[Help] Dog getting into things when we leave the house since quarantine
Hi all, I'm sure this is a common issue these days. Pre-COVID, my husband and I left the house for work every day and our dog (9yo Black Lab) hung out at home all day no problem, didn't get into anything. We have both been home pretty much full-time for the last four months given the pandemic. More recently we have started to venture out together for short periods, and every time we leave our dog will get into the trash, rip up spare paper, etc. Today we left for just 10 minutes to pick something up and made sure the trash and everything was put away--he ended up finding an unopened cardboard box of cream somewhere.
I know he's anxious and has gotten used to us being home. We try to give him lots of love and attention, and give him a toy or treat when we leave, but he is ONLY interested in food toys so we can't give those all the time and when we do it only lasts a bit, then he goes and finds something to get into again. I know it's not helpful to scold after the fact. We would hate to need to kennel him or keep him in the laundry room while we are out, so before we do that I thought I would try to see if anybody had any tips for helping settle him!
Posted Jul 20, 2020, 6:48 PM UTC
While you're at home gradually increase the time that you spend in a different room than the dog, so he is reminded how to be alone. There's also nothing wrong with locking your dog in a room or a crate so he won't be able to destroy things, when you're away for short periods of time. Just like you would do with a puppy, you can gradually increase the area he is allowed to roam. My suggestion for a toy to occupy him is a frozen and stuffed kong, if you're not using one already. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, you can subtract from his normal kibble allocation and add water. All you need to do is freeze it, then you can leave in the freezer until you need it. If he isn't used to kongs you can add a little peanut butter on the ends of the kong to encourage him.
Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for your response. That’s a good idea to increase the time spent away from him, since I’ve been spending most of my days right next to him! We will also dig out the Kong and get that going. Thank you again!