Hi

I have 5 dogs of varying ages and types, we decided to have a room built that we used as a family to spend time with the dogs they have 2 big sofa's, TV, Kitchenette and so forth but this room is the only place the dogs are allowed in the house. Our 2 and a half year old Rotti X has started to chew the vet bed that the dogs have on the floor, they are also allowed on the furniture.  The 2 sofas they have are the ones that used to be in our lounge but we have now given them to the dogs so its all familiar furniture to her as before the dog room was built they were allowed anywhere in the house, but as you can imagine with 5 dogs it got too much. Anyway my biggest problem is the Rotti X has now annialated one of the sofa's, she was caught and scolded but not smacked !!!  I covered the chewed area with a quilt cover to take temptation out of her way but she has once again gone to town on it, she has really caused a lot of damage and it will have to be thrown out but my worry is she will start chewing the other one. It is such a shame they are leather sofas that were in brilliant condition and I thought they would be ideal for the dogs as they could get on them even when they are wet and muddy and all we would have to do is wipe them over. But since they have been given their own space to do as they please in she has literally done as she pleases, even standing on the coffee table in there all things she would not have dreamt of doing in the other parts of the house.

Any suggestions or advise would be most welcome as I do not want the others copying her, my youngest dog is only 8 months old and very impressionable and could cause huge amounts of damage as she is an IW.  I would hate for this room to be trashed anymore its soul destroying to see hard work and nice things ruined.

Is it possible that the rottie X is chewing out of seperation anxiety? If they have grown up being able to go anywhere in the house & to be with you when ever they like it may be hard for them to adjust to being suddenly confined to 1 room without the freedom to leave that room to be with you/family memebers.

Hi There,

I guess it could be that, but as I said it is a room we spend time with them in. We had Sky put out there so we would all not mind sitting out there.  If it is seperation anxiety and not just pure naughtiness, how can I resolve it, or help her get over it ?? Because this is going to be a permanent arangement from now on.

Many Thanks

I to think it is a seperation problem. It would read (Between the lines!) that your dogs have always had the run of the house and now for some (Unknown to them ) reason they have been excluded from the largest part of it. I don't think it matters to them that you still spent lots of time with them but they (The Rotty X especially) have been shut away from thier familiar areas. May be she is feeling left out. I think it's a little unfair to completley change the rules as to were they are allowed to go after so many years. She will be confused about the change. She does not understand why she can no longer  enjoy the freedom of what is to her "Her Home" and I think the behaviour is stress related.
Aileen

not sure about this one but my 4 year oldbitch who hasnt chewed since a pup, suddenly took an unread paperback off my book shelf the other day and started to eat it! i have no idea why?

>suddenly took an unread paperback off my book shelf the other day and started to eat it! i have no idea why?

Nothing worth watching on TV? :-D :-D

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your replies,  when I say they have had the run of the house I do not mean they have been able to go wherever they want as in upstairs or down. They have always had the whole kitchen and hallway and been allowed in the living room when we are in there. We got sick of having to battle with the dogs when we had visitors, to get a seat to sit on.  We made the decision to have this room built and it is a very big room 24ft x 15ft, we then had a kitchen area put in it so that everything for these dogs would happen in this room so they experienced everything just the same as before.  We still spend lots of time in there with them and its only really over night that they are left unattended in there, so really no different to being in the kitchen over night.  Also we have only lived in this house just over a year, so its not as if she has had years and years of living in this house and able to do exactly as she pleased, also she is the one of the eldest of my 5 dogs at the age of 2 and a half.

I am really stumped as to what to do, because I cannot and will not have her back in our main lounge as I intend to treat all my dogs the same so if I let one in there they all have to come in there, but cannot really see how having her in the living room will make a difference to her chewing furniutre over night ??

If she is one of the eldest at 2 1/2 she has a lot of stress - she's maybe trying to rule the roost and possibly isn't getting quite so much exercise in these dark winter months too. My youngest bitch is getting very lively at a similar age and I really suffer when she doesn't get enough exercise/mental stimulation.  I can also see a difference in her attitude to our much older bitch - still very friendly but much more playful and less submissive.
Any change can cause dogs [and people] to question the 'Status Quo@.
I do think that so long as you are consistent and calm the dogs can adapt to different circumstances - I've had dogs that slept in my bedroom and got used to sleeping in the kitchen when my children were borm [due to allergies].
Good luck

As the chewing has been since the new living arangements for the dogs it seems as that may be the cause of it, but I don't know what to suggest to stop it. There also could be other reasons - could the Rottie be regressing due to a puppy being around?? Is she under-stimulated now the dogs are in thier own section of the house??

Also I'm not very experienced in multi-dog situations, and have no idea what behaviours can crop up with having 5 very young dogs alltogether (I have an incling, which is why I'm not brave enough to have more than 1 young dog in the house, LOL). On top of that I have always had male dogs and don't know about any behaviour changes that females can go through as they enter maturity (at 2&half years old the female Rotti, must just be approaching maturity).
I hope somebody with  experience can give you some suggestions.

> Nothing worth watching on TV? :-D :-D

Excellent :-)

Hi Thanks for the replies, hopefully as the lighter nights come and she gets more exercise things will change.  But I have been thinking about it all this evening and to be honest she has been destructive before, when we bought a trampoline for the garden she thought it was for her and loved nothing more but to get on it and chew the padding and the netting. Dogs are worse than kids for thinking everything must be for them "LOL".  The ironic thing about all of this, is that she was not even my dog !!  My ex-husbands 2nd marraige broke up and she was their dog, neither of them was able to have her as they both worked shifts so my kids twisted my arm for me to give in and have her as the kids had grown attached to her.  She was still very young at 4 months of age, so settled with us very quickly. I have never had Rottweiler type breeds before I am a hound person.
My ex has a lot to answer for, when we split up I got custody of our 3 children and then when his 2nd marraige broke up I got the dog, he is on his 3rd marraige now and no matter what if they split up I don't want anything "LOL"