Question:

Dear Julie,

I have a 3 year old rat terrier that I adopted from the humane society 2 years ago.He has eaten 5 sofas and 20+ bed pillows since I have had him.We crate when we\’re not home but,he will rip up the furniture even in front of us.Usually,there is a deer in the yard or a person and he just grabs and shakes whatever he can.My vet recommends medicating him which I do not want to do.How would you approach this.We love him so much and want him to stop. I don\’t know if he was abused in his prior home but,if we raise our voice to him,he just collapses on the floor and covers his face with his paws.So,scolding him isn\’t an option..Please help Stimpy! I know he wants to be a good boy! Thanks -Tracey

—

Answer:

Hello Tracey!

Great to hear from you!  How did you find me?

I think it is wonderful you are looking for answers to help solve your problem and it sounds like you have been through a lot, so I am happy to try to help resolve your issues.  I think it sounds like you are saying that he rips up things when he sees a deer or another person-like those things set him off, is that correct?  If so, I would say that he is experiencing some sort of anxiousness when he sees those things, as if the sight of them excites him and over stimulates him and his way of handling it is to rip things up.  Panic and discomfort can be at the root of the problem of destruction. Dogs have different ways of relieving that pent up stimulation; some bark, jump, or dig, and others may rip up furniture.  Knowing why he feels this way isn’t necessary to resolve it though.  And, luckily the things in a dogs past can be left behind when new, positive experiences replace them.  There are several things I would suggest to correct it.

1. The very first thing is that he needs to feel really tired out every day, more than once a day, through a lot of exercise; enough to the point that he lays down afterwards because he is tired.  This will be the first step in correcting the problem, because if he hasn’t drained his pent up energy through daily exercise, it will be much harder to fix this issue.  Is there a way for you to get him to a doggy day care or be walked by a neighbor, friend or teen in the neighborhood while you are away?  If he spends very much time in his crate without enough exercise, these types of situation can be harder to correct.
2. He should leave the house and view different scenery and people every day to build up his tolerance to different stimuli.  So take him to a different park, down a different street on your walk so he sees a variety of different experiences.  I am not sure based on the information you gave me but dogs that get to go out of the house to different experiences, smells, and sights do better overall because they have been exposed to many different things which “opens their minds” so to speak, so that they aren’t so panicked or excited by stimuli they see from home.
3. I would also recommend having the dog on-leash, attached to you while he is in the home for a couple weeks so that the timing of stopping the behavior is improved as well as giving the dog something to do (he will have to pay attention to whomever has his leash and follow wherever they are going).   Just attach the leash to your belt and the dog has to go where they go.  If you do this consistently for two weeks you will be amazed at the success of this.  When your dog begins to show signs of ripping something you can immediately stop the behavior and replace it with another behavior.  Timing is most important here, if you wait even a few seconds to stop the behavior you’ve waited too long to correct it, so when he is on leash with you, you’ll be able to stop the behavior immediately.  If for example he is starting to rip something and you call him over to you, then you have now lost your chance because he will believe he is being corrected for coming to you because that was the last thing that happened in his mind. 
4. There are two ways I would replace the behavior:  One, is to distract the dog with something else, either a toy he is allowed to have or a bone to chew on (here you are showing him what is allowed in his mouth) and also, practice some obedience, like sits and downs with your dog when he is experiencing this anxiety.  It will build his tolerance to the circumstance as well as his confidence.  Use treat training, not physical punishment training.  If you are not familiar with this type of training I offer it in my training program and would be happy to work with you throughout the process.  When you use good obedience during a stressful time for a dog it can change the way they see that stressor.  So instead of it being a stressful event for him, you will have re-taught him that he CAN handle it and it will make him feel happier and save your furniture in the process!

I am confident you can improve the behavior with consistency and a mindset that you CAN do it!  I can see you care a lot about him and I believe you will put forth the effort to resolve it so you can have the best life possible with your dog!  You AND your dog will be happier!

I would really love to hear about your success afterwards so please write back and let me know how it goes!  Also, please let me know that you received this email, I will feel better knowing it got to you and not in your junk mail for example!

Take care and the best of luck with this. 

I look forward to hearing back from you!

Julie