Razamataz
05-11-2005, 04:15 PM
ok very new to this forum. i need some advice, quite urgently. i'm sorry if this post is long, but it's a long story.
about a year ago my family adopted a male boxer. his name is Wrigley. he will be 2 in august. when we first got him he was confused and a little scared, and had a few odd habits that led us to believe that his previous home was an aprtment. (his impecable leash training, that he would only go to the bathroom on pavement, that he hated being outside alone, that he tripped over himself constantly at the full speed run as if he had never done it before... etc.)
somthing else was strange with him too. he hated the crate. loathed it. at first it wasn't too bad. he would shake it around a little and maybe chew on the plastic tray beneath him, and that was all. but slowly he got worse. he started tearing the plastic tray apart. he shook the crate around so bad that he tore paint off the walls, knocked over floor lamps and shelves on the wall. we put him in the basement after he completely destroyed his tray, tore up and ate the blanket that was in there and dragged the crate across the room.
downstairs things got worse. he started eating things that were close enough for him to suck into the crate. he destroyed an entire broom, and ate so many bristles his digestive system was clogged for hours. he sucked a free floating carpet up off the ground and chewed it up to no repair. he started pulling the wires away from the crate, and one day created a hole in the side wide enough for both he and my other dog to stand in.
when he got out of the crate, he started to go beserk when people walked by the house. he chewed the wood on our bay window's panes. he tore apart the wood around the windows in our front door. he tore down drapes and chewed them to shreds. he pulled out an electrical plug that led to our tv system and chewed it up untill all of the black rubber was gone. when we came home it was live. he went after out neighbour twice by figuring out how to open our second front door. he went after and bit (not seriously) my grandmother's husband, but as soon as the man came in the house he became his customary slinky-like puppy, happy to see him as if he had totally forgotten the incedent.
we got him a new, heavier crate, and he promptly ate that plastic tray. he started to drag that one around too, but it was a bit harder. he chewed up a pair of scissors and when i came home i thought someone had tried to kill him for the puddles of blood on the floor beneath his crate. the cuts in and around his mouth took a week to heal. by this time we had taken any free floating items out of the area where he could pull his crate. he chewed a head sized hole in the top of the crate and started chewing the book case that was down there. he pulled books off it and began to eat those. he chewed the small coffe table next to the bookcase, taking down the tin of colored pencils and markers, and eating some of them. we put bricks around his crate in hopes of them stopping him from moving, but he simply tipped the crate over on them and the latches fell, allowing him to escape. he now has figured out how to do it without bricks.
my father is at best a very physical person. he thinks the only way to train a dog is to make sure they feel it. and that means anything from the back of his hand to a speaker that had fallen victim to Wrigley's insane crate action. he is an animal abuser at worst. i have tried my best to protect Wrigley when my father is in a fit of rage. but every day it gets worse. the problem is, he is the last one to leave the house, and therefore, the one who puts wrigley in the crate. yesterday he tied the dog to the bottom with a leash and put his heaviest tool boxes around the crate. wrigley chewed through his own leash and managed to push the lightest of the toolboxes aside so he could tip the crate over again. that same day in one of his mad attemps to get at people in front of my home, he broke a window and cut himself pretty bad. today he used the remainder of the leash to close one latch, and then used bolts and a curved nail with riges on both sides to bolt the crate shut. wrigley managed to unscrew them, tip the crate over and squeze through the bottom send of the door.
needless to say my parents are royally pissed of at him. my dad has threatened everyting from handcuffing him to the crate to chaining him to it, to building one so small he cannot raise his head, to outright killing him. they are simply threats, i know. he would not do it if i told him not to. but my fear of him is great. my mom said tio me the other day that she would not miss him if he had to go. she wasn't lying. my dad may not feel the way she does, but she hates Wrigley for destroying her home. she is angry at me for defending him. today she was so angry that she screamed at me for a few minutes, cursed a few times and then later lost her composure and asked in so many words whose happiness i valued more, a dog's or her own.
as you can see i'm in a bad way. i am looking for any advice anyone can give me. he has a vet appointment the 19th, but i worry that my mother will not wait that long. we have tried putting him in a room, but he chewed the wood from the doorjam and ate alot of my matress, as well as the wood around my window frames and my comfortor. he simply goes mad.
the worst case scenario is that he gets put down on grounds of aggression. second to worse, he goes back to the rescue, and that is what my mom wants to do with him.
if there is anyone i can e-mail, any forum i can visit, any person i can im, anyone who can give me advice, please do.
about a year ago my family adopted a male boxer. his name is Wrigley. he will be 2 in august. when we first got him he was confused and a little scared, and had a few odd habits that led us to believe that his previous home was an aprtment. (his impecable leash training, that he would only go to the bathroom on pavement, that he hated being outside alone, that he tripped over himself constantly at the full speed run as if he had never done it before... etc.)
somthing else was strange with him too. he hated the crate. loathed it. at first it wasn't too bad. he would shake it around a little and maybe chew on the plastic tray beneath him, and that was all. but slowly he got worse. he started tearing the plastic tray apart. he shook the crate around so bad that he tore paint off the walls, knocked over floor lamps and shelves on the wall. we put him in the basement after he completely destroyed his tray, tore up and ate the blanket that was in there and dragged the crate across the room.
downstairs things got worse. he started eating things that were close enough for him to suck into the crate. he destroyed an entire broom, and ate so many bristles his digestive system was clogged for hours. he sucked a free floating carpet up off the ground and chewed it up to no repair. he started pulling the wires away from the crate, and one day created a hole in the side wide enough for both he and my other dog to stand in.
when he got out of the crate, he started to go beserk when people walked by the house. he chewed the wood on our bay window's panes. he tore apart the wood around the windows in our front door. he tore down drapes and chewed them to shreds. he pulled out an electrical plug that led to our tv system and chewed it up untill all of the black rubber was gone. when we came home it was live. he went after out neighbour twice by figuring out how to open our second front door. he went after and bit (not seriously) my grandmother's husband, but as soon as the man came in the house he became his customary slinky-like puppy, happy to see him as if he had totally forgotten the incedent.
we got him a new, heavier crate, and he promptly ate that plastic tray. he started to drag that one around too, but it was a bit harder. he chewed up a pair of scissors and when i came home i thought someone had tried to kill him for the puddles of blood on the floor beneath his crate. the cuts in and around his mouth took a week to heal. by this time we had taken any free floating items out of the area where he could pull his crate. he chewed a head sized hole in the top of the crate and started chewing the book case that was down there. he pulled books off it and began to eat those. he chewed the small coffe table next to the bookcase, taking down the tin of colored pencils and markers, and eating some of them. we put bricks around his crate in hopes of them stopping him from moving, but he simply tipped the crate over on them and the latches fell, allowing him to escape. he now has figured out how to do it without bricks.
my father is at best a very physical person. he thinks the only way to train a dog is to make sure they feel it. and that means anything from the back of his hand to a speaker that had fallen victim to Wrigley's insane crate action. he is an animal abuser at worst. i have tried my best to protect Wrigley when my father is in a fit of rage. but every day it gets worse. the problem is, he is the last one to leave the house, and therefore, the one who puts wrigley in the crate. yesterday he tied the dog to the bottom with a leash and put his heaviest tool boxes around the crate. wrigley chewed through his own leash and managed to push the lightest of the toolboxes aside so he could tip the crate over again. that same day in one of his mad attemps to get at people in front of my home, he broke a window and cut himself pretty bad. today he used the remainder of the leash to close one latch, and then used bolts and a curved nail with riges on both sides to bolt the crate shut. wrigley managed to unscrew them, tip the crate over and squeze through the bottom send of the door.
needless to say my parents are royally pissed of at him. my dad has threatened everyting from handcuffing him to the crate to chaining him to it, to building one so small he cannot raise his head, to outright killing him. they are simply threats, i know. he would not do it if i told him not to. but my fear of him is great. my mom said tio me the other day that she would not miss him if he had to go. she wasn't lying. my dad may not feel the way she does, but she hates Wrigley for destroying her home. she is angry at me for defending him. today she was so angry that she screamed at me for a few minutes, cursed a few times and then later lost her composure and asked in so many words whose happiness i valued more, a dog's or her own.
as you can see i'm in a bad way. i am looking for any advice anyone can give me. he has a vet appointment the 19th, but i worry that my mother will not wait that long. we have tried putting him in a room, but he chewed the wood from the doorjam and ate alot of my matress, as well as the wood around my window frames and my comfortor. he simply goes mad.
the worst case scenario is that he gets put down on grounds of aggression. second to worse, he goes back to the rescue, and that is what my mom wants to do with him.
if there is anyone i can e-mail, any forum i can visit, any person i can im, anyone who can give me advice, please do.