Random Urge to destroy things?

Does anyone else have an adult dog that is this way?

It is strange to me. I can leave Mia locked in a room and she does not get into trouble. I frequently baby gate her in the kitchen. As soon as I leave her loose in the whole house though, she will shred something. Usually that something is near the front door. This time it was a bag of clothes I wanted to donate. Came home and the clothes are all over the place and the bag shredded. Yet I can leave her a full work day as long as I gate her somewhere or kennel her?

Does that sound like a frustration or anxiety type behavior?

I can be gone 5 minutes and if she's loose she destroys something. It does not seem to matter what time I leave or how long I am gone. It leads me to think she destroys things in a fit as I walk out the door.

She also opened all the cabinets but did not seem to remove anything from them.

Mia is 5 1/2 so not a young dog.

Kinda sounds like she's miffed... Patch was my only dog who would do something like that and, luckily, would only shred her rope 'bone' if I wasn't home on time. The later I was, the more little pieces of string I had to pick up, all over the living room. She did that most of her adult life, until we moved out to the country and she has a choice of going out or staying in... Okay, strike that, I'd come home to 'snow' because she'd take one of her stuffies outside and shred it. No hope for you, I'm afraid.

Zander does that all the time. He can be am angel for months. Then suddenly he will destroy anything and everything in his path, anything he can get a hold of. He is a very anxious dog, though. He is 8, 9 in February.

I definite think it sounds like a temper tantrum as you leave.

Crossbone shreds things when he's upset. He's loose in the house all day and doesn't touch a thing and then if we come home and immediately leave (to go to dinner or back to work, whatever) or if we're paying attention to each other and excluding him he will "destroy something beautiful". Usually it's one Kleenex out of the trash can shredded in a little pile at the top of the stairs. If he does TWO Kleenex that means he's really upset. lol We find it hilarious and annoying at the same time.

Fight Club dog believes in violence.

Roxie likes to shred Kleenex boxes- only the boxes, leaves the Kleenexes in pristene condition. Started when we first got her (after she broke out of her crate, because then we left her in my bedroom), stopped for a few years, started up again when we were nearly all moved out of the old house, and then started again last week.

I already know that she has SA, so we have a whole procedure we go through before leaving her alone in the house. She's currently stuck in the greater part of the basement (there is a section that's blocked off via snow fencing and an ex-pen) and while I do tuck a lot of things away, for some reason I'm too stupid to remember that she attacks the kleenexes every once in a while. And it's always the box nearest my bed...

Roxie's about the same age as Mia. I don't know if its purely her SA, or if she's just throwing a fit. But she's got plenty of dog safe things to busy herself with- frozen Kongs, Himalayan chews, a knuckle bone, and kibble toys. At least two Kongs are empty, the other four are usually only half, the kib toys are mostly empty, and lately the chew and knuckle bone are relatively untouched.

I'm thinking with Roxie anyways, she waits as patiently as she's able and then starts destroying things if I'm not back soon enough. She also gets chill pills and
loads of exercise. Honestly though, I think the upset to her normal ability to calm herself is caused by the move... So that may be what's going on with Mia? Idk if you've moved completely yet or not though?

Brisbane shreds dog beds from time to time, for reasons known only to himself. He can have the same bed in pristine condition for months and then one day decide it needs to be demolished. He also shredded the blanket and comforter on the bed in my parents' guest room once when we still lived with them. It was a place he enjoyed sleeping, I was home at the time, and I found him sound asleep in the wreckage. He's an anxiety-ridden dog, but I don't think his fits of destruction are related.

Ullie, on the other hand, went through a paper-shredding phase. My hospice dog also loved shredding paper, and both would choose that activity over any number of food toys including peanut butter filled kongs.

As you know, Paps do not like to be left behind. This is her frustration being demonstrated. They just HATE to be left behind.

I always crate my paps when I leave the house. They seem to do better that way. The little one is still in training so she has to be crated anyway. The boy is trustworthy but still gets put in an octagon pen when nobody is with them. This is the routine so they never get confusing signals. Admittedly, they are both young but they have never destroyed anything so far.

You might consider getting one or two of those playpens for them to stay in when you are not with them and stick to the routine. Once they get used to it, they know when to come to me when I am getting ready to go somewhere. We give a treat, say bye, then leave immediately without any emotional display. Works for us.

-Mark.

are you allowed to talk about this?

We are still stuck on using the crate with Merlin and I HAVE NO IDEA WHY

He will go weeks WITH NO PROBLEM
then one day I will come home to paper shredded, something knocked off a counter... WHY?!?

Thank goodness he isn't into shoes or furniture so I figure it's a maturity thing that needs to sort itself out

We have slowly moved from crate to x-pen to baby gated room. Slowly as in it took 4 years to get to baby gated room.

Summer has SA but Mia has never exhibited signs of SA except for shredding things. As a youngster she would shred things pretty constantly, even just while I popped into the shower. She is very good now when I am there to supervise and she's just fine in her pen or gated room.

I'm really leaning towards it being a fit of madness so to speak.

It can be very contagious.

Nothing to add other than OMG MIA IS 5 1/2????

Yep and Summer is 10 and a few months. It's crazy!!!

Bamm will do this occasionally. I take Cricket and Joey out an about without Bamm every so often because they can do stuff Bamm can't like dog parks, etc. Most of the time I leave he might howl a little at first but then he is fine. Every so often he gets upset and destroys whatever bedding is in his crate but won't touch stuffed kongs until I get home. He is 8.

Tipper does this. I think she gets overwhelmed with freedom joy and has a little meltdown. Last time I came home to a bag of gummy worms with a hole in it (but uneaten thank goodness), the remains of a paperback, and a shredded tissue. Weirdo dog.

I hope it's not a maturity thing with Brisbane, he turned 9 in April. He's not much maturing as he is refining his technique. He only steals stuff off the counters when he is absolutely certain I can't hear him do it.

Watson only destroys things under certain conditions. The first is that he's worked up that we are gone. This typically doesn't happen during a regular work day, but he will be agitated if we're gone in the evening - he paces and barks, quiets down, then starts up again.

The other condition is that he accidentally finds something to destroy. I've watched him on video and he doesn't seem to look for things, but if he's putting his feet up on a bookshelf to see outside and accidentally knocks a book off, he starts pawing at it angrily. Haha. So I think he wants to vent his frustration, but he only does it if something destructible falls in his path. It really looks like he's in a fit of rage when he's ripping these things up, though I'm sure it's also anxiety related.

Sounds like Mia is doing it out of frustration or anger. Maybe the whole house just gives her more options? Or maybe it's because she's being frustrated at the front door specifically and locking her in a room avoids the front door behavior.

Lily will do it out of frustration, boredom, or jealousy. She's almost 8.

Scout will do it out of anxiety, seems particularly related to me leaving and usually involves my shoes or her leash. They are both always crated, but Scout does know how to work her crate latches... I'd rather she shred some shoes than possibly hurt herself ripping out of a reinforced crate tho so I don't reinforce it so she can't get out. It is pretty rare that she has an incident these days... maybe once or twice a year now. She is 6.

Neither have any bedding in their crates. Lily did have a memory foam pad for quite some time, but she got bored and shredded it a couple weeks ago. Husky is husky. She had no regrets, lol.