I know that the answer really may seem over simplified but the truth is you should do Nothing.

Seriously! If you come home one day and find out that your dog destroyed your house. You shouldn’t get angry, and as hard as it may be. Try not to even show any emotion over it. 

There’s A Big Reason For This!

As you can see in the picture above you can probably guess that I have had to deal with this a few times. Duke is my husky and I have to say that he has been great and rarely destroyed anything but I’ll go over a few things on how to handle your dog when this happens.

The Dog’s Perspective!

This maybe a bit weird the first time you do it but look at situations in the dog’s perspective. Once you do you may even get a bit of a laugh out of it.

In The Moment!

Before you over think anything put your self in the dogs mind and just think what was going on. A dog lives in the moment and no matter how much you may think that your dog just wants to annoy you. Your dog was just having a blast. 

When I think about it. All I can think about is the Beggin Strips dog treats commercial from quite a few years ago. When Duke was destroying my blinds, the only thing he was probably thinking is “THIS IS SOOOO F****** FUN. LOOK AT HOW MANY PIECES THERE ARE!”

It Really Isn’t Personal

As much as you may want to believe that your dog does something on purpose. Your dog DOESN’T know that they did is wrong, their life revolves around pure enjoyment. Whether that is the playtime they have with you or blinds that just looked so fun at the time. 

Now Why You Shouldn’t Get Mad

The instant reaction for people is to feel upset. And It’s completely understandable to be upset and annoyed. But, truthfully you should not get mad at your dog. There are a few reasons for this.

First Dogs learn so much better through positive reinforcement. Dogs love the attention they get for being good which makes them just so fun to have around. Negative reinforcement training really should never be used on dogs. 

Secondly, as we went over above your dog lives in the moment. This is very important to understand. When you walk into your house, nothing in the world is more important to your dog than you.

Again put your self into your dogs mind. All your dog can think is “MY PEOPLE ARE  HOME!!! HORAY!”. And how does it come across if you are mad when you come into your house angry at the dog? The second your keys hit the door lock you have become the most interesting thing in the world. Everything that happened even mere seconds ago is completely forgotten about. Your dog is just super excited your home! 

The Harm Of Anger

If you become angry now. You are literally being angry at your dog for happily greeting you at the door. And this should never be the case. Out of control excitement is different but a happy dog should always be welcomed.

Side note: What I mean in out of control excitement should be limited. You want a dog that is excited that you’re home, but not to the point that they can cause harm or jump. 

So What Do You Do When You Get Home?

I know it may be tough, but you should do nothing. Pretend that nothing happened and continue with your normal routine like taking them out to go potty, or your walk. Once you have done your normal routine, simply start to clean up the mess. 

How To Stop It?

Truthfully this can be pretty tough to stop sometimes. Because everything in your dogs world is only what is currently happening. You cannot correct them on something that has happened any amount of time ago. You literally have to catch them in the act without introducing anything new. Even walking into the house becomes a new situation. 

First Step

Duke has so far destroyed my blinds twice and my area rug about a year ago. The best thing that can happen is when your cleaning up the mess is that your dog goes to chew on one of the pieces. Here is the time that you can be assertive and simply tell him “Leave It”. You just have to let you dog know that the item is off limits. 

There should never be a situation that you need to hit or yell at your dog, a simple assertive “leave it” is all that is needed. You simply have to make it sound final and that you’re in charge. 

Quick Note: “Leave It” is a very important you should always train your dog. It really isn’t difficult to teach and can have so many uses. It teaches your dog to respect what you tell them to leave alone. 

Step Two 

This is actually more of a look at what you may have done. This may not be true for all dogs, but once you begin thinking a bit differently you will notice a new way to look at your dog. I have convinced myself that when Duke acts up, I look at what I probably did to cause it. I can usually find something that I probably did, and I think I will probably always have an excuse for him. Once you really start doing this you will notice that your family will start making fun of you. Mine does all the time. They tell me that “It’s never Duke’s fault”, and I happily agree that it isn’t.

The way I look at the situation is it’s just not the dogs fault. This is more true for when this a new problem. You simply have to start to look at what has changed or what could have caused it. Note there doesn’t have to be a definitive change. Your dog could have simply discovered that the blinds come apart in a spectacular fashion and it was just so fun. And maybe your area rug is just one massive chew toy. So with this in mind let’s go over a few reasons why your dog may destroy some things. 

Texture

Depending on what your dog decides to destroy try and see if its similar to your dogs other toys. 

Back when Duke was just a few moths old he destroyed a small pillow to an out door chair I had. When I tried to think why. It was almost identical in texture, color. and “fluffiness” to his other toys. This had been the only thing he destroyed ever at the time. 

You can remove some of his toys if they are identical to your furniture and find toys that your dog likes unlike anything you own.

Change

This can be really easy to over look sometimes but even small changes in your dogs life can cause them stress that can show its self in different ways. 

You may have never thought about it, but simply changing out a piece of furniture can throw off your dog. If this happened understand that your dog may need a bit of time to adjust to any new changes in the house. 

Some of these changes can be an area rug, couch, chair, lamp, etc. Just like some people don’t like change dogs can be the same way. 

Environment

This can be a big one. Even something that you may find as insignificant can cause your dog to “investigate”. And when your dog decides to do something on there own. You know that your dog can get into trouble. 

These changes can be just about anything that can possibly peak your dogs attention. It can be noises from a new neighbor, dog, or kid. Imagine if you started to hear things come from beneath your rug, couch, or window. You could have easily changed one of your A/C vents that could have caused your curtains or blinds to sway just asking for your dogs attention.  

Routine

This is probably the one issue that may effect dogs most. Dogs love routines, whether it be when you take them for a walk, to the exact time you feed them. Dogs will usually find change a bit difficult. 

For many of us when we have to make one of these changes, it can be really difficult to gradually introduce it to our dogs. Think about it, for the last couple of weeks, months, or even years. Your dog has come to rely on a routine that dictates everything about their life. From when they wake up, eat, and even poo. 

This became apparent to me when Duke first destroyed my blinds. I work mainly from home and when I do go somewhere he goes with me about 90% of the time. But, for a few weeks I started to need to leave him home alone for extended times. This was completely out of the ordinary and no where in his routines. So, I took this as the main culprit. This could have lead to anxiety or just plain simple boredom. 

Routine Extended

Staying on the topic of routine. This is a very big possible cause of any behavior changes. This can be something that you could have easily overlooked and thought very little about. If you are very good at your routine and begin missing walks, playtime, or feeding times. You can be causing your dog to look for alternative ways to release built up energy that was usually released productively. 

I also realized this clearly when I decided to stop taking duke to the large public dog parks. Imagine if you take your dog to a public dog park everyday. Your dog will burn a lot of energy in a completely uncontrolled manner. And if you decide to stop taking your dog from one day to another, your dog it just going to explode with energy. Tell a kid that eats candy everyday for breakfast lunch and dinner.”Veggies Only For Now On”. You know this will take getting use to. 

Side Note: I don’t recommend the large public dog parks. There are several reasons as to why, but you can constructively tire your dog in better ways. It can be a good constructive walk, or a good training session. Working your dogs brain will surprise you on how tired it can make them. 

Step Three

If after looking at Step Two you noticed something that may have been the culprit to a possible reason your dog decided to act up. The best way is to address it and help your dog adjust to it. In my case Duke began acting up twice. And both where when I changed the routines he had been following for months. When I noticed this I attempted to gradually introduce him to the new way of life. 

The First change was when my work schedule. I was no longer able to take him everyday, and he would then stay alone for far longer periods. The second change was when I stopped taking him to the large public dog park.

Your ability to help your dog adjust may be limited. But, there are a few things you can do. 

Schedule Change  

First

You want to make sure your dog won’t have to go to the bathroom while your gone. This can be much more difficult for puppies. Puppies generally can hold their bladder for about one hour for every month of age. So if you have a 2 month old puppy. Your puppy will probably have to go out every two hours. If you force your dog to try and hold it longer than normal your dog may essentially start doing the peepee dance. 

Side Note: You should not make your dog wait or hold their bladder on purpose, but you will notice them begin acting differently. My dog Duke will increasingly get more annoying. He will start by simply nudging me with his nose, to just going nuts and doing anything to get attention. Imagine when you’re not home and your dog has nowhere to direct their attention. 

Second

If your schedule changes and leads your dog to be alone more time. You should try and burn the energy they would normally burn and then some. This can be through a good structured walk, a 15-20 minute training session, or a good 15-20 minute play time. Make sure if you decide to use the play time. you give them time to relax and you just don’t leave while they are all riled up.

Change In Activity Levels

I use to take Duke to the park almost everyday and truthfully I would recommend against them for several reasons but here I’ll just go over how to help your dog get over not going anymore. 

Again keep in mind that your dog lives in the moment. Your dog will get over the dog park as long as you’re willing to give them attention. You just simply have to help them burn energy. 

Yes, taking your dog to the dog park and letting them just uncontrollably burn energy can be somewhat effective. However, you will notice that your dog can run for hours and with even a small break they will be ready to go agin. But if you notice when you play with your dog, you can tire them out far quicker and in a much more productive manner. Even a 15-20 minute playtime with some of their favorite toys can leave your dog panting and needing a break.

How To Make The Change

People often will tell you that you have to walk your dog for miles and tire them out drastically to have a good dog. The truth is you don’t have to walk your dog for miles a day to tire them out. 

Please note that all dogs are not the same and you should make sure you are patient with your dog. 

Patience is incredibly important if you have to lower the amount of energy your dog is use to burning. You have to think of this in the reverse of you going from a sedentary life style to running a 30 minute 5k. It can take a lot of time and practice.

You want to start lowering their activity level a small amount every day. If you were going to the dog park everyday, you will have quite a bit of energy to get out of them. But it really isn’t that tough. You can slowly lower their total playtimes and crazy playtimes in the yard until you reach a dog with a lower energy level. This may take time but you want to get your dog to know that play time is when you say so and as long as you give them enough they will wait for you. 

The Other Reason

You will usually find the above work if you make sure you give your dog ample quality time. But, something you may want to try and curb their boredom. This can be accomplished a few ways. You can get them safe toys that they have access to when you’re not home. Or you can leave them long lasting treats. 

My favorite to use is a frozen Kong filled with peanut butter, dog food, and treats. I make sure to get the peanut butter is all the way to the end. This forces him to work really hard to get it all. 

Conclusion

If your dog destroys your house you should simply pretend nothing happened and find out why your dog destroyed your house. Anger, yelling, and hitting will not fix the problem and will probably only make the issue worse. 

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