Chewing for revenge?

Question
Hello -

We are having an issue with our dog.  We have had her for about 3 months, and adopted her from the humane society.  She is an 8 year old chow, and prior to her coming to us, she was an outdoor dog who lived at the end of a change.

For most purposes, she is an excellent dog.  She is perfectly potty trained, is playful but not overly so, and is really really sweet.

We leave her at home during the day when we are at work. We leave her roaming access to two large rooms, plenty of food and water, and several toys.  When we first got her, I would come home and check on her during my lunch, and she would do pretty good.  However, a couple of times, she would chew at the molding around our front door, and on the front door itself.  

We attributed this to adjusting to the new situation, and eventually she seemed to calm down and be ok with us being gone.  

However, within the last month, nothing huge has changed, but she has started doing it again.  However, she doesn't do it while we are work - she seems to only do it if we leave the house a second time.

For example, last week, We were gone for our normal workday, and I came home at five.  The house was fine - she didn't chew at the door at all. (We cover it with duct tape each time to cover the damage and decrease the chance of her getting splinters).

About 4 hours later, I had to leave to pick my fiance up for a later night function.  I was gone for about 20 minutes (I should have taken her with me, but didn't think about it) and when we got back, she had chewed up the door.  We were only gone 20 minutes!

We've tried different things - lights on, lights off, bitter apple, etc.  Because she is fine all day, and only does it if we leave for a second time in the same day, it really seems like she's trying to get back at us for leaving her again.

I feel terrible, and I can't figure out the root of the problem.  We do our best to keep her entertained, and 95% of the time she's fantastic.

We are working on getting a set up so that she can't damage the door, but that still doesn't get to the root of the problem.  I'm also concerned with her hurting herself - there have been a few times she's chewed so much that she's cut her gums on the wood and bled some.

What can I do?

Answer
Dear Kim,

Get a few Kong toys at the pet store, and when you have to go out, smear the inside with a thin layer of honey or peanut butter, cram the rest with her dinner ration, and leave.  It's not a bad idea to do this a few times while you are home (feed her from her kongs) so that she doesn't associate the kong with your absence.  If she really takes to the kongs easily you may be able to use them only for your "second departures".  

If she eats dry food you can also soak some in a little water to soften it, stuff your kongs and then freeze them overnight for "kongsicles" the next day.  

Leave the TV or radio on when you go away as well, especially if you often have these things on while you are home.

Go back to the petstore and try some other taste deterrents.  There are many new ones out there.  Some dogs aren't deterred by Bitter Apple, but will be by the others so it's worth trying several.  I had success with Tabasco sauce but it looks like blood if you have light-colored trim.  Whatever you end up using, put it ANYWHERE she could get to (chair legs, table legs, baseboards, etc.) ASAP so that the first time she thinks of trying something new out, it's her last time there.  

Make sure you are keeping your departures and especially your arrivals extremely low-key; no big emotional displays when you come home.  Come in, bring her out to potty, check your mail, settle your things, and THEN say hello but even then keep it low-key.  Save your big loving' for when you've been home for at least 30 minutes.

You can also desensitize her to short departures by coming home from work and 10 minutes later leaving for 2 minutes, the next day 3 minutes, the next day 10 minutes, the next day 5 minutes, etc.  Vary the length of short departure each day so that it's not always increasing in time, and so that it's unpredictable, and remember no emotional displays any arrival time.

Good luck and thanks for writing!
Suzanne Harris, BSc, CPDT
http://www.dogdaysUSA.com