leaving an occasionally destructive dog

[animalslave]

After being off work sick since my daughter passed I've managed to secure a job and am starting a week on Monday. The only issue is three days a fortnight I will either be leaving for work 3 hours before my partner gets home or he will be leaving three hours before I get home.

At the moment my furkids are on occasion destructive when left (recently we had to have a new door frame as they chewed the old one and they ate the corner of a table once). I don't want them hurting themselves and as we live in a rented house I simply can't have them destroying everything.

They are apparently crate trained so I will be buying crates for them both with my first pay check but as this will be over a month and I won't use the crate untill I have seen that they are ok in it while I'm home I need some suggestions. Is it safe to muzzle him while I'm gone so that he can't keep chewing things? I can't give them kongs or food based toys whilst I'm out as they will fight over them if one finishes before the other.

Also once I have crates I am planning to give them a kong each as they can't fight over them so they have something to enjoy. I was planning on stuffing them then freezing them as I have seen suggested but I wondered what sort of filling is good? I've heard mash potato but I wondered whether any meat/fish pastes are good?

Sorry for the long post I'm sure this has all been covered before.

Almost forgot to mention they have about 30 mins to 45 mins walk before I leave but as I will be getting home at 11 pm then leaving at 5 am the next day one day a fortnight I can't make the walk any longer.

[vickyb]

I wouldn't leave a dog muzzled in case it got caught on anything. Hope they're not too bad! Well done on getting back to work.

[burnsider]

For the Kongs, mine love peanut butter or soft cheese (Philadelphia or similar) with other small treats stuck in.

Good luck and I hope the job goes well.

[alexandsteve]

Can't you start practicing leaving them now - just to get the process in motion? I leave the TV on, a kong and always a good walk first xxx

[alexandsteve]

Sorry just to add, rescue remedy and a dap defuser too - I don't crate As it makes Cee upset so I just leave her be. She's always found on my bed snoozing

[animalslave]

That was my concern with the muzzle aswell. Think I shall leave it off and continue to just repair things if he damages them.

Will definitely try that! Hadn't thought of soft cheese thanks! Maybe with bits of bacon in...

I've been leaving them on their own for between 1-3 hours for quite a while now as I didn't want them to develop separation anxiety after we moved into this house but every now and then he is destructive. There's no difference in whats been done just on a random day he'll decide today is the day he's going to chew. Also he'll be getting at least an hour before he's left apart from on one day a fortnight as I only have around six hours at home between the shift the night before and that morning so he'll only get half hour before and half hour when my partner gets home. I can't manage walking 4 miles to work, doing a 10 hour shift four miles home then an hour with him four miles back to work another ten hours and four miles home with only 4-5 hours sleep.

Thanks for the advice, congratulations and good wishes. Really nervous about going back but I feel a lot better in myself so I think its time plus this job has garunteed I can have my daughters anniversaries off which was my main concern.

[vickyb]

Have you tried nasty tasting sprays like bitter apple on vulnerable areas? it really is vile, I've accidentally got on my hand after using it on a bandage and it just doesn't wash off so I'll use rubber gloves in future!

[animalslave]

Oooo I'd forgotten bitter apple! Going to invest in a bottle tomorrow me thinks! Thanks