About two weeks ago my girlfriend went home and had the shock of her life when she realised that our dog had been digging at our fake leather coutch. She told him off straight away and he hung his tale in shame. We thought that it would be the end of it, we were wrong. I went home at dinner time today to find that he had been up to his tricks again, digging at the couch and he had also been in the bin and took out a used tea bag and decided it would be a good idea to lick it on the bed. you can only imagine the stain. We live in a one bedroom flat and have to give him the run of the whole thing when we are at work or he scratches the doors and we may face losing our bond from our land lord. We have had him for about 5 months now, we got him from our local pound and he had been in there for 6 months. we think he is about 3-4 years old and he looks like a cross between an alsation and a whippet, however we are not sure. Dispite all his behaviour problems he is the most loyal dog i have ever known, he is like my shadow. Could anybody give me some advice please.   thanks

Do you leave him anything to play with while your out?  He's probably bored.  You could try getting him a kong ball or something similar which you can fill with tasty treats which will help keep him occupied while your out.  How long do you leave him for at a time?  Some dogs suffer from separation anxiety when left alone for long periods of time.

My other suggestion for your sofa if you have to give him the run of the house while your out would be to get a throw over which you can tuck in around the edges of the cushions - this will hopefully stop your sofa getting scratched.

With regards to the tea-bag - I've learned from experience on this one, put your bin out before you leave the house.  After having the entire contents of the bin strewn all over your house like I have several time you will learn!!!  ;o)

I leave him for about 4 hours in the morning and about 4 hours in the afternoon. i some times just think he is really stupid and does not realise what he is doing but when i come in he is always straight in the corner with his tale between his legs so he must know that he is doing bad things.

He knows that when you come home you're going to be angry and appear aggressive. :(  His behaviour is canine appeasement. He has no idea why you are angry when you see him ... :(

Quite right JG dogs can even pick up on the chemical changes that occur before an epileptic siezure so picking up on the tension in a human is "dogs"play & the appeasement body langauge of the dog the ears down tail between legs avoidance of eye contact is very typical

It is not a sign of guilt dogs don't do guilt or innocence thinking

He's not stupid - he's anxious. He is probably suffering from Separation Anxiety.

Hi,

Has he got a bed of his own? Sometimes the reason that they dig up furniture, carpets etc, is because they are trying to get comfortable and make a bed, much like wolves do in the wild and a bed of their own can help, if he is that way inclined then he will probably still dig at his bed but at least it isn't your couch :D put the bed Somewhere that he can go to relax and feel safe, perhaps with some treats to eat or a favourite toy.

I agree with putting the bin outside or in the sink, then there is no chance that this can happen again. ;)

Does he have a good walk before you both leave him? As tiring him out and leaving him with a stuffed kong and some other toys before you leave can also help. It sounds like he is a little bit insecure, hence he shadows you all the time, if you can build his confidence you should find that he will settle down and grow out of it. HTH :)

Edited to say: having just seen your last post, I agree totally with JG, it is a behaviour that he has learned, not an admission of guilt.

thanks for the tips. i will try all of them

When you come home ignore any mess for about 10 minutes. If he is hiding in the corner, ignore him too. Don't even make eye contact. If he is happy to see you, say "Hi fella!" or something like that in a happy voice. You need to become his best mate, not someone he gets worried about.

Only scold him if you catch him in the act of doing something wrong. Any time afterwards is too late.

If you google "separation anxiety" you'll get lots of information. It can be cured. Good luck!

I have a theory that couch digging is a form of 'self annointment' - the dog releases its own scent.  A dog who has self confidence problems will often indulge in this sort of behaviour, and telling him off doesn't help :(

PS - a Dog Appeasing Pheramone defuser (DAP), available from your vet, may help.