Kitchen Dog

Question
Hi,
My husband and I got a shepherd/ridgeback mix from the shelter a few months ago.  She is a good dog aside from the kitchen.  She never goes in the kitchen when we are home, but when we are gone (doesn't matter 5 minutes, 5 hours), she will reek havoc.  At first, it was just the trash can, so we have removed it.  Now, it is anything that is left on the counters and sometimes, in the sink.  She has broken a few plates and pulled a knives down.  We have tried the sour apple and it doesn't seem to phase her.  She knows when she is bad, as she will not greet us at the door when we get home.  Neither of us are really sold on the kennel and I really don't want her to be an outdoor dog.  A few friends have recommended mousetraps, but I am afraid they may break something.  Are they effective?

Answer
Yes, try the mousetraps.  They are safe, and effective with some dogs.  Others learn they only have one snap or become proficient at avoiding them while getting what they want.  

You may still have to go with a crate.  It is only natural that a puppy resists its crate at first. What the puppy wants more than anything else is to be others, you, anyone else in the household, and any other pets. In our modern society, even if we are home, other things distract us from the attention an uncrated puppy must have. The only real solution is to crate the dog when you aren't around. The dog may be happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving its self. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well. Many of them will rest in their crates even when the door is open. I think the plastic ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. Metal ones can be put in a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew. Select a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

Leave it some toys. Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter. Don't leave anything in the crate the dog might chew up. It will do fine without even any bedding. You will come home to a safe dog and a house you can enjoy.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, may take some work. Start out just putting its toys and treats in the crate. Praise it for going in. Feed it in the crate. This is also an easy way to maintain order at feeding time for more than one dog.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy. Very few houses even have a safe room. How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing else? Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else. In addition to destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have intestinal blockage from the pieces. I had a friend that left her dog in a "safe" room. It ate a hole in the floor covering. The safe rooms fail to give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires. Nor do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving itself.