Do you see the very bad dog in this picture?
No? How about this one?
Since I've had Maisey, I've always worked from my home office. She's used to being around me for most of the day. But for the past three weeks, I've been working an on-site job, so I've been gone for nine hours a day, and she's been alone. Her way of coping? Doing anything and everything she can to get my attention when I get home. We've regressed straight back to the Terrible Puppy.
When I first got Maisey, I was attracted to her because she was so quiet. With other dogs around her barking and causing commotion, Maisey was content to lie in my arms and be petted. My sister and I thought she'd be a perfect apartment dog.
It didn't take me very long to learn that I had a Marley.
I soon dubbed Maise the Terrible Puppy and during the year she's been with me, she's destroyed my phone, countless books, a couple of remotes, two wallets, shoes, dish towels, my couch and numerous other items. She constantly looks for things to steal, and she actively plots against me.
That sounds like hyperbole, but I assure you it is not. She is the most devious dog that anyone in my family has ever seen. She is so quick and and observant that she sees and remembers everything. I've had to learn to not leave ANYTHING within her reach. If I'm sitting in the living room reading a book, and I absent-mindedly leave my phone on the table next to me, she'll notice. And she won't show her hand quite yet. She doesn't immediately go for it. She'll wait until I get up and walk into the kitchen, or until I think she's well-occupied playing with a toy. Then she'll sneak around to get the phone and quietly move to another room to demolish it.
My destroyed couch is really the thing that kills me When we moved to KC, the idiot movers didn't pack the furniture correctly, and the couch came out with a small tear in the arm. As soon as Maisey discovered there was foam underneath that tear in the upholstery, it was all over. Soon, there was a orange-sized hole in the arm, and she'd taken to ripping at a corner leg.
I got a very nice slipcover for the couch, which has also been trashed by now.
So, normally the slipcover is on the couch so that she can't scratch at it and get at the cushions. But I took it off this weekend for various reasons and forgot to put it back on before leaving for work on Monday. I remembered half-way into my commute and figured it would be destroyed when I got back.
Nope. Not a cushion out of place, not a new scratch to be seen. Instead she decided to wait until I get home. And once I did? Shenanigans City.
It's really almost funny (if it weren't so infuriating) watching her grab a cushion and trot off with it into the dining room. Each cushion is bigger than her and quite bulky. She grabs a corner and sort of trots off, dragging it behind, ignoring my cries of "No!" She'll pause in the dining room and wait for me to come and retrieve the pillow, and then when I get close enough she'll bolt for underneath the table.
I KNOW she's just doing this to get attention. But if I ignore the cushion stealing, she'll settle down with one in the dining room and tear it to pieces. So I have no choice but to go and retrieve it. This is the sort of behavior that has me tearing my hair out, and I honestly can't figure out how to stop it.
Even though she's terrible, Maisey still would like to give you a kiss.
Not sure if you're still having this trouble, but my eskie is almost 5 and he was never like this. :) However, he's got his problems in other ways that are pretty interesting as well.
Anyhow, to the point - you might want to try trading the dog something more interesting, like a rawhide chew or a treat. Holding the treat in your hand, come up to the dog and say "drop it". If the dogs lets go to take the treat instead of your pillows, say "good drop it", praise her, make sure she takes the treat gently, and take the pillow away. This works for anything, really, but it's how you train a dog not to be aggressive with their toys. I can get my dog to drop something right into my palm without a treat without any problems now.
Of course, he still loves to shred anything with stuffing as well, but he restricts himself to his own toys, and rarely (this usually happens if I leave a slipper lying around while I go off to work.) He knows not to touch the couch -- I'd skin him alive if he did. :)
Have you tried taking Maisey to training classes?
Posted by: nick | April 18, 2007 at 05:31 PM