Dog eating door frame.

Gremlin

We have a lovely little terrier mix. We got him from a rescue centre last august and he has a lot of issues. Hes a lovely little lad but still lacks confindence (though hes getting better).

Anway, he sleeps downstairs in the front room (normally sneaks up on my wifes chair) when she goes to bed. We don't mind that too much. The problem arises if there is any noise around at all. For example if its windy outside he decides he wants out of the front room and literally tries to eat the door frame to get out. We cant let him roam since we have a semi-disabled/blind relative living with us. She might trip over him.

Some nights it gets so bad the only thing we can do is let him come upstairs and sleep on the floor of our bedroom. I don't like doing this as I really don't think dogs should sleep in bedrooms but if it means we get a nights sleep them thats what I have to do.

Any ideas on how I can stop him eating the doorframe?

cocker5

On the door frame... rub "vicks vapour rub"... thsi will stop the eating of the door frame... my dog trainer recommended it when my cocker was a pup (he ate everything in sight)...

have you though of leaving the radio on for him?? some back ground noise may drown out any noises from outside.... not too loud or anything but just enough so theres a small bit of noise all the time.... he will then learn to sleep thru the noise.

Toulouse

Crate train him. Make his crate nice and snug and you can cover it over to make it even more comfy. Take your time and train him properly and he'll love his new little den. He'll be happy to be in there and you'll know that he's safe and sound.

Check out the 'Doggie Den' section here http://petcentral.yolasite.com/printables.php or do a search in the forum for it.

Gremlin

Thanks for the replies. All very useful suggestions.

pokertalk

had the same problem with my lad when i rescued him a late walk before bed would help and leave the door open with a baby gate on i find that when my lad can see the other side of the door then he gets less stressed also leave some toys in the room to keep his interest

JustAThought

The crate and babygate are great ideas; mine LOVES her crate and if I close it off to wash it the minute I reopen it she rushes back in and jumps up and down on it and does a big happy roll all legs in the air!
The vicks could really hurt if it got in her eyes ; you know what that stuff is like! There's a spray you can get from pet shops that my 2 x cousins swear by that puts them off chewing; whatevers in it is disgusting tasting to dogs but humans can't smell it; might be worth a try!

Gremlin

Thanks guys. I know crate training is the way to go, but since this little guy is 5ish and very very traumatised, I think that might be too stressful for him right now. The idea of the baby gate sounds great.

I did find that leaving a night light on for him helped a good bit, didn't stop the behaviour totally but it cut it down by about 50%..

Thanks again.

andreac

You might be surprised. Most dogs actually love their crate and feel a lot more secure and comfortable in their own little den and dont fnd it stressful at all, actually quite the opposite.

ppink

Gremlin I have a dog that cannot stand noise. If there is a door even lightly banging in the wind in the house she gets very bothered by it. She also really cant stand rugby matches on the tv:eek:. we literally have to put her far away from the tv (she is in the utility while we are at the other side of the house watching the match) or if we dont she will wreck the place......she is almost 8yrs old and we have had her since she was a pup so not sure what the issue is.
Do you have a chimney or a large window in the room your dog sleeps in? if so maybe the noise is just too much for him. Is there any way you could put him in a smaller cosier quieter area?.....crates area actually ideal for this.
my dog just does not like being *exposed* to noise. she is funnily enough fine outside though and the first to challenge an unknown so it is a bit of a mystery.
There is no way my dog would sleep in a room with a chimney or lots of noise.

Toulouse

andreac wrote: »

You might be surprised. Most dogs actually love their crate and feel a lot more secure and comfortable in their own little den and dont fnd it stressful at all, actually quite the opposite.

Completely agree, as long as you take the training nice and slow and do it properly I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

**Vai**

Crate trainings the way to go. I had the same issue with one of mine and the crate training worked, and worked quite easily too.

Gremlin

Thanks guys,

yeah ppink, its our living room, complete with chimney and two windows. Its funny we live next to a railway line and the trains don't seem to bother him. However dare i switch on the printer which is in the room and he goes mental.

As the consensus seems to favour crate training, what I think I'll do is is set up the crate (already have a large one - the wire cage type with the metal tray underneath) in a corner and make a bit of a den out of it. Cover it with a blanket, put some of his used bedding in there along with an old jumper of mine which he seems to use as a comfort pillow. Hopefully he will go in there on his own. I'll be honest, I really don't like the idea of shutting him in there. Maybe the problem is that he sleeps all over the place and really doesn't have one place to call his own. Hopefully if he takes to it, he'll feel like he belongs a bit more.

Thanks guys.