I think I need to get rid of Stew...UPDATE!

[Jess & Stewart]

I haven't posted on here in awhile. Long story short, Stew has been really great lately, UNTIL YESTERDAY. He's out of the crate in the mornings, I have a tall baby gate up, the dog walker puts him in after their walk and he's fine until I come home. He barely notices when I leave. He'd been so good lately that I hadn't been recording him. He'd been listening, happy, fun,.playful, snuggly, just getting to be a great dog etc. 

I have an appt with our trainer next week because he's been really stubborn with his harness and come He just sits or lays down and doesn't move at all towards me, then when he comes he tries to bite the harness and isn't very cooperative. But I didn't need the guarding or separation anxiety addressed. 

Yesterday, I get home and my dog walker's note said that he was the on the other side of the gate and opened my bedroom door and grabbed a pair of shoes but didn't chew them. Nothing else seemed out of place. This morning when I leave, Stew was on guard, wasn't his usual aloof self. Made sure the gate was latched/locked shut and put something heavy in front of my bedroom door. 

Get to work and open the app website, Stew isn't in my living room and there's someone in my apt!! I freaked out, then realized it was maintenance guys installing my dishwasher. I rewind the feed and Stew JUMPED over my 41' tall baby gate. Apparently maintenance talked to another Jess with a dog, that dog was going to be put in the bedroom. So when they saw stew got into my bedroom, they just shut the door. 

I freaked out, called my landlord and said I didn't know people would be in my apt and could they please put stew in his crate like last time. Landlord says they will. They don't, then they leave and i can't see what Stew's getting into. So I was in panic mode until my dog walker could get there at 10:30. 

Dog walker got him and took him out and I asked her to assess the damage. I'm freaking out that he chewed clothes, my moving boxes I had piled up etc. 

I really can't take all this worrying and stress. Stew's been SO great, no issues for months now he started this again. It really affects me and I had just stopped worrying and thought this was our new normal and he'd just continue being a great dog. I'm so jealous of you all with minimal issues--I feel like I put so much into Stew and wanted him so badly and he's the worst dog I've ever encountered with weird issues. I wish all my family who had dogs and mocked me for it (i have one & you don't) had issues while I had the 'good' dog. Sigh.   Of course, after all that freaking out, Stew didn't chew anything, just saw a shirt I wore yesterday on the floor when I got home. Closet door was open. He also barked when I tried on my new pair of jeans & I asked how they looked. That stinker. I got to the hardware store & got hook/eye closures. We'll see if they work.

[Scott]

Take a deep breath. Now grow up. This is your dog and family member. You don't give up on him or give him away. He doesn't sound really bad, he's just lonely, bored and exploring.

[GBK]

I think it's great he didn't chew the shoes the other day!  Mine still will take a shoe from the front entrance and place it in the middle of the living room for when I get home :)  Shoes smell like us, they are always missing us.  Mine also will take nightgowns and shirts to wag in front of us to get our attention.....  My oldest is 10.

It sounds like someone entering your home was the reason for the trouble the other day.  I feel like with these types of dogs you need to have a sense of humor and find the funny in some of the things they do.  Doodles are light hearted and like to have fun, with whatever they can find.  Mine chewed stucco, drywall, carpet, furniture, we weren't happy, but it was a little funny after the fact.  We fixed it and went on.

I hope after you calm down a little you will look at how great he has been doing and just chalk this up to an unexpected day.  I had to double gate (one on top of the other) to keep my puppies in the kitchen area.  I still keep bedroom and bathroom doors closed off from mine and always will.

I hope you get some encouragement from other members because I know all doodles aren't Angels :)

I wish you the best,

Gina, Buddy and Kona

[Adina P]

FEW people have 'perfect' dogs who don't irritate them now and then.  Dogs are like kids and kids are CONSTANTLY getting into trouble.  You have no idea how many times my kids do something annoying or break, tear, destroy something.  And yesterday, the kids and I got back from a trip and Clark had gotten takeout for us for when we arrived.  The kids wanted to show off some new toys to Daddy outside withOUT risking that the dogs would destroy the toys or catch the ball and chew on it.  So my 5 year old put Boca inside.  Then she put Rosco inside but didn't gate him in the mudroom.  A few minutes later I suddenly realized...uh oh he's alone with our food on the table.  Sure enough Rosco had plowed through TWO burritos.This morning I found a can of beer in Boca's crate (it had been previously been emptied by a human last night, she did NOT drink alcohol).  Occasionally I find a poop with a kid sock in it.  Boca still acts like an energizer bunny when people come over.  She drives me crazy when I take her outside.  They wipe their dirty noses on my light colored pants when they come in.  They muddy up my floor.  The list is loooong.  It's life with dogs.  They are work, just like any relationship with a being other than ourselves.  All of these things were WAY better when I had time to keep up their training, but they weren't perfect.  Dogs are dogs and will do DOG things that are very different than human things. 
It's OK to be annoyed, but chances you'll find a perfect dog that does nothing that could worry you are slim.  You don't have to be worried and stressed about the naughty behavior.  You can work around it or let yourself get annoyed and then move on.  Some stress and worry will ALWAYS be part of life with another being.  If you care, you'll stress and worry.  But you don't have to let that worry and stress be the driver (I say this for myself as well...I tend to lean toward anxiety about things I can't control or predict).

[Jess & Stewart]

I definitely get your reply but I panic in the situations where Stew gets his way out of my living room because he absolutely chews & eats things & it results in vet visits. I fear one of these days, I'll come home to a dead/injured Stew with his Houdini ways. 

I can't run home and get him out of my bedroom, so I'm left knowing he's getting into trouble and hoping my dog walker can intercept. The dog walker can get him in his crate easily, I can't, he growls, snaps and tries to bite if I even try. Hopefully I can get him with sausage or bacon or something great tomorrow morning because I'm sure he'll jump it again. My trainer's advice was to get a lock for my door (french doors) at a hardware store or PVC to put over the top so he can't get a good footing. I live alone, don't have a car so all these "solutions" sound great but i can't implement anything in a hurry. It just makes me feel so helpless when he does this since I run out of options quickly. 

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Maybe just don't watch him while your gone? Loki and Moose are both horrible chewers and I would rather enjoy my day knowing I have done what I can to keep them safe and happy and deal with whatever happens when I does. I too live in an apartment so they are used to people coming and going, moose is crated while Loki is gated in the kitchen (sometimes that gate isn't enough) and sometimes I come home to things that have been ruined (pillows in particular). I think if you are doing everything reasonably possible to accommodate him then why spend time watching him to stress you out? I have a long commute to work so it sounds like you and I are in the same boat in the sense that even if you saw that he was eating something you're stuck watching it anyways ;)

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

So, he jumps gates and takes shoes and does not like his harness.  That doesn't sound too troublesome to me. To start, you could install a taller gate, put your shoes behind a closed closet door, and try another kind of collar or harness. Stu sounds like a typical doodle -- full of curiosity and energy.  

Maybe there's a way to reshape your thinking such that you worry less and relax a little. I'm not saying this to be insensitive; I'm serious. Focus on what's wonderful about Stu. You said that he's happy, playful and snuggly. That's all awesome!  

And train, train, train. Ask your trainer for other ways to work on Stu's recall, so that he comes to you reliably. And, maybe reward him for using the harness -- or like I said earlier, try another kind of training collar.  

Good luck, and remember that you made a lifetime commitment to you Stu. Like with any family member, you can't turn your back on him now.

[Jess & Stewart]

I definitely don't want to find the perfect dog--that was really just me venting that Stew seems to be the bipolar of dogs. I don't mean that negatively, just that he has such highs & lows, its exhausting. It doesn't help that anyone I talk with about Stew says they've never encountered such a high strung dog & then they say something along the lines of 'my dog's NEVER done that". This sentiment is echoed with all of my family members who have their dogs that are "normal". 

I may have written about my trip to the vet with Stew in March and the resulting $2,000 vet bill. It was covered by insurance but if he needs to go again due to the incident today, it won't be covered. I've been panicked all day that now I need to watch him like a hawk for when he throws up whatever he likely ate & need to hope he throws everything up since I'm now to late to give him hydrogen peroxide. During these times when he gets out of my living room, I panic and feel helpless since I know he actually eats/swallows things and I live alone with no help. 

I do have a sense of humor about all this (he's nicknamed that little s*** :) ) since it happens so damn frequently but now I'll go back to stressing that I can never leave him and need to figure out what I'm going to do before I go to work tomorrow or this weekend when I have guests since I decided not to board him, since he'd been so good. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am sorry you are so frustrated with Stew.  I really wish even one of my three dogs was perfect or close to perfect, came when I called all the time, didn't bark at the neighbors, didn't eat lizards - or at least didn't bring them in the house.  I really wish I didn't have to brush the doodles all the time and that Ned didn't mat.  

Most of all though, I wish my Springer didn't have anxiety, hadn't gone deaf, or tore his CCLs, because his quality of life has been seriously affected and those are things that cannot be changed with training or ignoring. He is my dog that drove me crazy when young.  He ate the molding off the walls, destroyed new shoes,  3 couches and 2 chairs, could not be confined (he can still climb anything), still jerks the leash on walks.  He is the sweetest dog in the universe and I know his time with me is winding down so when  I think of how angry I used to get at him for his destructiveness, I want to cry. At the time anger seemed appropriate. I am so glad that I didn't give up on him.  He has brought such joy into all of our lives. He even accompanied my son to college.

So, take a breath and look at the good things about Stew and see what you can change about the deficit areas.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Amen!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I really don't think he did anything that unusual, considering the fact that there were strangers in your house and they closed him in your bedroom.  I would make it clear to your landlord that nobody should be in your apartment when you aren't there.  You mention that there have been no issues for months....that's fantastic.  I wish I could go months with no issues from my Murphy.  The worrying and stress is yours to own, not Stewart's.  I'm pretty sure he's not the "worst dog"....you might be surprised about how many of us have Doodles with all kinds of issues.  That's part of the package....when you love them you work with them.  I do hope you think through how you're feeling.  If you truly no longer feel able to love Stuart he will sense that and the loss of a bond.  I don't think that's the case....I so hope not.  But if it is how you're feeling, you mentioned at one point that your Mom wanted a dog.  Would she be in a position to possible provide a home for Stewart?

[Jess & Stewart]

Stew actually jumped over the baby gate & got into my bedroom (which was blocked off, or so I thought) prior to the workers coming into my apt. It's not their fault they confused me with another tenant & shut the bedroom doors, I just panic because I know he'll start eating things. It doesn't help that I overreact also & typically post here while I'm fuming. :(  I've just tried so much and thought we'd finally found a solution. I'm stunned that he jumped over a 41 inch gate, actually really impressed, but annoyed. 

I live alone and just jump to stressing that it's all on me and I have no resources to immediately help Stew. And I don't want another $2,000 vet bill that I need to fully cover. 

Speaking of loving Stew, I actually just watched the Denali video and cried my eyes out. Then wondered if Stew would/does feel the same way about me. I do love Stew, love having a companion and love haing a dog to play with, walk etc. I just meant "worst dog" in the sense that everyone I've talked to about Stew says they've never heard of separation anxiety/high strung personality like he has. 

I'm fine now (I'm such an Aspie--I overreact way too much). I'm going to try to make it to a hardware store before it closes to get hook/eye locks for my door. I'm mostly worried now about this upcoming weekend. I have something planned Saturday night and Sunday afternoon for a few hours each and thought I'd leave Stew out. Now I'm worried he'll need to be crated and he hates to be crated. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Of course he feels the same way about you.  You are his "person"....he relies on you for everything.  That's a huge gift and responsibility.