Destruct-o Dog

Oh, Caesar.. My sweet puppy dog.. Sometimes I want to kill him. For the most part, he’s a fantastic dog. Lately he’s been acting rotten, and it’s gotten to the point where he’s destroying our house. You may recall the photo that I posted on Instagram of my sister and I repairing the wall that he tore up. He’s put a hole in the wall, torn down all the blinds on our windows facing the back yard, and even tried to chew through a window frame.

caesarWhen Caesar first started messing with stuff, I thought it was related to a stranger being in our back yard. Surely my awesome dog wouldn’t go ape shit on the window blinds for no reason.. And then it just kept getting worse. I finally realized that he was acting out as a result of us leaving the house. It’s not like he was chewing shoes or toys or furniture or anything; he was trying desperately to get out of the laundry room by clawing at the wall. Trying to chew through the window to follow us to the car.

For the longest time, Caesar was free to roam the house while we were gone. He knew he wasn’t allowed on the couches, but he would take the opportunity to nap up there when we weren’t around. It’s now gotten to the point that he has to be locked in his crate in the laundry room to avoid destruction throughout the house. I about died yesterday when I came home to a mangled up crate. How he managed to chew around the crate door, I’ll never know!

DSC_1519Desperate, I posted on the Schofield pet page. Random strangers, along with my sister, suggested that more exercise might help. At this point, I’ll try anything. So, this morning, Caes and I spent a good hour outside in the back yard running around. Even when he got tired of running, I kept trying to get him to run just a little more. Luckily, there was no further damage to the crate or our home while the girls and I were gone for gymnastics today.

I’m hoping that the extra excessive will help with keeping him from getting bored. If not, I’m not sure who is going to clean up the girls’ mess on the floor after dinner.

How do you deal with a naughty pet?