Hey, all,
so, last month my girlfriend and I rescued a year and a half old male Akita mix named "Remi." Anyways, long story short, we've had A LOT of trial and error from multiple crate escapes and digging/tearing up the carpet when kept in a room while we were at work. We figured he had some sort of separation anxiety or crate freight and found that keeping him outside was the best solution. He would never make an escape attempt then, which I found odd. But with summer's heat we couldn't keep him outside so we took the plunge and let him have free-reign of the house while at work. We came to the conclusion that he most likely has some kind of containment phobia because when I would return from work I would find only the blinds and curtains in shambles. Nothing else. I fixed everything up and then left all the curtains slightly open so he could look and see outside and everything has been golden since.
My girlfriend is now on a business vacation so it has been just Remi and I. My girlfriend is usually his last contact as she leaves to work at 8:00 a.m. while I leave for work at 5:00 a.m. I wake up around 4:00 and run him for three miles to tire him out. With me flying solo now and being Remi's last contact so early in the morning when it's still dark out, I come home to find the curtains ripped down completely! I'm assuming that despite the windows being "open" it's pitch black outside and he still thinks he's "contained"? This is day two and it's the only thing that makes sense to me.
I would crate him, but like I said, that triggers him to freak out if he's left in it alone, going back to the "containment" part. But, I'm not sure. Any advice for this? I prefer not to keep my windows completely open, nor keep replacing blinds and curtains.
Thanks!
so, last month my girlfriend and I rescued a year and a half old male Akita mix named "Remi." Anyways, long story short, we've had A LOT of trial and error from multiple crate escapes and digging/tearing up the carpet when kept in a room while we were at work. We figured he had some sort of separation anxiety or crate freight and found that keeping him outside was the best solution. He would never make an escape attempt then, which I found odd. But with summer's heat we couldn't keep him outside so we took the plunge and let him have free-reign of the house while at work. We came to the conclusion that he most likely has some kind of containment phobia because when I would return from work I would find only the blinds and curtains in shambles. Nothing else. I fixed everything up and then left all the curtains slightly open so he could look and see outside and everything has been golden since.
My girlfriend is now on a business vacation so it has been just Remi and I. My girlfriend is usually his last contact as she leaves to work at 8:00 a.m. while I leave for work at 5:00 a.m. I wake up around 4:00 and run him for three miles to tire him out. With me flying solo now and being Remi's last contact so early in the morning when it's still dark out, I come home to find the curtains ripped down completely! I'm assuming that despite the windows being "open" it's pitch black outside and he still thinks he's "contained"? This is day two and it's the only thing that makes sense to me.
I would crate him, but like I said, that triggers him to freak out if he's left in it alone, going back to the "containment" part. But, I'm not sure. Any advice for this? I prefer not to keep my windows completely open, nor keep replacing blinds and curtains.
Thanks!
