Adopted Jack, behavior issues

Question
Hello,
I do hope you can help us with 'Jack', we adopted him a few months ago and got very little history in him. He was on meds to calm him in the no kill shelter and we took them but did not use them. He seemed so good and happy to have a safe new home.He was house trained and very good with our daughters, three under the age of 13. In the last few weeks we have had a bit of a schedule change, not as many long walks for him...this might be the issue but to cause such a drastic change? We are on our second crate in three weeks ( completely chewed up and destroyed the plastic/wire gate one). He chews through even the toughest toys ( kong)within minutes. Chews and destroys ANYTHING left in his bed/crate with him. Poo's and pee's in his crate. A medium crate with enough room to turn around in, not too much room as cautioned against. He goes in the house right in front of us...literally within minutes of bringing him in from a walk or being outside. He begins getting extremely upset, pacing and chasing his tail while crying....the minute we do anything that looks like we are getting ready to leave the house. He is on a good eating/water schedule...water at will and feeding in the morning and in the evening...going outside right afterwards to poo and pee. We have seriously considered putting him back on the meds the shelter sent with us. Please, any help is welcomed!
Thank you , Bethany ( Jacks mom)

Answer
Bethany -

Sounds like he is experiencing some serious separation anxiety. I assume the schedule leaves him with less time with people home.

I suspect the meds at the shelter were for the same reason, plus being cooped up all the time and not having anyone to be bonded to. It can be very detrimental for dogs to be in shelters and they get what is called shelter shock, no matter how good the shelter is.

You will need to switch to a wire crate so he can't chew through it.

You should also get some of the more indestructible toys for him to chew on, like kongs, etc. I would recommend giving him things like nylabones - I prefer the edible ones since he won't be swallowing tiny bits of plastic.

One trick that helps a lot is giving him things to eat or work on in his crate that last a long time. Taking a kong toy (the big one) and stuffing it with leftover pasta or something like that, sealing the ends with peanut butter or cream cheese, and then freezing it is one good trick. Freezing it makes it last a lot longer.

I suspect these easier tricks will not be enough for him.  There is also something called a DAP plug in  - Dog appeasement pheromone that works great for some, but not all, dogs. It simulates the scent of a mommy dog.

Another thing that works great for some, but not all, dogs is an herbal product called Rescue Remedy by Bach Flower. It has a combination of herbs that calm fears and anxiety.  Again, this works great for some dogs, but not much at all for others.

These are just some suggestions for things to try before resorting to the meds. On the other hand, I do know dogs who will be on these meds for the rest of their lives, and Jack may well be one of these dogs.

On the upside, doing things like those I have suggested can make it even easier for him if you resort to the meds.

You may also want to consider a behaviorist in your area. They may be able to observe him a littler and make suggested suited to his specific personality.

Good luck. This can be a tough problem.

-Beth