Negative Dog Behaviors

Until he is trained, he needs to be crated when you can't watch him.  Don't leave things around where he can get to them and stop giving him places to toilet in the house.  Dogs don't easily understand that it's ok to go one place in the house but not in another.

 I would crate him and/or keep him on a leash in house, so he's always closely monitored. If possible, I suggest taking a basic dog training class. It'll be a good bonding experience and can mentally stimulate him if some of the behaviors (tearing stuff up) might be boredom related. Also, I'm not a fan of potty pads. To me they send mixed signals to the dog. The ONLY place I want my dog eliminating is outside, so that's the only GOOD place and to this day I still give Ari an occasional Good Girl for going outside, even though she is 100% house trained and has been for some time. Also, rule out any medical issues that could be causing frequent urination - just in case it's a medical not a behavioral issue.

I suggest some puzzle toys for mental stimulation. Some dogs are just plain smart and/or get easily bored and will resort to their own idea of "fun", which usually isn't inline with what the humans would like to see! We used to feed Ari's meals from a busy buddy toy and she loved it! She had to work to get her food and mentally exhausting a dog can sometimes be just as important as physically tiring them out.

chaser13

He also will wait until I leave a room and begin to tear up any paper, cardboard, headphones, plastic, etc that he can find. Now I know you are supposed to catch dogs in the act in order to correct their bad behavior, but with the tearing and going to the bathroom, he sneaks off and does it when I am not looking. 

He needs to be supervised or crated when you can't closely supervise, as has been suggested. Another thing that may have created this behavior ("sneaks off and does it when I am not looking";)  is that he was "corrected" and rather than being trained to do the right thing, he learned that people get upset when he chews inappropriately or goes potty indoors, so he does it where you can't see, to avoid the correction.   Try some positive training methods rather than waiting to catch him in the act and correcting him.  Dogs don't have any concept of doing the right thing when it comes to this sort of behavior.  Dogs chew. Dog proof your home like you would child proof it.  Dogs go to the bathroom when the urge strikes.  We ask them to live in our world but we often forget that our world is very different from their world. 

If you haven't looked into clicker training, you might want to give it a try.  clickerlessons.com is a good sight and clickertraining.com is another resource.  It may take a bit of practice for you to get good at it but if you're motivated to change his behavior, it's a great method.

I also recommend you read some dog behavior books.  Karen Pryor's "Don't Shoot the Dog" is a great start and Jean Donaldson's book "Culture Clash" is another good read to get you started on learning how dog's learn. 

chaser13

But I also feel a life in a cage is no good for a dog, so I want to try to avoid doing that at all costs. 

I meant to address this comment earlier but forgot.  This is another mindset that is strictly human.  Dogs who are properly introduced to a crate are not in the least unhappy.  The crate should never be used as a punishment.   It should be a safe place for the dog to chew on a chew toy or nap.  Again, if you do some reading about dogs and how they differ from us and how they learn, you will see that a crate is one of your best tools in training.

You've gotten AWESOME wisdom from everbuddy above. 

Potty pads -- I agree totally -- it prolongs housetraining anyway -- they learn to go on it and then you move it and they gotta learn all over again ... etc etc -- and all you're really teaching them is that it IS ok to go in the house.  errr ... no.

What Jackie said above is worth reading 100 times -- when you 'correct' a dog for going in the house ALL they remember is that you got upset when you saw it -- so they sneak away.  When you DON'T find it at that moment that simply reinforces to them "it's ok as long as the human doesn't see!".  errr ... no. 

Crating -- the whole theory of crating (and most of what everyone above ist rying to show you -) is that if you  are doing YOUR job right you are simply **preventing** the dog from getting in trouble.  You're making sure he does the right thing over and over -- and he'll follow what he knows.

 Now I'm not a fan of just "ignoring" when they do something wrong.  If he goofs in the house, pick it up on a piece of paper and go take it outside.  Soak up a wet accident and take the paper OUTside.  lay it down and go get him ***on leash*** and show him where YOU put it.  It goes HERE.  That's a message -- and generally it's crystal clear.

Just because you put him in a crate when you can't give him all your attention doesn't mean he should stay there 24/7 -- you have a dog.  You have to change *your* life somewhat in order to accommodate him.  So ... you think "Hmm -- he's been crated since supper -- time to get him out and play."  You don't just leave him there because it's convenient. 

Far too often, when a dog screws up it's because we haven't supervised properly -- he's a dog, not a rocket scientist and he only knows what you teach him.  Does that make sense?  I'm not being ornery - sometimes we just have to re-think a bit.