Please, its getting out of hand!! we dont have a hose, no Lawn mower! no patio swing! and he is starting to rip out wires!!! i have NO IDEA WHY he is doing this!! he gets to go to the dog park at least 4 or 5 times a week. he gets to be inside almost ALL DAY with us, so what could be causing this!! we dont have time to go to the dog park all day everyday!! when we do go he gets to go for about 2 hours, then we take him home becuase he lays down and stops playing anyways. PLEASE i know i have made topics on this distruvtiveness but its getting WORSE! taking him to dog parks to play with dogs and on long walks is NOT helping at all!! please help ASAP. thank you.

It sounds like he is bored and is begging you for things to keep his brain engaged. Besides trips to the park, do you do any exercising or mental stimulation? You've got to keep him surrounded by appropriate toys and things that will keep his mind occupied. If you continue to not give him what he needs, he will continue to find his own way to entertain himself.

Can you give us an honest account of how much and what type of exercise he gets and how often?  

Dog parks do not count as exercise because they are playing in an excited state at the dog park.   Yes, they tire physically, but not mentally in the way they do with actual exercise where they bond with their people and feel fulfilled.

He does sound incredibly bored.

Are you correcting him when you find him doing something bad? If he can't be trusted to be alone without being destructive, then maybe don't leave him alone where he is able to destroy something?

I agree with everybody above. If he's destroying something, maybe don't leave him a lone there for a while? Or keep a close eye and correct him if he does. Aside from the dog park, do you take him on walks? I have 3 nuts and they know their routine. Get home from work and they go on a 3 mile walk. After that they're content. They (well 2 of them) get doggie park trips often, but their main source or exercise is walks or runs with me. How old is he btw?

How many people are in the house with him? do you have a crate and is he trained to us it when someone is not able to watch him? how old is he again? have you looked into mental toys for him to use? does he have toys and if so what? do you work on training with him, to wear his brain out? how long is he left alone during the day?
sorry but we need some more info and i have to say im not sure what your other posts were about to know if this has been answered all ready.

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t12175-in-desperate-need-of-help-destroying-everything#184090

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t12308-is-there-something-that-might-have-caused-this-or-is-this-normal#185863

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t12437-acting-different-after-doggy-day-care#187820

Here are a couple of the threads that I found you had posted. It seems like he has gotten over the being tired for days after doggy daycare. You said he was 10 months in one of the posts so he's due for the hell period to start. He's been destructive with toys before then seemed to kick it into high gear here recently so this maybe teenaged years coming up. Seems a lot has changed since doggy daycare? What did you do for exercise before daycare and the park? Substituting daycare and park so you can go on a 1 mile walk instead of a 4 mile walk is unlikely to work at his age. And don't underestimate the power of mental stimulation.

try bones!! lots and lots of bones but NOT rawhide bones maybe try deer antlers or something that he cant shred right away, we get Nala bones that are filled with beef flavor that keeps her occupied for at least a few days, or those kong toys that you can put treats into, also i have heard that empty water or pop bottles keep dogs entertained. Nala preferred power aid bottles when she was a puppy!

We have tried giving him bones and toys, but all he does is With the toys tears them to shreds or completly ignores them, and with bones, if inside, hides them, if outside burys them, he (HAD) more toys outside then he did inside but he tore them to pieces. and no, he usually does this when we are not home at the store. we dont have anywhere else he can go while we are away besides the backyard. we tried crate training but it was a HEADACHE. he screams his head off so bad we are afraid the neighbors will complain, not to mention tears up ANYTHING in or NEAR the crate. and then he is freaking out so bad he would wet himself and roll in his Urine. it was a NIGHTMARE and it is not healthy for a husky to be that stressed, so we had to stop using the crate. he is 11 months old now. we take him for big long walks but since he pulls and runs so fast a 2 hour walk only takes about 45 minutes. there is nothing we can do about that because he is so fast. there are not many good dog walking places in my area. so we try to do a walk, then come home and play fetch, but all he wants to do is tear the tenis ball/frisbee up. i have tryed the rubber non disctuctive toys but he wont play with them unless i play tug-o-war. i need something to keep him busy while i am away. i cant be at home watching him 24/7. i do need to go to the store and buy food. and i need to sleep. he seems to be getting more dependent on having someone with him. when ever he is alone, even if i go to the bathroom he crys. i am becoming very concerned on this. no one else is home when i leave to the store with my Dad. so there is no one to keep an eye on him. but i believe we should be able to go to the store for like an hour, and he should be ok. but hes not. we are taking him to the vet tomarow to see if they can give us some more information.

If you had to explain why you think your dog is doing this, how would you do it? What is the root of the problem here? Where is this destructiveness and rowdy wild behavior coming from?

Have you ever tried Rescue Remedy? This way you can calm him down, leave him with some food filled items, and see if that helps. If you still have his crate, put it in an area where he cannot reach anything, and do what I stated above, see if that helps if not do that in the yard. That way he can get used to being home alone and it not be so stressful for him. As far as the pulling, I had to buy a harness for one of my dogs so my mom can walk him, and the Walk your dog with love is great. She says she actually enjoys walking him now, and will gladly do it. That will help with the pulling and slow down your walks with him.

Have you had him since he was a puppy or was he a rescue?

And when you say he gets to be inside with you guys all day, does that mean he sleeps outside at night, or you are just saying that he isn't ever alone?

Has he always been like this or is it something that started after a couple of months?

Separation anxiety is common for huskies. Especially if you are home a lot. There are several threads on techniques to deal with that. It sounds like he is just crazy with energy and at 11 months I would start looking into biking with him. I would focus more on distance than time when exercising him. Two hours may seem like a long time but if you walk really slow you might only be covering 1 mile in that time and that's not enough distance. A treadmill might be something to consider as well if you don't have time to devote to more walking/running.

Have you thought about a trainer? Sometimes in cases like this its better to have someone in the area come see what is going on and give u advice

Not for everyone but my two don't really get destructive because they play together. Only thing that I see as a bit of a downer on having 2 is it is twice as tough for me in the first 10 minutes of walking, but I enjoy feeling their brute strength lol. they don't really get too upset if I leave them at home because they have each other.

Getting some company may not work however, you may just end up with double trouble.

Well it is still very possible that this person isn't capable of meeting the needs of one Husky, so advising for a second one may be a very irresponsible idea.

I don't think another dog is the quick fix this person is seeking.

Okay. So I agree with everyone above that you have a bored and under stimulated husky, and would definitely like to see you answer Jeff's questions.

First off, if a walk takes 45 min, it's a 45 min walk. It doesn't matter how long it would take you to complete the walk at a leisurely stroll (or non husky pace), all that matters in terms of your dog is that you took a 45 min walk. To him he was cooped up all day and got 45 awesome minutes with his best friend outside (also, the back yard does not count as outside).

Secondly, that is not even close to enough physical exercise, and physical exertion is not the only thing huskies (and other breeds) need.

My dog is about the same age and I'll share a typical day that leaves him mostly satisfied if I don't send him to daycare, he has never been destructive, but I also properly crate trained him, and don't give him a chance. Also, this is during the week, the weekend is a different story, because as much as this is, he is usually pretty high energy by the time Saturday rolls around, so we do extra on the weekends.

5:30-6:30 am walk with me outside, includes some leash training, command reviewing, and usually some dog park time, running and playing. At that time a day there are almost never other dogs there so I play with him. I bring a toy he only gets when I'm playing with him outside so I throw it and he chases it and then pounces on it. Then we play the keep away and chase game. He grabs it and runs, I chase him, I hide from him, he chases me. The point is, that it's full on action when we are there. No meandering around and sniffing. He's moving running and playing with me.

1:00 - 40-60 min walk with the hubby, who works from home. Usually they go to the park and squirrel hunt.

5:30-7:00 pm 2-3 mile walk that incorporates training, some jogging/running, chasing birds, free play, and then ending up in the dog park for 20-30 min if there are nice dogs to play with. I also started using a pack on these walks and I thought he would hate it, but he loves it. I didn't put much weight in, just a sneaker on each side, but he definitely got into 'work' mode and seemed very happy when we got back.

9:30-10:00 final walk of the night before bed.

The most important thing is that his day includes physical exercise, unstructured play, social play with other dogs, BUT number 1 is a lot of interaction with me. I know for sure that if he simply spent most of the day going from inside to outside in the back yard with a 45 min walk and going to the dog park a few times a week, he would be a maniac. When he does go to daycare, basically all that gets removed is the midday walk, and the morning walk is 30 min instead of an hour, and the 5:30 pm walk is 45 min to an hour. Otherwise he still gets a lot of time and attention from me.

histi wrote:

Not for everyone but my two don't really get destructive because they play together. Only thing that I see as a bit of a downer on having 2 is it is twice as tough for me in the first 10 minutes of walking, but I enjoy feeling their brute strength lol. they don't really get too upset if I leave them at home because they have each other.

Getting some company may not work however, you may just end up with double trouble.

I really thought about taking a treat away for this, because quite frankly in this situation, in my opinion, it's the worst idea possible. It's like a married couple having problems and deciding to have a baby to see if that helps.

I refrained from taking a treat because you did qualify it a couple times and said it could end up with double trouble.

If you get a second dog hoping it will solve the problem, it will not.

There is only one thing that can help, and that is time, hard work, dedication and discipline. And I'm not talking about disciplining the dog, I'm talking about self discipline to take the time and effort required to be a good husky owner.

I agree that he's just a bored husky. I also sympathize with how stressed and frustrated you must feel. But at the same time, you're kind of stuck in a vicious cycle where you're ignoring his needs, which causes him to become more destructive and more difficult, which THEN causes you to become more frustrated and ignore his needs even more because it's just too much to handle.

I don't know how long you've had him, or what kind of training you've done with him, or even how long this has been going on (and whether this is a new thing for him). But at 11months, I found that my husky needed a LOT of exercise and stimulation and just attention in general. He was never really needy towards me (although he does have separation anxiety), but he just needed something to stimulate his mind. It could be just letting him sniff everything on our walk, or playing a serious game of tug.

I would highly suggest a dogwalker or doggy daycare. And on those days where he is tired, restart your training with him from the beginning. When they are high strung and energetic, i find my husky has selective hearing with me. But when he's tired, he's able to focus on me more, and i get better results with my training efforts.

wpskier222 wrote:

histi wrote:

Not for everyone but my two don't really get destructive because they play together. Only thing that I see as a bit of a downer on having 2 is it is twice as tough for me in the first 10 minutes of walking, but I enjoy feeling their brute strength lol. they don't really get too upset if I leave them at home because they have each other.

Getting some company may not work however, you may just end up with double trouble.

I really thought about taking a treat away for this, because quite frankly in this situation, in my opinion, it's the worst idea possible. It's like a married couple having problems and deciding to have a baby to see if that helps.

I refrained from taking a treat because you did qualify it a couple times and said it could end up with double trouble.

If you get a second dog hoping it will solve the problem, it will not.

There is only one thing that can help, and that is time, hard work, dedication and discipline. And I'm not talking about disciplining the dog, I'm talking about self discipline to take the time and effort required to be a good husky owner.

Thanks for not going to that extreme. Was just giving my observation that lack of company could be a contributing factor... not to say that void cant be replaced with more human interaction...

We took Turbo to the vet today, and they found out it IS separation anxiety, they said that we need to take him on longer walks to help burn his Energy and to give him Benadryl for his Anxiety, thank you all for the help, I will do as the vet said, and try out some advice you all gave me.

Thank you,

It definitely sounds to me like Turbo is going through the infamous "teenager" phase right now. It got that nickname because it's a period of time where huskies tend to become rebellious and destructive, as if they were still only two months old. I've only read about it of course but almost everyone has to deal with it and it is quite painful to deal with.

Really there isn't too much you can do about that. I'd up the amount of physical (and mental) stimulation that he gets daily. It's harder for them to be naughty and destructive if they're too tired to do anything but sleep! However try to keep things random and interesting; if you just do the same boring thing over and over again everyday then that would be so, well, boring. If you do school then it might be a cool idea to have him sitting next to you while you do your homework or something, even if it's just to keep an eye on him.

I would also try crate training him again. Even if he freaks out and has separation anxiety, dog ownership becomes 1000% easier if you have a secure place to put them when you're not around. If you're worried about your neighbors then maybe you could talk to them and try to get them to understand that you're crate training him and he will probably make a lot of noise at first. Really it's just a matter of being more stubborn and determined than the dog(s) are and eventually it will click.

Outside of that I can't really offer much advice, the teenage stage can last anywhere from a month to a year or more so you'll probably just have to buckle down and bear with it. Although the good news is that after they grow out of their rebellious phase they should become more mellow and less destructive. Also just wondering but is Turbo neutered? Getting him fixed might also help with behavior problems and should calm him down a little more.

Good luck, and maybe the force be with you! (Or was it live long and prosper?... Blah whatever. )

Edit: Or it could be separation anxiety I guess like you said. Just persevere and you should be fine. ^_^

Separation anxiety is an issue you are going to have to work through to overcome it. Giving Benadryl every time you need to leave him alone is NOT the answer. I have to be honest, that is the worst advice I've ever heard for dealing with SA.  

Also, with regard to the second dog option mentioned, that is also one of the worst things for someone dealing with the issues you are.  Getting a second dog should never be done to help fix problems with an existing dog.  

There are plenty of threads on dealings with SA so I'm not going to repost all that stuff again but I encourage you to take a good look at those threads.  Our boy had SA when we adopted him which made crate training more difficult.  Notice I said more difficult,  not impossible.  I would not abandon crate training.  Perhaps you can use calming herbs with your dog along with Rescue Remedy and extra physical and mental exercise in conjunction with training. I would not use Benadryl or any other drugs if at all possible.  You CAN work through this so that your dog learns you will always return and also teach your dog that the crate is really desirable.

The first and easiest thing to rectify is the lack of exercise.  He needs more walks and more structure to those walks.  He should be listening and paying attention to you and moving at your pace, not dragging you down the street the entire time.

You need to also invest more training time with this dog. Not just to make him better behaved, but for the mental stimulation.  

There is no quick fix or magic pill that will make the problem disappear.  This is going to require lots of work, dedication, exercise, training, consistency, and patience.  It's not going to be easy and it's not going to change overnight so don't set unrealistic expectations.

I've been there, I know what it's like, many of us have dealt with it ourselves.  And I know you can fix it IF you work at it. But know that you will have to work, Benadryl is not the answer to your problem (nor is a second dog like has been suggested).

histi wrote:

Getting some company may not work however, you may just end up with double trouble.

I would expect that most likely one in the OP's position would end up with double the trouble. I have seen this exact situation first hand before. Person has dog with SA, they get another dog that is well adjusted and does not have SA. Several months later the new dog has been so stressed by the first and adopted the original dogs behavior so that now BOTH dogs exhibit SA. What a nightmare that turned out to be, much to the detriment of the new dog who was well adjusted before being placed in that home.   Not a good idea.

I agree with Val, there is no need for Benadryl. I guarantee if you got a second opinion no other vet would recommend that. She is just saying that to make him sleepy which is not smart to do with that. Meet his exercise requirements and if anything go by some rescue remedy but the benadryl thing is just not the right thing for this situation.

Benadryl will probably just hype him up more.