picklerelations
New member
I have an almost 3 y.o. Jack Russell/chihuahua mix. She is super sweet and the best dog I’ve ever had. I am a 22 year old who just recently moved out of my mom’s finally. At my mom’s, I tried crate training my dog to which I started w a basic wire cage meant for a dog her size since she is small. She would dig at the carpet to the point of getting to the floor underneath the carpet, she would flip her cage all over to get to things to chew them up, and the worst was when she pulled a pair of my jeans through one of the tiny holes and broke a bar inward w a sharp end. I caught her sneaking underneath the sharp bar and weaseling her way through a hole that wasn’t enough room for her and luckily she didn’t hurt herself. Then I got a bigger size wire cage which she had me trouble just throwing around but still managed to eat the carpet up in. Then after that I got a plastic crate and she chewed through the plastic crate and created a hole big enough for her to fit out of. The last thing I tried kennel wise was a big indestructible kennel meant for a cane corso so as to give her some space and also prevent her from tearing things up or hurting herself. I thought this was a great idea until months to a year later I went to the vet and they said she had damaged all of her teeth so badly to the point that she has now had 9 teeth removed, including 2 canines, and the rest of her teeth will eventually have to be pulled as well as they are all damaged that badly. Every kennel I’ve tried w her, I’ve made as comfortable as possible and put a t shirt of mine in there, a blanket or two, some toys that would fit and not take up all the space, and turned the TV on, lights off, etc. I started letting her free roam which was working perfectly fine until she tore a huge patch of carpet up all the way down to the wood underneath any level of flooring as my mom lives in a trailer. She tore up remotes, sunglasses, underwear, any trash or food she could find, usually all of my mom’s belongings. My mom got upset because it’s a rental and she was sick of her stuff being shredded but eventually my dog just stopped. She would occasionally attempt to tear stuff up but we were usually able to catch her in the act. A couple months ago, my mom “accidentally” locked my dog in my room and left her in there for hours to which my dog responded by tearing up more of the carpet and flooring. I thought these were all just puppy phase things at first and eventually situational things. Flash forward to now, I just moved in w a roommate and my sister(who my dog absolutely loves) and I thought she’d be alright since my sister is here but I was worried because she is now the only animal and she grew up around other animals. Towards the end of living at my moms I think that is what helped her more than anything was that even when my mom and I were gone, my dog had another dog that was there and a cat. Today was the first day that my dog got left by herself for most of the day in this new place and it’s a freshly renovated apartment. She scratched at the main door and trim around the door so badly and I was worried about telling my roommates out of fear of their reaction but they were surprisingly both cool as I offered to pay them their shares of the deposit when this is all said and done as I know I will probably be paying more come move out time in a year. I tried asking my family for some advice or help and the only thing they could come up w is that I have to rehome her. I obviously do not want to do this as this is my best friend not just a dog to me! I don’t have money to repair more than what she’s already done and now that she’s found a spot, anytime she gets anxious she will go back to that spot. I should mention a couple things real quick. I have vet prescribed traps done for her but I usually only give them to her before vet visits and don’t think it’s right to constantly sedate my dog just to be able to leave the house. I also have given her dog CBD in the past and it worked but like I said I don’t want to sedate her every day. I did leave all day but I did come back in the middle to let her out today for some context. I slowly worked up to leaving her alone this long over the past 2 weeks I’ve been living in this new place too and she did great all the other times but today was the longest she was absolutely alone as my roommates weren’t here and I had to run errands all day. I can’t and shouldn’t have to depend on my roommates as it’s not really their responsibility. I can’t afford to take her to doggy daycare every day or afford to pay thousands of dollars to get a behavioral therapist to work w her. I am at a loss and don’t know what to do. Please help
