screen

[marcia hill]

as you all know iam gone until monday. alley now has jumped through the porch screen not to mention all the other destruction she has done. I hope she changes when i get home my family has had it with her.i love her so much i would hate to have to find her a new home. marcia

[marcia hill]

when iam home normally alley is free in the house and she does nothing when iam gone.i dont work so iam home all day just in and out a little. i take her to the dog park every day and i know she has not been there since i left. she just does stuff like steal the babbys toys and jump on the counter but nothing like when iam gone,and i cannot afford to take her to day care. also i used to crate her and she would tip over the crate with her in it she hated the crate.i will be home monday so hopefully she will behave better.we cannot leave are shoes on the floor she will take them right in front of you. so all shoes are put up.she has a fenced in back yard and is outside alot she digs holes everywhere.iam working on that. thanks for answering me i guess icannot do anything until i get home and see what is going on. marcia

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Were you out of town on March 13 when she ate a bottle of tranquilizers?
http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/chewing-2

How about in February when she ate "hundreds of dollars of stuff"?
http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/chewing-1

How about in January when she was digging up the yard?
http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/holes-in-the-yard

[Debbie and Thomas]

None of my business, but where are you?? Are you on vacation? I thought you were on a business trip, but you mentioned that you do not work. Who is taking care of the dog-older children?? My children are older, but there is no way I would leave my dog with them for a long period of time. They would not watch him, the way my husband and I do. I would be worried sick that he would get into something that they left around. There are plenty of respectable in-home boarding places. Perhaps, you could find one and take Alley there for visits before you go away again so she gets used to the people and other dogs. She would probably have a blast and you would not habe to go thru this nighmare again. It sounds like you love Alley a lot-but sometimes you have to do what is best for her and leaving her at home was obviously not a good choice this time. Good luck though.

[Beverly Wright]

Can I say crate training?????

[Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran]

Amen!

[Phoebe's Mom]

I have to admit that I have become so agitated by reading your posts as well but how agitated must this poor puppy be to jump through a porch screen? You allege that you 'love her so much' but how can you live with yourself until Monday if you have taken no steps to rectify the obvioulsy poor situation in your home? I truly don't mean to sound so harsh and judgmental, but I hope that the next post we read is that you have taken steps in RESPONSIBLE dog ownership and have your puppy boarded until your return for her safety. I also hope that you give serious consideration as to whether or not you are capable/ready/responsible enough to take care of this dog yourself right now.

[Sally Rollins]

Puppies are just like toddlers, they need constant supervision. If you want a puppy, you must invest "time" with them, to love, train, and care for them. If your family is not interested in the puppy, and you are not home to care for the puppy, then be fair to the puppy, your family and your self, rehome the puppy so he has a chance to a quality of life. If you really love the puppy, you will not be selfish if you rehome the puppy. At one time in my life, I worked alot of hours, my husband did too, our girls were all grown and on their own, we had a golden who at the age of eight started doing destrutive things, we had to hire a neighbor's child to walk the puppy, play with the puppy, they would even bring the pup over to their house until we got home. My puppy got cancer and died, and I realized I could not do another puppy until we had time to give. Now we are retired, and we have two guys and they need constant supervision, but they bring so much love. Good luck with your decision.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Samantha came home to us on May 1st - right after Father's Day, Mark, DH, stubbed his toe on one of her millions of toys that were on the floor and needless to say he was not very happy. I realized that she didn't need all those toys out so I put 95% of them away. I pointed out to him that those gorgeous Cole Haan driving mocs he got for Father's Day and the pile of socks left next to them were not touched by those sharp puppy teething teeth. Immediately his toes stopped throbbing (amazing, isn't it) and more of those toys came back out.
Samantha was never left unattended, had the humans to play with and toys to chew. Maybe we are just blessed with a fantastic pup but she has NEVER chewed something that was not hers - no socks, shoes, undies, or rugs. Her 2 'accidents' during potty training were totally my fault - I was cooking and not paying attention.
My daughters were raised the same way - until they were in grade school they didn't get the full run of the house unattended. They had a little playroom right off the kitchen so I could always hear, if not see, what was going on. If it was silent I immediately made my way to check it out.
A puppy, like a child, needs to learn & understand the rules and if no one is there constantly reminding them of the rules they can get into all kinds of trouble.
I hope for Alley's sake you take the time to talk to your family and make a FAMILY decision to either properly train and take care of her or find her a home where she will get that. It is much too dangerous a situation to live in your home where there are no rules and boundaries.
I hope that you respond to the numerous replies to we have taken the time to write.

[Tante & Jordan & now Annie!]

Very well said, this would of been my advice.

[Yvonne, Riley, Murphy and Luca]

I guess I have a couple questions.
One: Why are you in Michigan for 2 whole weeks and away from a puppy you just got and a family that has no idea how to take care of a puppy? You stated that you didn't work, which is why I assumed that you were gone in the first place. So it must have been a decision you made to go. Why not come back early if all this chaos is happening in your home? Looking back I am sure you will agree that it was not the best decision to make. You are going to have a very unruley pup on your hands when you get back, She will not see you and change back. She is going to show you all the NEW COOL things she learned to do while you are gone.

Two: There is no way a puppy should be left free in the house, or fenced backyard without supervision if you are home or not? Would you let your baby run around the yard unattended for hours or days? Puppies can eat all kinds of things. We are trying to help you but I am getting the feeling that you want us to feel sorry for you. You need a crate and the puppy will get used to it. If she could tip the crate over, get her a bigger one. There is no way a crate the right size could be tipped over easily.

To sum up my two comments I have: Puppies as well as dogs need to have Rules, Boundries and Limitations. Which it seems that your pup has NONE. Secondly, you wanted a puppy and it seems your family did not, or has NO idea what to do now that you are gone.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thank you Yvonne. Couldn't have said it better.

[Deena Womack]

I only hope this works out well for you and your family. But in no way can this be Alley's fault if she is not shown any boundaries or guidelines. She is only a puppy much like a baby, they depend on us to show them the right way to behave. I am not sure of your situation or why you needed to leave the puppy, but I think in the future you should seek other options. Many people (friends) are willing to dog sit or even boarding in a kennel. Our vet will board at a very reasonable price that is well worth the piece of mind. My puppy is almost 2, but if left alone for long periods without any type of interaction, I am sure would be asking for trouble. You may also want to seek some type of puppy training so that she can get additonal assistance in learning what is desirable behavior. I apologize if I am speaking out of turn, but I don't want to see Alley get hurt or without a home, when this can be easily corrected.