Lacey the pit

[my_altered_life]

We're having serious problems with Lacey, our 5 month old pit bull. We're at a loss at this point on what to do. She's destroyed into the quadruple digits of our belongings, and we are lower-middle class to begin with. We've given her everything she needs, she has toys, a bed (well, up until tonight), vet care (recently 130 dollars) and goes to the

Comments

[my_altered_life]

Well, yes and no. There's a gate that bars her from going up the stairs. She basically is confined to the downstairs, where there's like 200 sq. ft. of open space that's kitchen and living room. There's nowhere for her to go. Otherwise, its all bedrooms and storage. And yes, they will contain her, but there's really nowhere to contain her. However, because there's 5 of us crammed into 1000 sq. ft., everything has to be out in this area thats open, there's barely any room for us in the bedroom, so this area doubles as my sons play room. His larger toys are out, his toybox, the entertainment center, the high chair, the china cabinet, the couch, the curtains, and until tonight, her bed. Everything we can possibly take off the floor has been taken off, but tonight she destroyed her bed and the twin draftguard, which obviously couldn't be moved.

[bloolark]

Did you have her retested for a UTI after she was finished with the antibiotics? Not all UTIs clear up after one round, and not all bacteria is sensitive to all antibiotics.

[my_altered_life]

Yes, we're getting that worked on, but I don't think that's the crux of the problem.

[chiska]

Mick definitely can't be crated. We used baby gates and other blockades to limit the area that he had. It worked great.

You can't discipline her unless you catch her actually doing it. I came home to several disasters, but without catching him directly in the act, there was nothing much I could do about it.

But what we did do was baby proof the area as much as possible. I also kept a leash on him all the time when we were home and kept him in my sight.

Other things that worked was keeping him mentally active by adding tricks to the regular training. Amp up her regular training. We took away all his toys and his bed. He got them supervised only - and when he started to destroy them, they were taken away. I did get him a sturdy bone to help with that chewing teething phase.

Good luck!

[my_altered_life]

We've tried keeping her mentally active. We rotate her toys, we've tried giving her a kong with peanut butter in it (not only did she destroy it in one day, she didn't like peanut butter and we had to stuff treats inside instead). And just today, we went through her training, and are working on doing things other than basic commands that she has all down. And she still destroyed her bed and our draftguard. Its so frustrating, we just want to know WHYYY.

[chiska]

No toys. Nothing without supervision. Poor Mick couldn't sneeze without asking permission first. His life was so ordered and scheduled. She might need more structure? Of course, eliminating any possible health issues is important. When we did training, we did it constantly during this time. Its alot of work 0 we also walked him several times a day and wore him out chasing his ball.

What kind of Kong did you give her? He has the biggest one possible, and it is black. He has put some little knicks in it, but he hasn't been able to destroy it.

[iansgeisha]

Why.. because she is a 5 month old pit bull puppy that needs a lot of mental stimulation and is teething.

My dog went through $200 worth of BRAND NEW shoes, our couch, a book case just to name a few.

Do you have a yard? Does she have access to it? taking her to the dog park for an hour a day is not enough exercise for this highly energized breed. They were breed for stamina and determination. Their minds are active and need stimulation. Add the teething stage, and walla, you no longer have a dog, you have 4 legs of destruction.

[my_altered_life]

There is no such thing as crate training this dog. We've gone by the book, and nothing has worked. And honestly? There's no way to punish a dog after the fact, we know that. But we've caught her in the act and scolded her for it, and taken her outside. She doesn't care.

[ladycallie]

Is she food focused at all? My Izzy is, and I've noticed that if I don't give her enough to eat (she just hit another growth spurt) she gets cranky with me. Last night we had two accidents in the house with no reason, and she bullied our older Newfoundland.

My partner noticed that she might have been hungry and sure enough, with a little more food in the bowl tonight, she's her normal self. I know she's a baby, but have you tried a raw meaty bone, frozen, for her to nibble on? Izzy can work on one for hours.

Also, you said she's worse on bad weather days... she could have storm fear. My families dog gets really clingy whenever it rains, and will huddle and shake if the weather get stronger. Maybe a sedative or instead of active play time, you work on massage and cradle calming exercises.

Hang in there, the puppy stage will end.

[my_altered_life]

Yes she is very food focused, and I have noticed a hint of bad behavior when she's hungry (or thirsty for that matter, she scrapes the bowl all over the floor until she gets her result) and we just recently changed her dog food back to puppy chow because she didn't like the ol' roy puppy food at all. I didn't think of that - I know she's hungry because she was refusing to eat unless we supplemented her. We brought home the puppy chow and she devoured it dry.

And when I say its raining, I mean just that. Just raining, no thunder or anything. She's never showed a fear, or any care in the world about it, except that she wants to go out and play and can't.

[miss_teacher]

One thing to consider is changing food. I know you are on a budget, but often foods like Ol Roy and Puppy Chow are complete crap. It's junk food. Imagine a child trying to behave and concentrate at school after eating pop tarts, donuts, Mc Donalds fries, and milk shakes all day long. It's going to make them hyper and out of control.

Not saying it's all due to behavior, since 5 month old terriers are just nuts. But the diet cannot be helping the situation. Do you have a Costco near you? If so, their house brand, Kirkland, dog food is pretty good and much cheaper than the really good brands out there.