Shredder

@RomanGrey

I have a new rescue. He's been with me for 3 weeks. I am crate training him and potty training him because he's just learning to pee and poop on lead. Problem is, when I go to work and crate him, he destroys his bedding. At first i thought he was just scratching it ( I had an old comforter in his crate ) but then I bought a tuff crate pad an he destroyed it in one day. Any suggestions? He doesn't chew when I'm home. I gave him a marrow bone in his crate the day I put in the new crate pad. He chewed the marrow bone, licked it clean, but still ate his bed. What do I do?

Hi Roman,

I can help, I have done rescue and fostering for a little over 15 years now. Rescues often go through a transition period. They need lots of exercise and consistency. A few questions will help me. What kind of dog is he? Age? The best thing for now is try to get him out before you go out to tire him out a bit. You can just leave the crate empty for now. My Rottie when he was younger would destroy every bed I put in his crate, so I stopped putting beds in there and just left him with his Kong or other kind of "away" treat. Finally after a bit he stopped doing that. A tip for bones, they have very strong hollowed out white bones that come with a filling or you can buy them empty. I take the crumbs from the hard food and peanut butter and mix it together stuff that in the bone and freeze it. That helps a lot. After time passes and he gets use to your routine he will settle in, it just takes time. From what I learned about rescues some adjust faster than others. You also may want to consider a basic obedience class, that is a great way to build a bond between you and your dog and helps them with brain energy as well as physical energy. Hang in there it will get better please answer those questions and keep me posted.

Hi, well Roman is a greyhound rescue, about 2 1/2 years old. He is very smart. He figured out how to open a child proof gate. He gets walked 3 x in the am before I go to work. I just bought him a Kong and filled it with peanut butter. Also I put some expendable towels in his kennel but he is shredding them. I hate to leave him with no bedding because of his breed, he has very little body fat. I think he has separation anxiety: he does not do any of this when I'm home.

I definitely will do obedience in the spring. Right now we're dealing with timidity and socialization issues. He's afraid of people in groups.

thanks for your reply.

@RomanGrey

Hi, well Roman is a greyhound rescue, about 2 1/2 years old. He is very smart. He figured out how to open a child proof gate. He gets walked 3 x in the am before I go to work. I just bought him a Kong and filled it with peanut butter. Also I put some expendable towels in his kennel but he is shredding them. I hate to leave him with no bedding because of his breed, he has very little body fat. I think he has separation anxiety: he does not do any of this when I'm home.

I definitely will do obedience in the spring. Right now we're dealing with timidity and socialization issues. He's afraid of people in groups.

thanks for your reply.

Hi

He'll come around with rescues it just takes time. If you can find a fenced area for him to run that would be great! Just keep up with the walks, you can always get him a coat or sweater while he is in the crate. I've had fosters do this and after some time past and they got on a routine they stopped the chewing up the beds. When you get in groups, the best thing is too have everyone just ignore him, the more they push the issue of saying hello can make it worse. No eye contact and have people just offer him treats and walk away. That will get him curious for the next time he meets people. What I learned about having fearful dogs is "boring is good" meaning, keep it simple with crowds, get him around people from a distance so he feels safe then close the gap. The more he can be around people that don't make a fuss the more comfortable he'll feel. In the meantime he'll be building a nice trust with you. Hang in there it will get better.