VERY VERY VERY LONG... SORRY
Let me just start by saying... I am posting this to ask for help. If you are going to be rude or negative then DON"T post... just move on!!
With that said...
Six years ago I adopted my German Shepherd from Northern Californias German Shepherd Rescue. They had only an estimate of her age... 1 to 2. So I brought her home. At the time I didn't understand and thought it to be somewhat funny that they referred her to a " FEMALE AT LARGE"... Boy do I understand now.
I began experiencing problems with her within the first week. I explained it away due to a new environment. Looking back I should have called the rescue and told them to come get the dog!!
They told me she was a crate baby, meaning she was most comfortable in her crate. Which was fine because I did not know how she would do in the house alone. At the time I was a stay at home mom... The ONLY time I left the house was to pick up my oldest from school and to go to the store. The very FIRST time I left her alone was to go to the store. I put her in her crate, the plastic one with the wire door.
And hour later we came home to her sitting on my couch
The crate had been destroyed!!! I was pissed!! I had just bought that crate and it was well over $100.00. So I figured, ok well I will get her the crate like they had her in, maybe she didn't like that style.
So, crate #2, this one was more open, I figured if she could see out it she would feel better... NOPE!!! crate #2 DESTROYED!!! At this point I am getting really pissed at this dog but I continue on.
Crate #3, yeah you think I would have learned, I kept thinking 3rd times a charm. I bought the style that is all wire. My thought was "break that!!!" The first time I came back home I felt like I had finally found the one, because she was still in her crate!! Finally, this game was over, I no longer had to worry about this dog being home while I left. BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!!
Next time I left, I put her in her crate (I didn't say before but each time I would leaver her I would put toys, and either a pig ear or a hoof in there with her, so she would not get bored and it was never for more than an hour) this time I only ran to pick up my son. We got back home 15 minutes later and she was OUT!!! She had the door all jacked up and was able to get out.
Thank goodness she didn't destroy the crate this time. I was able to have my dad re-align the door and we were back in business.
This time when I left I put a lock on the door so she could not get it open. Well stupid me... We came home to a loose dog AGAIN!!! I wish I would have taken a picture but at the time I was seeing red so it didn't cross my mind. She had flipped the crate OVER the plastic pan that is at the bottom literally looked like it had been dropped from a building... It was shattered
Then she squeezed out the bottom of the crate!! Crate #3 DESTROYED!!!!!!!!!
Now that I obviously could not crate her I had to find another way to confine her when I left.
I figured the garage would be a good place. At the time my husband had turned our garage into a game room. It was not used for cars. It had furniture and a tv in there so I figured she would be ok. WRONG AGAIN!!!!!!!!
I came home and looked to my left at the bay window in the garage (don't ask why my garage had a bay window it didnt make sense to me either) I felt like I was entering a murder scene!! The blinds were hanging from 1 cord and there was blood all over the window:eek
Guess who was at my front door to greet me??? If you guessed my dog, then 100 points to you! I walked down the hall to the garage door very hesitant because I was scared of what I was going to find because she was fine. Boy was I in for a treat. The left side of the door frame was DESTROYED!!! The door was DESTROYED!!! The garage was DESTROYED!!! I had finally figured out were all the blood came from, she had cut one of the pads on her foot while destoying my house
Now I had to figure out how to tell my husband what I had done to his garage. Needless to say he was PISSED!!!
So, no more dog left in the house while I am gone... I have NEVER had an outside dog. I personally feel that if you are going to keep a dog outside than what is the point of having one. But now I had to put her in the back yard when I left.
I was very hesitant the first time I did this, but my husband assured me she would be fine. We had a massive yard and he went through the entire thing with a fine tooth comb to make sure she could not get out. We left for the store and came back to an empty yard!!!!!!
I was freaking out!! I made fliers, put an add in the paper and walked our entire neighborhood. Finally a week latter a girl saw our add and returned her.
We now had to accept the fact that this dog was NOT going to be contained no matter what!!!
We had no choice but to alow her to roam free in the house when I was gone. I was not happy about this! My animals are my life but I feel that if I need to contain one of my animals that is my right. So for a dog to tell me she was NOT going to be contained really upset me.
I came home EVERYTIME to something DESTROYED!!! My comforter on my bed, the bathroom door, the phone, a leather recliner, a kitchen cabinent... The list is VERY long. Oh and did I mention she can open doors!!!!!
So not only can you not keep her IN something, you also cannot keep her OUT of anything!
This was all in the first few months we had her... I figured she is a rescure so she needs time to adapt and ajust. NOPE!!
New Trick: At this point we would open the back sliding glass door and leave it open when she had to pee. We figured if we left it open then she would do her business then come back inside... Well we were WRONG!!!
From the time it took me to open the door for her and walk back into the living room I would here scratching at the front door... GUESS WHO!!! So now she can jump a 6 foot fence!!!
So lets take a turn from the containment issue and talk about food, shall we... Well she loves food!!! So much so that she doesn't care if it was going to be our dinner!!!
I have lost count of how many of our dinners she has taken... She took an entire tri tip off the grill, a dish of enchiladas, a whole chicken, pork chops OUT OF THE FRICKEN FRYING PAN!!!!!!!!!! One time at my parents she took an entire honey baked ham off the counter. This NEVER STOPS!!!!!
I do NOT throw food in the trash can because she scatters the trash EVERYWHERE!!! I started puting the trash can in the garage so she could not get it... Well she snaped the plastic locking part off of the dog door so she could get into the garage and get the trash!!! Dog door is now broken!!!
We just bought this house we have only lived here a few months, I do NOT use dog doors because I dont let my dogs out alone but we have not had the money yet to replace the doors... So we kept the LOCKING plastic pannles over the openings, they are specificly made to lock your dog door. Well not anymore!!
New Trick: Since we have lived here her new thing is to open the back door and let herself out back, then she jumps the fence wonders for a while then I get a call from my dad " COME GET YOUR D*** DOG!!!!!!!!!"
This stresses me out because when she opens the door she lets my Yorkies out
I will NOT go through loosing another baby
So I got a tie out cable and tied her to the tree out back... The first time she got her collar off. The second time she chewed through the cable, so I bought a bigger one. The third time she broke the tree
Thank you to those that have stuck with me through this extremely long book, I mean post.
TODAY WAS THE LAST STRAW!!!!!!!!!
I was having lunch with my sister and my dad called, Im sure you can all remember what he said to me. I asked him to go to my house, because he was closer than me, to check on the dogs to make sure they were not let out. I left the resturant immediately drove home as fast as I could. I arived just in time to see my dad pulling away.
I ran inside, and my heart just stoped, because I only had 3 dogs!!! The 4th was missing. I started panicing and ran outside to see my dad pull up with Chipper in his lap. She had not only opened the door this time but also opened the GATE
OMG OMG OMG!
I CANT TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!! IT HAS BEEN 6 YEARS OF THIS CRAP!!!! My husband has wanted to get rid of her since she destroyed his garage and I keep protecting her.
But the time has come now that she is endagering ALL my animals
HELP!!!!!! What do I do???????
Sorry so long