# Alone in the house?



## CrazyCash (Jul 12, 2012)

Any suggestions for leaving your dog alone in the house for a couple of hours? Summer time here can get pretty hot and I've tried leaving my dog, Cash in the house for a couple of hours in the afternoon to keep him out of the heat. I exercise him every morning before work, but he goes crazy in the house if I'm not home - even for short periods of time. I also have two other dogs (not Vizslas) for him to play with, but he is VERY destructive in the house. I've tried loading him up with toys and kongs full of peanut butter, but he would rather destroy the house. He's still young - 9 months old, so I don't know if he will eventually outgrow this or if this is just something that he will always do. Any suggestions? 

Here's some of his handy work!!


----------



## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Have you tried using a crate?


----------



## CrazyCash (Jul 12, 2012)

I haven't tried a crate - I don't crate my other two dogs, so I was trying to avoid it with Cash, but if he doesn't get over this destruction, then I might have to try it.


----------



## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Cash will eventually outgrow his destructive behavior. A great change in maturity level happens at the age of two years! Until that time, a crate or a safe, secure area in your house will help to control the destruction!! "They chew 'til they're two." 

You will be amazed by the change at two years of age. It's like someone just flips a switch, and they are all grown up.


----------



## roxy2011 (May 21, 2012)

owch i feel for you there. roxy chomped a fair few pairs of shoes...pens...loaves of bread!!! 

i baby proofed the house gave her free run of my kitchen and lounge whilst at work and gave her huge raw hide bones and leave the radio on for her.

now and again if ive forgotten to move a pen out of reach...ie away in a drawer...she will have eaten it! 

i would be lost without my stair gate and rawhide bones...they work for her but boys are a bit more headstrong thn the girls :-\


----------



## Miles (May 18, 2011)

Does he follow you around in the house when you're home? Miles was not destructive at all and then after we moved to a new apartment, he started scratching a wall when I was gone. A trainer suggested not allowing him to follow me around- to say "place" and instead make him stay in one room. We did this and it helped immediately. However, he didn't have these tendencies before we moved. He's 16 months.


----------



## WillowyndRanch (Apr 3, 2012)

Having the dog restricted while not supervised is not a bad thing - for you or the dog.

http://willowyndranch.blogspot.com/2012/07/why-crate.html

Ken


----------



## Katja (Mar 9, 2012)

+1 on the crate.

We found that Bella was reliable in the house after about age 2.

Keke, currently 10 months - no way!


----------



## CrazyCash (Jul 12, 2012)

Thanks for all of the comments - it's good to know that eventually he will outgrow it.  

Usually during the day he is in the garage / yard with grass and trees and space to run around, but he also chews up things in the garage on a daily basis, but not nearly as bad as when he's in the house - he usually just rearranges things in the garage. He actually enjoys going out in the garage every morning and seems happy to be outside. When I leave him in the house, he will run to the window and watch me walk away and he will cry/howl as I leave - he doesn't do any of that when he's outside.

I assume that his issues in the house have something to do with separation anxiety, because he does follow me everywhere I go and truly is a velcro dog that will crawl up in my lap every chance he gets. I'll have to try making him stay in a different room when I'm home and see if that helps! I will also have to think about a crate because it can get over 100 degrees here at times over the summer and that's just too hot to leave him outside!


----------



## katicabogar86 (Jul 4, 2012)

I crate mine when we leave. We have to other non-Vs too, who are fine when we leave. But my V would destroy the house if left on her own. The crate works well, and they enjoy having their own space. When I leave, I put her water bowl in there, a few toys , a sheet for her to lay on and I turn a fan onto her so she doesn't get too hot. In there she's fine for a few hours, and she's only 12 wks.


----------



## WillowyndRanch (Apr 3, 2012)

CrazyCash said:


> it's good to know that eventually he will outgrow it.


Maybe. I've had two year olds I can trust alone in the house and have a six year old that I don't leave alone in the house for 5 minutes. She strategically waits for her opportunities... 
Ken


----------



## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

Darcy is now 16 months but there is no way I would leave her out of her crate while we go out, she is out of her chewing stage but she is the usual Vizsla manic and I would be scared that she could hurt herself running about the room. So she remains in it for her own safety...


----------



## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

roxy2011 said:


> owch i feel for you there. roxy chomped a fair few pairs of shoes...pens...loaves of bread!!!
> 
> i baby proofed the house gave her free run of my kitchen and lounge whilst at work and gave her huge raw hide bones and leave the radio on for her.
> 
> ...


I know this isn't what this tread is about but please everyone stop giving your pups rawhides when not supervised. The can choke!!!! Use bully sticks or kongs only.


----------



## santoscordon (Aug 7, 2012)

Hello All, I'm totally new to the forum but my Vizsla destroyed my couch (again) and so obviously came across this forum with a quick search.

Apollo just turned two years old and we moved from New York City (an apartment vizsla!) to California 2 months ago from an apartment to a house with a yard.
Apollo has always been desctructive...ish.

New York City schedule with Apollo:
1. Wake up, go for a 3-4 mile run with him.
2. Leave him with baby gate blocking off most of the apartment except for about 50 sq ft. Everything off the counters
3. Dog walker would come half way through the day and take him another few miles. before crating him until we got home.
4. Get home, take him to dog park.

New California Schedule with Apollo:
1. Wake up, go for a 3-6 mile run with him.
2. Leave him with access to most of the house + yard. (No bath room, no bedrooms)
3. More often than not, our neighbor takes him to her house for hours or play with her whippet.
4. Get home, do something with him, or take him somewhere (beach, dog park).

Some additional info: We worked with a professional trainer about once a week for about a year when we first got the dog. His training seems to me like there is tons lacking, but others around me says he's very well trained. For example, he still likes to walk past me if we are heeling off leash so generally that means a correction about once per minute, but I could put him on a down stay (no leash) outside of a drug store and he'll still be there 10 minutes later (with passers-by saying hello). When other dogs are playing near him, it becomes very difficult to get him to listen to commands.

So whats the problem?
It's like clockwork, if we miss a morning run, he's bonkers the moment we leave him alone...and it's SOOO frustrating because we do so much with him and still we can't skip a day (unless we're home all day or I take him to work). But he can get destructive even after a run. He has chewed a hole through a closet door before. Not the corner either. He just went right in the middle of the flat door until there was a 5-inch diameter hole right through it. He's ripped up pillows, numerous dog beds, Bathrooms and bedrooms. Usually he's good for a couple weeks or a month and then he'll have an episode where he destroys something. Basically, just long enough for us to build confidence in his behavior and then BAM, he swallows all my socks.

Two weeks ago, we bought a beautiful $1600 couch and 3 days later, chewed up. We came home and I know they say don't correct your dog's behavior when you get home because they dont know why they are being corrected...but that guy, I tell you. We walked in and he was being skiddish, we didn't know why. He is usually super excited to greet us but that day he was timid and didn't want to go into the living room and just did a slow crawl to his crate instead. Sure enough, we walk in there and the new couch is in shambles. It's hard to imagine he didn't know he did something wrong. Well we tried to correct through disappointment anyway since he was already doing most of the correction on his own. Today, I skip the morning run, and in the 45 minutes between leaving for work and our neighbor coming over to take him and her dog to the beach (so exercise wasn't really skipped, just moved up an hour), he destroyed more of the couch...made the first time look like childs play. Not even sure we can reupholster it any more.

So what's the REAL problem?
The real problem is that I've tried leaving him outside and he cries all day. We can't crate him because our new commutes are pretty bad and we're gone over 10 hours. Our neighbor is home, but I don't feel right asking her to let him out to pee without paying her and think asking her to do that would be weird. But also, I paid for a dog walker for two years in NYC and if I can avoid paying for more dog care, I would like it. It's expensive, as I'm sure you all know.

My next step is to try a citronella (or audio/vibrate) bark collar and see if that quiets him down so that we can leave him outside for the day. We're renting a corner house so lots of foot traffic right by him. The problem is I don't know if bark collars work for whining, has anyone used one for that? He barks a bit, but it's mostly whining.

What I would REALLY love is my vizsla to just behave. I run with him every morning, and usually another run in the evening, and usually our neighbor comes over to bring him to her house to play with her whippet for hours. All this happens, and he's still bored/anxious enough to get destructive. He just turned two years and I'm praying for that switch that everyone talks about at the 2 year mark. I love that guy to death, but he has to be the most expensive thing I have every purchased in my life. I don't even want to try to itemize the money I've spent repairing his destruction. Plus it takes its toll on your marriage and work life because you need to spend less time at work or with your spouse when we have to deal with this stuff. The thing is 99% of the time he's fantastic! He's classic lovable, caring vizsla that just want to go running in the woods with you...and then there's the 1%.

Does this sound like your lives as well? Maybe I just need a group that can sympathize with me. Any of you know any Vizsla support groups near Santa Cruz, CA?


----------



## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Hi santoscordon, and welcome to the forum! I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a 3-6 mile *leashed* run is not adequate for a full-grown Vizsla. If you're in Santa Cruz you should take him to a dog beach in Santa Cruz early in the morning before work to burn off some energy *off-leash*.

Here are some great options in your area:

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Dog+Beaches&find_loc=Santa+Cruz%2C+CA 



> We can't crate him because our new commutes are pretty bad and we're gone over 10 hours.


Woah... that's a long time for a dog to be alone! What area do you work? I can recommend some great (and affordable) doggie daycares in the bay area. I know someone who lives in the Santa Cruz mountains and sends her pup to daycare, so I can ask her for the place she sends her pup if you're interested. My mom lives in Santa Clara and does "doggie daycare" for us during the day in her home and large back/front yard for our Riley girl. If you're interested I can see if she is willing to take on a 2nd Vizsla. 

Last, but not least - we should get together for a Vizsla play date! Riley would love to meet up with another redhead friend in the Bay Area.


----------



## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

My first suggestion after carefully reading your post is don't miss the morning walk regardless of if the sky falls in!!  It sounds like you have a high energy V which needs to let off a large amount of steam. 

As for solving the lounge destroying behaviour, I can't help apart from saying that you will have to block him off from any area where there are items he can chew. I am sure if you left him outside that over time he would adapt. 

I have a GSP which came to live with me when she was a year old. She came with a whole host of issues and one is she is a soft furnishing chewer. She destroyed any cloth lounges or chairs if left unattended for any length of time. Matter of fact, she would start on them if I was just putting the garbage out and didn't let her come out the front door with me  She was however OK with the leather lounge until about 6 months ago, when she decided to eat that too. I just re arranged the house so that there was nothing interesting to chew in the areas they could access while I was out. 

When you are both working, training in a solution to this is next to impossible. So either do as suggested above or get in a dog walker/doggy day care, ask your neighbour or manage to find more time yourself to let pup run off leash.


----------



## santoscordon (Aug 7, 2012)

Thanks for the advice threefsh and Ozkar. I think I was being long winded because I was getting it all off my chest.

I think you're right, threefsh, 3-6 miles does do something because he lays down when I get home, but he's usually up at full alert again after a 30 minute respite. We do the runs off leash, but he's by my side so it's pretty much leashed. When we run with him in the woods (truly) offleash, it isn't until around mile 5 or 6 (mile 8 for him) when he starts to shows signs of fatigue by running along side us again. We take him to hidden beach some mornings, but he seems to get more tired from runs than the beach.

I would LOVE to get together to have Apollo play with some other Vizslas! Lets arrange it! I work in Mountain View every day, so depending on where you are, I could bring Apollo with me to work some days.

Ozkar, arranging the house to accommodate the dog is something I'm totally familiar with. Although, I'm almost certain that if we left Apollo with access to our bed, he would just lay on his back, legs-spread, crotch to the sky, and sleep for the entire day. He loves the bed more than anything.


----------



## whiteside74 (Aug 17, 2012)

I have the exact opposite problem. When left alone in the house Teva, 14 months is perfect. Sleeps in her chair has a fews toys with her and is fine. In a crate, she will destroy anything that is in there, and attempt to destroy the crate. She has pawed at it to the point of bleeding. She has destoyed 100's of dollars of dog beds placed in the crate, even those advertised as chew proof.

We had a very nice expensive wooden crate that resembles furnature that she chewed through the door. I put in the decorative metal door and she got it to pop off. Now we are in a wire crate that she cant get through. But she will try, try and try some more. 

We very rarely use it.


----------

