Small seperation problem

Hi there! My family just adopted a new dog about a week and a half ago. Lucy is a 1 1/2 year old Chihuahua Papillon mix. We bought her directly from the owner who had to give her up because of financial problems.

Lucy is a fantastic well behaved and calm dog. One small problem is that when she is left home alone, she rips up the rug in front of the door. As far as I can tell, this is only for a brief period of time after we leave. Afterwards, she usually just goes to sleep on the couch. She is probably trying to chew her way out of the house to be with us and seems to think the rug is the gateway to the outside o_O. Anyway, at her past home the owner said she was just fine left outside alone. Is there any way we can prevent her from chewing the rug without crating? She never chews or destroys anything else.

Thank you!

Buy her a small kong and put some goodies in it for her to find. When she's finished, the SA will have passed and she'll be ready for a nap. That's my theory anyway.
Can we have a picture? She sounds like a real sweetheart.

Thanks for the reply! I'll try that :) She's not very food motivated though but hopefully it'll work.

Here's some pictures:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m305/maggie-lau/lucyflop.gif

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m305/maggie-lau/lucycouchnap.gif

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m305/maggie-lau/lucybalc.gif

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m305/maggie-lau/lucy.gif

Hmm.. not sure if she really is a Chi/Pap mix. Do you think so? :p

I am not sure what she is,a Chi/Pap is very possible,she's really cute though:love:
The former owner left her outside alone???A small dog like her:confused:
I am pleased she now has better owners:dog:

Whatever she is, she's adorable. I love her markings. :dog:

She's so cute! :)

What we did with Boo, who tore up our house for the first 10 minutes after we left, was hide cookies around the house (but "hidden" obviously, so he wouldn't get the idea of ripping apart a sofa or something looking for them). We'd show him where a couple were, just so he would know to look for them.:shrug:

Thanks for the replies everyone. Unfortunately, Lucy isn't very interested in food at all. Well I've also discovered that she seems to chew the rugs and then settle down by the door and cry quietly. Does this mean she has separation anxiety? I've been ignoring her before I leave and when I come home and so far so good (but she does do a bit of submissive urination when I come home). Also, I've been doing practice leaves where I'm gone for about 10 minutes and she's fine then. Any ideas? Any help is appreciated :) thanks!

Lucy is extremely adorable. I actually don't believe her previous owner who says she was "just fine" when left outside alone. Previous owners tend to lie a lot. Since the only thing she is disturbing is the rug, I would take it up for now until she gets used to the routine.

Although you don't want to crate her, if she starts destroying things regularly, another option is a crate, with a nice pillow (well, she might rip up a pillow). With a small dog like Lucy, a good sized crate can give her quite a bit of room. You know that she only goes nuts for a few minutes and then spends the rest of the time sleeping on the couch. She can sleep in her crate just as easily and you won't have to be holding your breath every time you come home, wondering "what did she destroy today?" People don't like crates but most people can't live with having their house systematically dismantled by a dog and crating dogs can save their lives.

Also, I've been doing practice leaves where I'm gone for about 10 minutes and she's fine then. Any ideas? Any help is appreciated thanks!

That is an excellent thing to do. Try extending the time you leave by 10 minutes each time. I had to do that with my husky when we first got him and it worked. Good luck. :fingerscr

aw Lucy's probably just afraid you'll leave her as well. Her 1st owners left her outside then threw her away so just give it a bit of time, once she trusts you I'm sure she'll stop taking it out on the rug :p Congratulations - she's very beautiful. :fingerscr

What a gorgeous lil pup, how very lucky for her that she found her way to you :) I have an English Pointer, that when he came home, destroyed or pee'd on everything he could possibly find (which included an entire room of carpet). I discovered that his issue was he didn't like large spaces, especially when we weren't home. We wound up blocking off the kitchen with the crate (long story on the crate!), which worked wonders. He was no longer freaked about that much space, and the space he did have, mattered to him. I still leave the radio on tuned to the classical music station, talk radio will work as well, and we've not had issues with SA in ages :) Good luck, and I'm looking forward to more pics :D

Hey and thanks again guys. After we tried taking away the rugs, she's turned to chewing up the door frame (who knew a little dog could do so much damage!). We decided maybe we'll try the crate for awhile and then gradually give her more space. After using the crate, would she be more comfortable with being left alone or if she is given free run again would she resort back to chewing? Again, thanks for the help! The last owner seemed nice but she didn't seem too sad to give her away :confused: Oh well, she's all mine now! :thumbs up

Maddmag,not that it will make you feel any better:D but my sons Jack Russel practically chewed everything that was chewable in his condo and she too was a wee dog.
Luckily as she grew older,this destructive behaviour stopped.However,before my son sold his condo,he had to replace cupboard-doors,carpets and a few door-frames.
I always told him to crate-train her,but he never did,so he paid the price in the end:crazy:
I never believed in crating a pup,but I think sometimes it's vital,for everyones sanity.

Hi there, I have a pom who had a previous owner that was not very good to her and now after being with me for a year she cries and howls and you can hear her for miles as you are approaching the house, even if my husband is home she won't stop crying for me and since often he works night shifts and cannot have that racket, lol we have tried everything but she just has complete seperation anxiety with no relief, now I never leave without her unless absolutely necessary, I guess she trained me! I think some dogs just cannot stand it and no matter of methods can work, at least yours settles down after a bit, mine can be heard all day long with very short breaks in between.

try rescue remedy hope this helps, if you need more info pm me brenda.

why are you opposed to crating? perhaps you have the wrong idea of crating, which is turning you off to it? I LOVE using the crate, and my dog LOVES his crate. in fact we have two crates, one for the kitchen (daytime) and one in our bedroom for bedtime. at this point in my dog's life, the crate is optional, and he actually CHOOSES to go in (we leave the door open). if done correctly, it should be your dog's "room" or "den"... a special place of their own.

however, if you choose to not crate, another idea is an X-Pen. it's basically a large wire pen that collapses. You can easily set it up in your kitchen, leave toys, water, food, a dog bed, etc... since your dog is small, this might work best for you. X-pens can be a bit pricey for new ones, but I do know you can find them on ebay for less $. They keep the dog contained in an area, but are less confining than a crate.