eating cat food and riping up the carpet?

[radioflyer02]

Hey all,

it has been a while and lately i have had some issues with my kobe.

he was diagnosed with addisons a short while back and we can no longer crate him during the day because of the stress that it puts on his body. we would be in the vet every other week for shots. so we have started letting him have run of part of the first floor.

he was doing really well. then he tore up a shirt, pizza box and ate the cat food. he has never done this before and i know he is not hungry, he just thinks he is. but then he did something i would have not guessed. he started ripping up our apartments carpet and i can not, for the life of me, figure out why. he has toys. we go on long daily walks. i am just confused how he can be bored and do something like that. any tips or advice is much welcome.

thanks,
amy

[Michael Romanos]

Hi Amy
What a shame about Kobe. All my Corgis have enjoyed the run of the house - no rooms barred - and not any of the problem you have with Kobe.
He is obviously distressed (anxiety) at your leaving him alone at home for lengthy periods and he takes it out by grabbing things he's not meant to have and tearing into them or other objects of clothing and furniture and fittings. There was a thread about this very problem recently on Go Corgi and there were some suggestions of preventative measures and 'cures.' Must search for the thread.
Kobe may need a sitter for an hour or two every day you're at work. He may need to be confined to a room where he cannot destroy objects and instead be presented with objects that he can bite into - maybe some discarded clothing, bags, shoes etc of yours. He should be able to listen to some middle of the road music - so leave a radio etc on that is tuned into easy listening music. Don't leave any food lying around - cat food is not good for dogs. A pizza box might be considered fair game for a Corgi. My Taylor just loves to rip into the cardboard part of a used up toilet roll or the cardboard part of a used up kitchen paper towel roll. Biting into a corner of a carpet square or a rug is what some pups do before they are given the hard look and the hard word. Hope you are covered by insurance.

[glencorgi]

So Kobe is about a year now?

There is an e-mail list/support group for people with dogs that have Addison's:
Support Group

And here are a few websites with information:
AddisonDogs.com
http://www.k9addisons.com/

I don't know if the behaviors might be related to the Addison's or not, but the folks on there will be a great source of information. I have a friend with senior corgi girl with Addison's and she has found the list invaluable.

Since crating is no longer an option for you, how about baby gates or an exercise pen to confine him to a "safe" area. That would give him more room, but not as confining as the crate.

Debbie

[KJohnson]

when Westin was a puppy we had problems with him tearing up the carpet (and you can see everywhere the carpet joins up with tile or hardwood that we weren't very successful in keeping him from it!) but what we did find, is that if we could secure a blanket or something OVER the areas he was tearing at so that he couldn't a) pull up the blanket or b) get to the carpet, he'd find something else to play with. In my opinion, giving him discarded clothes or shoes and things only lets him think that he can play with ANY clothes or shoes.... if baby gates or "barriers" are an option, keep those in mind also. (Westin is confined to the living room by a baby gate at one end and a combination of a keyboard and a computer tower casing-- stood up on end to meet in the middle of the doorway!) good luck!

[flutterbye]

I feel your pain. Rocko has completely torn up the back corner and side of a couch cushion. He's even chewed up some of the laminate flooring in the kitchen. He's gotten some of the carpet, but it's not that bad. We started off giving him run of the house until he would do something then we would start locking him in the kitchen. If he was good in there, we would give him some of his "freedom" back until he did something he wasn't supposed to. Yeah, and we've had to start moving the cat food far enough up so he can't reach it. I kept wondering why the cats never had food and now I do.. Rocko attacks it!! Such a turkey he is, but I wouldn't give him up for the world!!

~Linda~

[radioflyer02]

thank you all for your advice. Kobe is about a year and three months now. His addison's reduces a lot of what he can do unfortunately. But we are working around it.

I will give some of these tips a try and see if I can reduce his 'boredom'. We have started walks twice a day now. And it helps me since I am 6 months prego.

Thanks again!

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by radioflyer02

he was diagnosed with addisons a short while back and we can no longer crate him during the day because of the stress that it puts on his body. we would be in the vet every other week for shots. so we have started letting him have run of part of the first floor.

he was doing really well. then he tore up a shirt, pizza box and ate the cat food. he has never done this before and i know he is not hungry, he just thinks he is. but then he did something i would have not guessed. he started ripping up our apartments carpet and i can not, for the life of me, figure out why. he has toys. we go on long daily walks. i am just confused how he can be bored and do something like that. any tips or advice is much welcome.

Amy,

First put the cat food up somewhere where he can't reach it. My cats eat on a counter. The top of a washer or dryer will work too. Or put their food in a room blocked by a baby gate. Something so he can't get to it.

As for the destroying things - I had a Golden, my first dog many, many years ago. Back before I knew about neutering pets as standard operating proceedure. Well, he got a lump (small tumor) in his testicle and this caused the distructive behavior. (Released too much horomone maybe?) Anyway, look for a medical cause. Maybe as Debbie suggests, get a second opinion on the Addisons. Or this could be another problem and not realted to that at all. I don't think it's anxiety. It doesn't sound like that either.

I second the idea of an excercise pen or a small dog proofed room he can be baby gated in. Someplace where he's safe and doesn't have the ability to destroy things.

And of course provide him with something to chew on. Maybe a stuffed kong or a nice large raw bone.

Peggy

[MattC]

Amy,
Congratulations. I just became an uncle about five weeks ago. My Nick has a tendency to destroy. He turned the carpet into a string collection and took some chomps out of the base moulding (my landlord was not to happy about that). Anyway we put Nick on double walks during the day and it did seem to help. We also went through alot of bottles of bitter apple!

Best of luck with dog and baby