When dogs are trying to tell you they're not happy

[Christy&Riley]

We were blessed with a dog that never destroyed our house. I think maybe she nibbled on a sock once, but that's all. She's 6 yrs old and has free reign of the house when we're away at work. One of us usually comes home at lunch to let her outside but she's alone for several hours at a time. We never have any problems. However, if my husband and I leave the house together on Saturday and are gone for most of the day, she will act up as if trying to tell us she's mad. But it only happens when we leave together.

A few times she has shredded empty plastic shopping bags. (Now we make sure none are lying around when we leave.) Another time I had the mesh bag from her boots on the shelf and it had the packing slip inside. She chewed the packing slip and spit out the pieces. This past weekend she pulled several shoes out from the shoe shelves in our mudroom. No scratches or bite marks so I think she moved them all with her nose. And she chewed up the paper towel that was under one pair. She also chewed on a charcoal bag in one of the shoes. When we came home, she didn't act guilty. Just all excited to see us. 

This doesn't happen all of the time, but we are seeing the pattern. If I had pointed at the shoes and said "no," do you think it would have registered? I assumed at that point it was too late for it to make sense. Has anyone else run into this type of behavior?

A friend at work loved elephants and had them as decorations all over her house. One day while she was at work their dog took all of the stuffed elephants he could get a hold of and put them in front of the back door. As if to tell her, I could hurt your elephants if I wanted to when you're gone. So amazing that he knew how to get her attention.

Curious to see what you've encountered. Thanks!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think it's a mistake to anthropomorphize dogs by attributing human motives to their behaviors. Your dog isn't trying to tell you she's unhappy or mad by chewing or tearing things up when you leave her alone. She's anxious when the routine is changed and she's left alone on a Saturday, and she's bored. So she chews things and tears them up out of anxiety and frustration. She doesn't do it when one of you is around because...well, one of you is around, lol. At some point in her puppyhood, she was stopped and corrected when she chewed inappropriate objects, so she knows not to do it in front of you. She doesn't do it on weekdays because she's accepted the routine. It's changes in the routine that throw them and make them anxious. It's not that she thinks "Ha, they're gone. Now I can do bad things to show them how mad I am that they left me on a Saturday". . And no, it wouldn't have helped to show her the shoes and say "no" after the fact. Corrections have to happen in the moment or they have no meaning to a dog. 

Your friend's dog wasn't thinking "I'm going to show her what I can do to these things she cares so much about" or to try to get attention. Dogs are not vengeful or spiteful. Their minds don't work that way. There were stuffed toys that smelled like her, he was bored, and he invented an activity for himself.  It's really not more complicated than that. Maybe he thought she'd be proud of him for making such a nice arrangement, lol. And hopefully she does give him attention when she is home and he's behaving nicely. 

The very first time Jackdoodle was left alone with the run of the house was just three days after we adopted him. He was 14 months old. We came home to find that he had taken every shoe and boot he could get to, 6 pairs in all, and placed them in his bed. He only chewed the tiniest bit on the tag in one of the boots. He was alone, he was anxious and bored, and the shoes smelled like us. So he put them in his bed to comfort himself. :)
I'd do a little dog proofing around the house for the next time you leave your girl on a Saturday, or maybe just close the door to the mudroom. :) 

[Christy&Riley]

I've been amazed at how "human" she seems at times - like how you can see her critically thinking when she is searching for a toy that I hid. Or how she will out of the blue stand up, walk over to her toys, sort through them and make a selection. It's as if a conscious decision was being made. Maybe I'm reading too much into that. I guess I assumed she had "human" intent here as well. Probably boredom as you suggested. Kind of funny when you look how she organized them and somehow knew not to hurt them with her teeth. But she's always been good about playing around by poking with her nose only. Thanks for the feedback! As you can tell, this is our first dog and I'm definitely still learning. Thanks again!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

i agree with Karen’s assessment of the situation. If you feel leaving together sets her off then I’d leave the house separately and meet up in the driveway. 

[Stacy]

Mine understand routine too. They know exactly what's happening when I start packing my lunch, put on work clothes, and the biggest clue is I put on shoes. I don't typically wear shoes around the house. That's when Maggie decides she's not coming inside from the yard. So I started putting a leash on her for that last outing before work. She understands that too. She plays keep away with me on those mornings, but with the leash on I can catch her. So the last couple weekends she goes to the corner of the yard and refuses to walk. She makes me carry her back inside. Talk about making me feel guilty! They're observant and they seem to pick up on things that we don't even realize we're doing. 

I agree that dogs aren't conniving and vindictive and they don't plan retribution, but and maybe it's just my own wishful thinking, I don't think we know all there is to know about canine intelligence either. I like to think that they really do love us in ways similar to the way we love them. And someday someone will be able to give us a more thorough look at what dogs are really thinking. 

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Dogs do love routine.  They also like company.  Maybe you could start a new routine of walking Riley together on Saturday.  Then come home and leave her.  If the weather is bad, play hide and seek with her or just lay on the floor and play with her.

This will start a new Saturday routine and give her some exercise too.  She won't tag the day as Saturday, but she will tag it as an acceptable routine and the old routine will fade from her mind.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think this is excellent advice!!! Brilliant! 

[Christy&Riley]

Thanks everyone for the ideas! Riley is extremely spoiled with attention when we are home...I worry a little sometimes that this might be causing some of the bad behavior. Maybe I cuddle with her too much? She loves to find things (toys or my husband - LOL) so we spend A LOT of time playing hide and seek inside. If we plan to be gone for awhile on Sat my husband takes her on a long walk before we leave. We don't want to run her though because she'll want to drink a lot and we don't want her to have to go really bad when we're gone. This past Friday afternoon I took off from work so we sat outside together, went for walks, played fetch, etc. Lots of fresh air and exercise, plus allergy meds, so she should have been tired out on Sat. I may consider taking her to day care next time to keep her occupied. Thanks again!