the best pieces of common sense advice I've read in a long time, especially in this new age of dog training. I would have nothing to add apart from maybe a change of names for the dogs??

Donna, if you can adopt Mike's attitudes to dogs, it will be a big step forward - good luck!

Gillian

I agree with the advise and I am so grateful I use crates. One other thing that might help. break down your dogs obedience training into smaller steps. I have two adopted pups, and they can be a handful. We have a schedule and training time followed by play time. They have learned play time is a reward for after their training. We started out a little rocky, but we are doing great now. Give your dog time. Establish you as the leader, a fair and loving leader, but a firm leader. break down your lessons into smaller easier steps. I have learned it takes a while for the dogs to bond with their new masters, especially those who are adopted. Just enjoy your dog, have fun, and be consistent and you will see it will work out.
God bless your efforts
sharon empson

This is an old thread; it's from last year. Just FYI.

Thanks for that - just crate me 24/7!!!