I have two pits, one 1 yr male one 4 months female. The 1 yr old destroys everything! i bought them a bed that the girl loved to sleep on and he chewed into pieces. How do i stop him he only does it when he is left alone..is it anxiety?
Answers:
They both need to be crated when your gone. Put a Kong filled with dog kibble and doggie dessert ( found at PetSmart) freeze it. It will last longer. Nylabones are also great. These are the only two toys that are safe to be left in a crate when your gone. Dogs are denning animals and like enclosed areas. Just never use the crate for punishment.
does he have plenty of things to chew on that hes allowed to chew on. get him at least 3 toys and when he chews one up get another. 3 is a good number of toys to always have for a dog. that way when one gets chewed up he has another to start on when your not there. get him a heavy duty bone type toy with some flavor if you dont like rawhides then try nylabones. one stuffed (heavy duty) toy and one thats challenging like a kong.
crate him when no one is home.
This sounds like jealousy. Whatever it is, you have to get inside the dog's head to fix the problem. Chewers are often feeling neglected. In this case, it is probably not actual neglect, but jealousy over the attention the new dog is getting.
Be sure you have plenty for the male to chew on, and make sure he gets enough love so he isn't jealous of the pup.
First, crating him is the way to go. Just be sure you make the transition to the crate a positive one. There are plenty of books and websites to help you. Or you can visit your local PetSmart and the trainer will give you some great tips.
Second, he sounds like he's bored. Pits need lots of exercise, not just being in the house or back yard. They must be walked and run and played with until they are exhausted. A tired dog is a good dog.
Third, be sure he has lots of appropriate chew toys. The Kong idea is a great one and I use it personally. P'nut butter stops up the ends and a zip lock bag will keep it from gumming up your freezer.
Get your dog active...very active!
Cindi G.
Pet Trainer
What do you expect from a Pitt Bull?!?
i have 2 pits also..i got my female not too long ago..shes 11 wks and even though she doesnt chew everything up while we are there..she does when we leave so we crate trained her. buy a pet carrier or crate big enough for him to lay down and turn around and thats where he needs to go when no one is around. he'll get use to it
I suggest to TRAIN him. Honestly, goodness, people, don't EVER get a dog before learning how to care for and train a dog. It does help, you know. Gosh.
It is boredom,get him a chew toy---several.Take the things he is not allowed to chew on and put them away.Does he have an area to play in where he can't get to stuff.I had that problem with my new dog and took everything up and it stopped..Good luck with it.
My aunt raises Am. Staffs and they chew for a few reasons, jealousy, boredom, and they havent had enough training.
You need to pin point the issue that is causing your dog to chew and work on fixing it.
You may want to get a trainer that has bully breed experience.
I second the crate idea, when he's alone he should be crated if he is destructive.
he is bored and venting his boredom into destroying stuff .
do you exercise them like walking them alot cause pits are high energy dogs that need a lot of exercise cause if they don't get thier long walk they get bored trust me i know tht's way i walk my female 2 yr old pit about 2 hours each day along with my great dane puppy and they arer dead tired when we come home
walk them more
My pit HATES to be alone. She used to destroy things, so we crated her for awhile when she was by herself. She wasn't happy about that, but the furniture survived. Slowly, we would leave her loose when we went out. At first, I would only leave her alone for 5 minutes. I kept gradually making it longer and eventually, she was fine, although she still pouts and throws a fit.
how about leaving him with someting with your sent on it
like his own pillow with your sent on the pillow case.
or a clock that ticks under a pillow.
i hope it gets better
does he stay in a crate or cage?
the best of luck
i holla ;}
My husband and I also have 2 american pit bull terriers. We have a 1 year old male, named Brooklyn and a 4 month old female, named Destiny... They both have really bad seperation anxiety and they HATE to be alone! They will both destroy anything and everything they can! Brooklyn will get so bad that he will even try to dig through the front door!.It sounds like your dog probably gets seperation anxiety, not as bad as mine.. lol.. but thats what it sounds like. "Pit bulls" get VERY attached to their owners VERY quickly! They HATE to be alone and they have been know to get very bad seperation anxiety! Brooklyn and Destiny each have their own crates and we use to just put them in there at nigh, but.. when they started chewing stuff up when we left them home alone, we started to just put them in their crates while we are gone. We put them in their own crates with some toys and we leave the tv on for them. It doesnt do anything for the anxiety but it stops them from chewing stuff up! lol.. We never leave them home alone long though because they still have the anxiety problems and the vet said that sometimes dogs that get seperation anxiety will even chew on their tail or paws untill they bleed! : ( If you have to be gone long or if your dog/ dogs get really bad anxiety, there is meds for it...
kennel training is the best route to go but with pits you need to be sure the kennel is sturdy i have had them bend the bars on the store bought kennels just to escape, There is such a thing as an escape proof kennel you can either build your own or have one built out of re-bar. my husband is a welder so he builds ours. They are normally 48L x 36 w x 36 H, the door is locked with small pad locks and not latches, and the floor is made of aluminum and lined with blankets (everyone is potty trained). This allows for ample room to stand, stretch out, and turning. we also give each dog a kong toy with peanut butter or some other kind of hidden treat in it.
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I have a 3 1/2 yr old Pit and yes he gets separation anxiety severely. He is almost literally joined to my hip. I had a crate for him and he bent the iron and got out while I was at church. He also demolished an outdoor kennel that was said to be indestructible. I hear talk of medication. Uh.. what kind? How does it work? And where can I get some?
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