My father in-law has not been well for nearly a year and just had open heart surgery the week before Thanksgiving. 2 weeks ago, he was admitted in a rehab center that is 2 hours from where they live. My mother in-law has been staying with DH's sister on and off while having her neighbors "keep and eye" on their dogs and feed them. Needless to say, the dogs are stressed out from being left alone for so long, as my in-laws are retired and are normally home most of the day with them. They have a doggie door to go out into a fenced area. Last week, Farley, the smaller of the two dogs (a Shih Tzu/Maltese mix) escaped somehow and was found by a neighbor.
Our home is the most suitable option to keep them because neither of DH's sisters have dogs or a fence, and his brother lives in a neighborhood with strict ordinances regarding dogs. We have 2 tzus, 2 cats, 1 foster GSD/Hound mix and an acre of fenced in yard to run in - but no doggie door...
One of my concerns is that one of my tzus was extremely stressed when I brought the foster in. He went through this peeing indoors, not eating, throwing up bile thing for about 2 1/2 weeks. We started keeping their activities separate and he's been fine. Just today I had all 3 dogs together for an unusual amount of time and after we came inside, Willie puked - twice
. Since then, the dogs have been in seperate quarters again and Willie's been fine.
The other biggie is that their dogs have never been crated or confined. We both work full time during the day, and our dogs are all crated.
Once when they came up for a visit (before I had ever opened a book on dog behaviour), we all went out to dinner and we put Tipper (female Black Lab - 5 yrs old) in a large room for about 2 or 3 hours, she ate part of the baseboard/trim and put dents in the door knob with her teeth. I'm thinking that was eiher SA or maybe she's claustrophobic??.
Does anyone have any creative ideas for when we leave the 2 little canine relatives alone in our home during the day?? I'm thinking draw the blinds, put up a gate in the hallway to keep them in the main living area. The opening between my living and dining area is 96 inches - I can't baby gate it. We have hardwood and ceramic tile throughout, but potty issues aren't really my concern. I'm more concerned that Tipper will get stressed and eat my sofa or my buffet/hutch!
Suggestions are welcome!!!