So a few months ago someone decided to drop of a pretty mini Aussie outside my house… Cassie is house trained, stays around the farm okay, plays well with others seemingly good dog… she spends all day outside and when I go to take a shower or cook or some other task she feels the need to eat my clothes especially my jeans. She gets them out of the hampet or clean laundry basket which sometimes means climbing on the dresser. Today I set out nice jeans went to take a shower and she ate them… not the whole pair but half the leg is gone. I but kong toys fill them with peanut butter, bones, stuffed animals and tennis balls we have millions of toys and she runs all day. I tried herding she was scared of the ducks/sheep agility was a no go because she gets overwhelmed with so many dogs. I can tell she wasn’t socialized well and spent a great deal of time caged but I also can’t afford to have her eat razors, jeans, my seizure meds (which required her to jump very high onto the counter) and she ate paint in the garage when she accidentally got locked out she literally chewed into the can… sweet dog but crazy. I might add I’ve done herding and have never not been able to figure out many corgis but this Aussie has me stumped
Keep her crated when you aren’t around, or locked in a room that’s dog proofed.
She just barks in the cage and can move it across the room and she scratches the door. Puppy Xanax is what she needs lol
Tired dogs are good dogs. Just because she’s outside doesn’t mean shes exercising. Maybe set up some structured play time? it would wear her out and maybe help with the anxiety.
In addition, and I know not everyone agrees with this, but my trainer did not permit them to be obscene in their crates. they were to be quiet, and if they weren’t they were corrected. Loudly, and with a good shake to cage. Might make throwing a tantrum in the crate a bit less entertaining.
If those don’t help, vets do prescribe meds in these situations.
My mini-BC can get quite active chewing! She is only 6 months old, has never been abandoned or abused, but is very timid and would chew everything in site! the first day that I had her, I put her in her crate and shee weeed/pooed her self so bad I had to give her a bath. I did staunch it out for her to be crated at night and in her kennel during the day - she is now starting to mentally grow out of the need for the crate.
My trainer considered that this was a form of separation anxiety and we have worked hard on that.
A tired dog is a good dog - and I have this compounded by the fact that she is still a puppy. what I found works with my little one is:
I make sure that every single day i play with her - she gets my un-divided attention for at least 15 minutes and then my attention in the pack. The older dogs wait for this.
She also has formal training sessions every day - at least 3 short sessions, 10 minutes at the moment. I do classic obedience training (close heel, recall, stays, right turns, left turns, hand touches) as well as teaching tricks - she figured out how to climb up my mounting block and back down very quickly - each step had to be touched for the reward. (Lots of trick training books out there for resource.)
I make sure that she has “legal” chews - ears are good, not so intimidating for the smaller dogs - with the long rawhide chews bones, I get one of the labs to chew the end off for her.
I walk her every day - in a Halti harness as I am very strong and I hate walking her on the collar … although she is quite good.
I have taken her everywhere she can go - carrying my wet-wipes for mopping up little accidents. I encourage people to come up to her correctly and let her socialise with them. I have a lot of patient friends with very patient dogs. Learn how much she can handle - my girl is up to about 45 minutes of socialisation before I have to get her to a “safe place” - my car is great and she will sleep tightly curled up.
I study how she reacts to situation. My older BC and the labs seem to say “oh yes, I know person X” regardless of the situatiuon that Person X is in. My little one has to meet Person X in Situation 1 and repeat all over again in Situation 2 - she remembers them in context not as just them. Perhaps your little one does as well? Small groups or one-on-one agility would be better - I found that my little one had no issue training on her own to start with but dont introduce a strange dog into her group when training as she just literally shut down. She is getting better and better but, even this morning, I scared her just by changing my morning routine.
Good luck and keep trying. If she chews your clothes - a displacement activity 'cause she cant be with you - put her in your bathroom with you.
We go on long walks and we also swim everyday plus a good 20-30 min romp of her and I play time. She’s almost over the piddling every time we walk into petsmart and is rarely piddling when guest come over so all improvement. I habe kong things filled with peanut butter, deer antlers to chew on, she’s scared of anything that makes noise, and I’ve put an old blanket I used to use that smells like me in her bed. I’m pretty sure it’s seperation anxiety I’m someone who is always home my job is home based because of medical problems. She’s getting better she isn’t whinning every time I touch her anymore either all progress, I guess I would like faster results. Patience.
The things she have already eaten could have killed her, and will eventually. You have to be militant, if she barks in the crate, spray her with a water bottle, beat the crate or whatever works to stop her. You might want to cover it with a blanket and turn on some soft music, I find classical works best with nervous nellies. At the risk of being repetitive, you have to prevent her from getting her teeth into any of these things because it will eventually kill her.
Just look at it as advanced baby proofing. Combine that with much more exercise than you are currently giving, if swimming, double it, if playtime of 20 - 30 mins, double it if you can. Does she chase balls? If not can you “road” her, with a bicycle, a quad or gator. Really wear her out somehow. I have a new 5 month old puppy who is Aussie and Cattle Dog, she requires all day out in the yard, plus 2 long walks, rambunctious playing with my nine year old lab, and at least 20 minutes of ball chasing or chasing the Jack Russell who is chasing the ball. She goes in the crate when she is not being watched because she will chew pretty much any shoe, rug, and today a spot on the wall in the garage because I thought I could leave her out there with access to the outdoors. Nope, she has to be in the crate unless supervised. Do you have any options of playmates for her, is she socialized enough for that?
[QUOTE=elmerandharriet;6232188]
She just barks in the cage[/QUOTE]
Have you actually worked through crate training with her?
I didn’t see anywhere you mentioned actually working with her in a class situation with a trainer (look for any class that is done by a behaviorist!)
She may be exhibiting anxiety or maybe she is just one of those high energy dogs that need to be supervised at all times (with the paint type incident I’m suspecting the former).
I found with my mini aussie that she would bark when put in her crate. What helped her was to put several large towels over the top and covering the sides. Now that she has gotten older and is good about her crate, she still has the towels covering the top and three sides of the crate.Maybe since your dog eats things something solid that she couldn’t pull into the crate would be better.My dog never had the inclination to eat fabric, but she did chew up a corner of a rug that got too close to her crate, several baskets, and the corners of cardboard boxes. She still loves to get the cardboard from paper towels or toilet paper out of the recycling bin and flip them around and chew them. She also has a fascination with my dirty socks if they miss the laundry hamper and wet wash cloths. She doesn’t chew them, just plays with them. I have to say that socialization is very important with aussies as they tend to be reserved with strangers. My dog also used to get my shoes out of my bedroom and carry them to the living room, not chewing, just carry and drop. Tired is a good thing. My dog is out a good portion of the day and wrestles with my roomates 85lb shepherd collie mix. (my dog is 30 lbs). My dog also goes for at least one walk per day and goes to the barn with me every day. Another thing I did when she was younger was no unsupervised time. She was either with me on a leash in the house or in her crate. Good luck!
Google “Crate Games”. You need to teach her that a crate is a good thing.
Or put her in a bathroom/laundry room with a toddler gate (or 2 stacked) blocking the door. Closed doors can make a dog with SA worse. Puppy proof wherever you put her. (Nothing on the tub/counters, plugged in that she can get to).
Maybe consider a Thundershirt.
the dog isn’t crazy, she’s just under-exercised, under-trained, under-worked.
treat her like a puppy- wherever she came from they seem to have skipped most of the “housebreaking” steps (and I don’t mean potty outside, I mean how to behave in the house).
Puppies are either tethered to their owner, so their owner can supervise their every move and either encourage it (good puppy! you didn’t eat the chair!) or gently re-direct (whoops we don’t eat that! whoops we don’t get up on the counter! what we chew on is THIS with our feet on the floor! good puppy!). If you can’t directly supervise, the pup goes into some kind of pup-proofed area (it doesn’t have to be a crate, especially if the pup is older and doesn’t need potty training- a room, an outdoor kennel run, an x-pen, just something devoid of possible trouble). Once the dog develops good habits, you slowly, oh so slowly, loosen up on the restrictions. All dogs should be crate-trained- namely, they will calmly and quietly tolerate being kept in a crate. This is an invaluable skill you need to teach now- later on, if say the dog needs to have surgery and you haven’t taught this skill, well, you’ll seriously regret it.
If you obtain a dog who has already learned bad habits like counter-surfing, I suggest trying technology like scat mats to help re-train the dog to more suitable behaviors.
Also as an aussie, this dog needs work to do. Your casual dismissal of herding/agility/ etc. sounds like you “tried” the dog out ONCE on the activity and just gave up when the dog didn’t miraculously know how to do it- well, dogs need to be slowly and gradually trained in how to do the activity. If not something like herding, then at least some vigorous obedience work, or tricks, every single day.
Plus dogs need to be exercised- just because the dog has access to a yard doesn’t mean it exercises. Very few dogs will self-exercise even if turned loose in thousands of acres, which means you have to exercise them. Walks, fetching, jogging, something.
A crate will be your best friend until she outgrows the chewing stage. You are just going to have to ignore her protests in the crate. Also, frozen carrot sticks, frozen water bottels etc are good things to chew on and the coldness will help the gums feel better during teething. You need to provide her with alternatives to your clothes. You need to supervise her when she is loose so you can direct her energies away from the stuff that is undesirable and towards the things that are. Aussies are smart and will learn quickly. This is both a plus and a minus. As a mini, she also probably has some pom in there as they were used in the development of the mine. Poms are also smart energetic and naughty. Puzzle toys may appeal to her as it works her brain and rewards her with a treat at the same time. She should not be left loose until she has proven that she is reliable unsupervised. Crate training is also a safety issue, dogs who are used to crates are easier to treat if god forbid they have to spend the night at a vet, if they must be removed from the house in an event of an emergency, if after surgery they require confinement, for grooming etc. I would make sure she gets crate trained for her well being as well as for yours. Not being able to be crated creates addditional unneeded stress for your pet for many routine aspects of your pets life.
She really needs training. Real training. Like showing her what to do rather than managing the situation.
She should be working for her kongs/food/toys. When she has toys, you need to play with her.
If you don’t know what clicker training is, learn it. Then use that to teach her how to relax in her crate.
Although more excercise might not be a bad thing, keep in mind that the more she gets, the more fit she gets and the longer it will take to reach tired.
However, being mentally tired will not have the same effect. She will be tired and then satisfied as she had some positive interaction with you.
OP - patience is the key! and make sure that you are not over-tiring your dog (just like a kid) as you certainly look like you are exercising her enough :).
PLEASE do not spray her with water in the crate! If she is already timid, this will just make her worse! However, what I found was to “staunch it out” - my little girl (after the first disastrous night which was totally understandable given the very long trip she had had, as well as the multiple changes of locality and then meeting our 3 big dogs - my older BC is at the upper end of the “dog” range and is a bitch) would howl, whine, bark, rattle the door - and she could keep it up for > an hour. I would be in the room with her - making absolutely no eye-contact with her or talking to her except to praise her when she stopped. It took about 5 days for this to be just a little “hummmpp” when I put her to bed - and she runs to her kennel in the morning ('cause she is fed there :)).
Please also remember that, if you have a puppy (anything under 18 months old), too much exercise can be bad - some of the tiredness may be bone-deep pain! Which is why I work on mental work which tires them out without damaging them.
(And I call my little one a mini-BC 'cause she is a very small BC but still a straight BC. )
Sounds like a lack of supervision. It is like having a human toddler in the home.
You would never leave a toddler to his/her own devices while you take a shower, go to the store, etc. You can’t leave this dog alone either.
She sounds very young and is acting like a puppy.
You can still socialize her so you can do agility, etc. Just because she is overwhelmed by dogs now doesn’t mean she can’t learn to become comfortable around them.
That’s like saying, “My horse doesn’t like colored poles, or water, or coops, or trailers, or the vet, or whatever” so you just blow off ever working with your horse to get him/her comfortable with these things!
Since you are keeping this dog, work hard on the socialization her previous owners failed to give her, give her structure, basic training and, did I say STRUCTURE :yes: and RULES to live by. Just like you would do with a child.
To make the crate a ‘happy’ place feed her ALL of her meals in it. Start by putting her in the crate for VERY short periods of time, then immediately let her out. Make it so short that she doesn’t even have time to get worked up! Work up to longer periods.
if you decide you can’t live with her, I’m in PA 
She’s about 2 years old
I own a mini Aussie too. She is rather different. Like someone took a nice Aussie and crossed her with a yappy neurotic little dog.
She will only head. She takes a lot of work to heel and never does it willingly or well. That said she will head a bull and if he refuses this dog will nip him in the pastern, when he starts to turn on her she launches, grabs his nose and swings. If that does not work the first time she will repeat until he just gives in. The dog wins every time.
Dogs like this have a ton of energy. She hates her crate. She hates kids and dearly hates anyone with a limp or walks with a cane. She has to be with me or she is causing trouble. She goes with me to TSC and kinda likes one cashier there who “gets dogs” and worked hard to be on friendly terms with her.
If anyone by her opinion is “ify” she will growl…which is corrected instantly. But she will growl every time.
She is laying at my feet now. Totally devoted to me. If anyone ever bothers me they will have to go thru this dog to do it. That includes the hubby whom she does like…but apparently not as much as she likes me.
This dog was not created by a bad human experience. I raised her from 8 wks of age. She is what she is. Will never be any different. Spayed her at 5 mths cuz you do not breed this! My point is some dogs are just different and mini Aussie’s are not for everyone.
OP, where in Ohio are you? If you are within driving distance of Erie PA, I’d be willing to help you out with some lessons.
My advice is just to be very careful. I have a dog who has always been the type that will ingest small swatches of fabric. If your dog is swallowing this stuff, be aware that it could lead to impaction, which will result in a very expensive surgery and possibly even death.
My dog is no longer a puppy. I discussed the issue with both trainers and my vet. If you are working with professionals, consult with them. I was told that this was not something that I would be able to train out of my dog. My vet has had other clients with this problem and in many cases adult dogs continued to do it well into old age. I have had to manage my dog very carefully. Clothes, especially things like socks and underwear or gloves (the big temptations), I keep virtually under lock and key.
I do agree with increasing her exercise and activity. My dog with this issue is a very active, high maintenance dog. She has always needed a lot of activity and exercise. Even when she is tired, though, I wouldn’t leave her in a roomful of socks:winkgrin: I would suggest getting her crate trained if you can. Try an ex pen if you need to. I would work pretty hard on it because although my dog is not crated for hours, there are definitely times when I need to use a crate to keep her safe.
