Moving to New House?

nitni1

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#1
We just moved out of our house into an apartment with our cocker spaniel. She has had free roam of the house, but now that we have moved she has become very destructive (tore up carpet and door frame at front door) and is compulsively licking her paws whenever we leave her. We are attempting to re-crate train her, which she isn't thrilled about that either. We are in this apartment for another 6 months before we move into our new house that is under construction. Is there anything that I can do to help make that move go smoother so that she becomes comfortable quickly? I am much more concerned about her ruining our new carpet rather than the carpet in this rental!

Any advice would be welcomed!
 

silverpawz

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Sounds like she's stressed about the change and is showing some signs of SA.

A few tips:
Exercise her well before leaving her alone. Make sure she's TIRED. A quick ten minute walk isn't enough for most dogs. Train her to run alongside your bike, play a long game of fetch with a Chuck-It, whatever floats her boat.
A tired dog is much less likely to destroy things when left alone.

Now that you've got a tired dog, she needs something to keep her occupied. The majority of any damage is usually done in the first 10-20 minutes. Providing her with a Kong Toy filled with some PB and healthy treats, or a safe chewie should make it easier for her to focus on that instead of your carpet.

If possible leave her in a bathroom or laundry room that has tile floor. No need to let her practice a bad habit of ripping up carpet if it can be avioded.

Leave the radio or TV on. For some dogs this works. For others it has no effect. Can't hurt to try it.

Keep working on that crate training. It's really the only way to be sure she won't have a party while you're gone and wreak your floors, walls, etc.

Be matter of fact about coming and going. No big greetings or long goodbyes. Making it an issues like that can often cause the problem to worsen. Best to be calm and simply ignore her for the first few minutes before you leave and after you come home.

Good luck, and this may slowly go away on it's own as she becomes more comfortable with her new home, especially if it wasn't a problem before this.
 

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