# 11 month old hiding toys then digging at furniture etc.



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Can you put stuff in those hiding spaces that prevents the toy from being wedged in there?


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## CRS250 (Dec 31, 2012)

I can't think of a way we could remove most of them and he's finding new ways to play this game every day. My examples are just from the past 24 hours.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Can you take the toy away, like a time-out?


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## CRS250 (Dec 31, 2012)

We can, but what do we want him to do if we've done that? The point of his toy/chew is we want him to have a distraction while we are doing something other than play with him. We're eating dinner, watching TV, working on the computer etc. 

At a minimum at the point when this is happening he's gotten a 30 minute walk that morning, 15-30 minute walk with his dog walker or my wife at lunch, and then when I get home he gets a 15 minute walk to/from an off leash park, 30 minutes off leash play/obedience training in the park, (or 15 minute drive to dog park + 45 minutes w/dogs). Then after all of that my wife will give him 20 minutes of play time either in the yard or with toys in the living room when she gets home. So by the time we're asking him to give us a break for adult time, he's had around 2 hours of direct person on dog interaction. I actually think I was over exercising him the past couple of weeks, shin splints kicked up for me so instead of jogging him to the park, I walk and have only been running on grass while he sniffs around/chases me. I don't believe this is a case of having too much energy or not getting him enough exercise.

Typically at night we've been able to give him an antler, kong, etc. and he's entertained, if it wasnt for the barking and/or damage to the house this behavior would be exactly what we want, entertain himself time. We don't want to go back to crating him or x-pen/babygates for these times but without some solution that is the direction he is headed.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

When Bear gets crazy with toys or refuses to leave us alone when we're busy (dinner, chores, etc), he is told to settle and that means "go to your bed and lay down and relax there".

Dogs don't HAVE to always have a toy or something to occupy their mind. They do need to learn that humans are not ALWAYS going to be available to play with. So if he starts up, take the toy away and teach him "settle". 

100% of the time, after Bear has settled down for a few minutes. He will get up, go to his toy box, get an antler, go back to his bed, lay down and peacefully chew on the antler. That is the perfect response when asked to settle. I've taken MANY toys away from Bear w/o redirecting him to anything else, and trust me, he will be fine! 

Is he ever left alone for a few hours with nothing but a few toys to occupy him? Bear was crated for 5-6 hours a day (while we worked) and learned from the age of 9 weeks that humans are not always there to play with nor will they always want to play with you. 

I understand where you're coming from in regards to "well what do we WANT him to do if he's not distracted w/ all these things" but you also have to remember that dogs repeat what works. If they WANT attention and haven't been taught that when I say "such-and-such" it means I don't want to play, they will devise ways to MAKE you play. So instead, teach him when I say "settle" it's time for you to leave me alone. 

Conversely, Bear has learned "i don't feel good" means he should come cuddle with me. And "leave me alone" means I'm busy and he is probably stepping on something important.


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## CRS250 (Dec 31, 2012)

Thanks for the advice. 

He is left alone for about 4 hours at a time each day on his own with a half hour lunch walk from my wife or our dog walker in the middle. If we are not in the house he does really well in his crate/pen. He has kongs, antlers, and a couple of other safe toys, but he pretty much just sleeps when we're not at home(We've nanny cammed him.) We've even started giving him some of these breaks with the entire house rather than in his crate. Nothing damaged in the house as yet, other than occasionally chasing a cat he's been a perfect pup in that regard.

It is the idea that when we are at home it is not ALWAYS time to play concept we haven't been able to get through to him very well as yet. Oddly this is never a problem at night. He sleeps near the bed on his mat and has never objected to bed time. I'll look around the net for specifics on teaching him to settle in a positive way.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Here are some resources:






Teaching Your Dog to Settle | ASPCA

Training a Hyperactive Dog to Calm Down - Whole Dog Journal Article

I wish you the best of luck!


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## CRS250 (Dec 31, 2012)

Say what? You want me sit over here by myself, without a toy or treat while you eat dinner? Murphy is not amused...


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Ha! That is some major stink eye.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

I doubt he's doing this on purpose. I would get bigger toys that can't fit under the furniture. I would also buy more toys so that when one gets stuck he can move on to another one.

If you have actually trained him to push the toys under by rewarding him by playing, then you could try not fetching them any more. Murphy will probably be really annoyed for about a week with this new program and double up his efforts to get you involved. Then he'll stop. (Hopefully.)

The only one of these that we deal with is the tennis balls under the kitchen cabinets. Casper has figured out how to get those out. Or lots of times he gives up. Rarely do I fetch the ball for him. We also buy the larger tennis balls for him. They are too big to roll under the furniture.


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## Wenderwoman (Jan 7, 2013)

My puppy does the same thing. She will be one year in 3 days. Her favorite spot is in the couch cushions. She just dives in and in her head goes like an ostrich, then she'll deposit her toy and wait for us to fish it out while scratching and digging away. She also likes under the desk, under the dresser and under the tv stand. She has spots in the yard too. I don't really have advice for you, just letting you know I'm with you in it.


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