A few weeks ago I went to work wearing my pretty cream scarf. After about an hour I noticed the scarf was shedding all over me.
Much to my horror, I discovered my scarf had been attacked.
Or more specifically, it had been eaten. See those tassel things? Well there used to be more of them on the other end of the scarf. But now it’s just a shredded mess. All the tassels…gone.
When I got home I immediately inspected my other scarfs. Sure enough, this one had been attacked too.
And of course I knew who was responsible for such damage.
Wrigley may look innocent, but trust me, it’s all an act.
A few days later the husband put on a fairly new pair of dress pants for work.
And then we discovered this.
It seems that Wrigley has a new found love of fashion. Or fashion destruction.
Needless to say, he no longer has access to our master closet.
Wrigley is usually confined to an extra bedroom…but now that he is almost 2 years old I think he may be ready to have the whole house to himself when we are away. We’ve done a few trial runs….letting him roam free in the house for a few hours while we run errands. So far, so good. My hope is that with more freedom he will not be so bored and maybe will be better behaved, right?
So I need your help!!! How old was your dog when you started leaving him free in the house while you were away?
Oh no!! I am terrified. TERRIFIED. To leave my dog roaming in the house alone, he goes in his 'box' everyday. He hasn't tore anything up but I'm just afraid he will if I leave him out! However, my parents let their dog roam free all the time and they've had no problems other than a few potty accidents
Oh no!!! Tyson ate the heel off of a pair of my black high heels when he was about 3 months old, but luckily that was the only thing he's ever done! I wonder if Wrigleys just bored like if you took him for a longer walk in the morning would he do it?? But then again who really wants to go on a long walk in the morning before work!!
i can offer no help to the situation since tucker is totally not old enough to be trusted–although he's only ruined a pair and headphones and my kindle cord (in FRONT of me. for attention. like he doesnt get enough of it?!). buuuut i'm sure w will do so much better with the run of the house!! he'll love it 🙂
I'd. Be. Pissed.
But dang you Wrigley…so darn cute! 😉
Miley is about 10 months old and we recently let her have access to the entire apartment (we close our doors to the bedroom and the bathroom). I'm pretty sure she just sleeps on the couch all day – I would love to hook up a camera and she what she really does!! She's done surprisingly well with only 2 incidences of eating some magazines that were on a basket on the floor. Previously we had her in our sun room blocked from the rest of the house and she did more damage there then we've gotten so far (she would chew the baseboards and the rug by the door). SO, I think it's a boredom thing…I try to either give a new bone or take away one of her toys for a while and give it to her before leaving the house for something "new". Hopefully Wrigley doesn't chew up any more clothes and if you get any awesome hints please let me know!!
We have a golden too, Trot Nixon, and we've actually lucked out. I've grown up with golden retrievers and honestly had no idea what crate training was until I moved to Baltimore. So when we got Trot, there was no crate training even though that is what the breeder suggested when we are away at work while he was young. So Trot has been roaming the house since he was a pup. He of course got in a little trouble when he was younger (chewing at carpet on the stairs, destroying a few pairs of shoes) but now he pretty much knows the rules and sticks to his toys…though he is obsessed with paper towels and tissues…its kind of gross, but I'll take it over him destroying something expensive.
But anyways, I think you are at the perfect age with your pup now and slowly easing him into it is a good idea as well. Good luck!!
I have a pug and I let him roam free now, he used to stay in a crate(he's about 2 and half). I make sure to keep my closet door shut and nothing valuable left on floor. Usually he just lounges on the couch and so far so good! If there is something left out, he will chew it given the opportunity though, so I keep tv remotes out of reach and my heels/shoes all in my closet. Good luck!
Our dog was the worst! We lived in an apartment/townhouse for a while back when Molly was almost 2. I felt bad for being gone all day and crating her so I'd try to leave her out if I'd go to the movies or to dinner to start. She started chewing our baseboards, no joke. She is a big chewer and thank goodness for Nyla bones, those are really her only toy she doesn't destroy. She has eaten numerous shoes and anything really. We moved into a house and started last January leaving her out 100% of the time. She was almost 4 at that time. It was really rough at first (she got into the garbage that has a lid and pulled stuff off the counters). My advice is to just do it and they'll realize there isn't much to get into after a while.
That little stinker!! Mine were holy terrors when we left them alone at first–but, now they are much better. It can still be touch and go, but, if we make sure to leave lots of toys and play with them before we leave, it's much safer!
My pups didnt get FREE until they were 4 and 31/2 … We tried once when the oldest was two and he ate ALL the food out of the bottom cupboads and then had diarrhea for a week!!!!! Now I believe they just sleep all day …
Cooper is notorious for doing things like this too. We let him out of his kennel for about two weeks, and we got a shredded couch cushion! hahahaha
I wish I had advice… my past pups didnt eat clothes or furniture… just shoes. Good luck! I bet a ton of people have greeeeat advice for ya and that adorable pup!!
RIP beautiful scarves =(
xoXOxo
Jenn @ Peas & Crayons
Hey Julie! I'm Steph, ^^
Wrigley is so cute! 😀 My dog Timmy is laying just like that right now on the couch next to me. lol
My friend Danielle just introduced me to your blog because I'm originally from Michigan!
I'm actually living in Seattle now, so I'm a Michigan girl who's adjusting to life in Washington State!
Catch up with you soon!
Steph
I always leave my dog in his kennel while we aren't at home because you never know what he will get into. He has a love of shoes, as do I. But he loves being in his kennel so I don't feel bad having to do that, it's like his own bed to him. Good luck!
I started leaving Winston free to the downstairs when he was 8 months old… as a puppy we were really lucky in that he hardly seemed to destroy anything(even his own toys)! As he's gotten older he's been destroying more of his toys and we've had a few small things but mostly he's still really good. We took the baby gate down off our stairs about 2 weeks ago but we're pretty sure he just stays downstairs because his favorite spot – the chaise lounge on the couch is there! 🙂 I wish you luck that you can let Wrigley roam free soon! If you're nervous you could get a web cam so you can watch him from work just so you know when he gets destructive if he does so you have a better idea of how long to leave him.
I have a golden retriever mix who luckily doesn't chew, but we don't let her roam the house freely. We adopted her when she was three and at first kept her in an extra bedroom when we were away. After a few months we let her roam the house and then we started to notice that there spots in our dining room that looked like she had gone to the bathroom. The only thing we could figure is she would go during the day while we were gone, so it was back to the room for her and we haven't had an issue. I think (for her) the structure just works better – she couldn't handle all that freedom!
New follower by the way!