I rescued Bear on March 26, 2010. He had been in the shelter for 6 weeks. I don’t know much about his history, but, can guess he was abused and neglected. I believe he was just left to fend for himself outside. He was infested with ticks. For the first month I had him, he REFUSED to go outside, I’d get his leash on him and he would immediately panic. I would pick him up and take him out and he would simply sit down and shake uncontrollably. It got to the point where I felt like I was doing more harm than good, so, he began using puppy pads. I was eventually able to gain his trust and convince him that going outside was okay. Now, he loves going out and going for walks. Shortly after accomplishing the huge goal of getting him outside, he began with the extremely destructive behavior. The issue I’m having now is that he has SEVERE SEVERE separation anxiety. He has eaten all of my window sills down the the drywall, eaten drywall, stripped door, window and wall trim off, he has destroyed all my blinds, eaten my couch, pulled the mattress off the bed in an attempt to get at the upstairs window. He destroyed his first crate, by eating the plastic side and opening the wire gate enough to slide through (I still don’t know HOW he got through the spot he did). I got him an ASPCA metal cage, which I reinforced and double locked the latches. He bent the wires and managed to escape through a 3 inch gap. He’s 50 pounds and a medium sized dog… Last weekend, my vet put him on Reconcile. We have been doing the behavior modification training, I have desensitized him to my keys and the door locking as I leave. The day before yesterday, I came home from work and there was very little damage, I felt like "Yay! Finally, SOMETHING’S working" Yesterday, I came home and he had taken the cover off my a/c unit (I live in an apt that has an a/c unit like hotel rooms have) and he had stripped more trim from around the door. I tried bitter spray, it had absolutely no affect on him. He continued to eat the walls and woodwork. Funny thing is, interestingly enough, from the time I adopted him, whenever I’d come home, he was neither anxious, excited or really very concerned that I was home. It seems like his trigger is me leaving on work days. I have been changing up my routine, my habits in the morning on work days, as well as on weekends. I don’t say good bye to him in the mornings or make a big fuss about my departure. I have tried attention diverting toys, bones, etc. However, he has absolutely no interest in toys. He has an entire basket of toys that he has never even attempted to touch. He has very little interest in bones. He is not treat or toy driven. He gets walked 3-4 times a day for 30-45 minutes at a time. I’m running out of options to help him out. I can only imagine how frustrated he must be, because I know how frustrated I am.
Duh! I forgot to mention that he’s possibly 2-3 years old, altered male, Shepherd/Chow possibly Collie mix.
To the person who answered first, as he was infested with over 30 ticks, that sure spells neglect to me, not to mention his coat was knotted up everywhere!! Additionally, he was deathly afraid of people, which to me means he was abused. He is no longer as afraid as he was when around new people. Sorry I didn’t include that information in my question, as I didn’t deem it pertinent, as this question wasn’t about whether or not he was or wasn’t abused or neglected…Thanks for your insight, though.

it’s true that the dog was probably not abused or neglected- beyond someone taking crappy care of his fur and letting him roam loose- he probably does suffer from weak nerves, and definitely had no training. saying he is probably suffering from genetic issues regarding his temperament isn’t an insult to the dog or you, it’s just an observation that the dog may continue to exhibit this behavior to some degree no matter what concessions you make for him.
i’ve known dogs who were genetically rock solid go through the worst abuse and neglect and have no fear or ill will towards people, because of their soundness. the observation that he’s probably genetically predisposed to being nervous has no hinge on you, it’s just something to be aware of, and fairly common in mongrel dogs, because they aren’t bred for sound temperaments.

you need an indestructible crate. i have APBT’s, and used to do a lot of rescue, and the stainless steel crates are good for dogs who can tear apart the normal wire ones.
once a dog figures out he can bust through a crate, he will keep trying, and the only way to calm him and make him stop is to put him in something he can’t get out of.

also, i don’t know if this is feasible, but do you have an outdoor kennel? is it possible for you to "pretend" to leave him in an outdoor kennel and see what he does?
i have a female APBT who will jump through glass windows if i leave her inside when i go to work, but i kennel her outside in a kennel run, she watches me leave, and then goes about the business of destroying her toys and being a dog in the kennel. it has worked very well.
the only thing is that you would need to observe him closely, and have a VERY well built kennel, because if he broke out, there would be trouble.
just a thought, though.

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