Behavior problems

Question
I have a mut she is part lab/german shepard/ bull mastif.  She is 7 months old she eats Puppy Pedigree 4-6 cups a day or so.  She is outside about 60% of the time and inside the rest of the time.  I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong to cause her change in behavior.  We moved 6 weeks ago into our own home, shortly after that I took her to the vet to get fixed.  I have 2 small children that love to play with her 6 yrs. and 4 yrs. old.  I walk her daily to pick the kids up from school and she stays inside in the evenings.  Lately she has started desrtoying (ripping to shreds) everything she can get a hold of.  She has access to the wash room so she can come inside when she wants and she has taken cardboard boxes, clothing, ziplock baggies, canned fruit etc. into the yard and after picking up the yard daily for 3 weeks now I'm quite frustrated.  What can I do the change this behavior?  My husband said if I don't do something about it by Christmas we have to get rid of her.  Please help.  Thank you SOO very much!!!

Answer
Your puppy's behavior is completely normal, Amy. I recommend getting her a crate and keeping her in it when you leave her at home alone. The crate should be large enough to allow her to lay down in comfortably as an adult. A Large plastic airline crate (you can get them at Wal-Mart) should be fine. I'm afraid that the X-Large may be slightly too big, which may tempt her to potty in one end of it, and you don't want her to do that. I think the Large should be plenty big enough. Do not leave her crated for more than 7-8 hours straight during the daytime. At night, she can probably go 9-10 hours without needing to be let out to pee. Do not put a bed or anything in the crate with her, because most likely, she'll tear it up and that's what you're trying to keep her from doing by crating her. Give her something to keep herself occupied, such as a large nylabone, or better, a Kong that's been stuffed and frozen. Some stuffing ideas include cream cheese, peanut butter, canned dog food, plain canned pumpkin, plain yogurt, leftovers from your meals, any of the above mixed with dry dog food, or basically whatever you can think up!

I would continue to crate her when you leave until she is at least a year and a half old, before trying to give her some freedom again. When you do try it again, be sure to puppy-proof the laundry room if you're going to allow her access to it. Prevention is the best way to keep her from developing the habit of tearing things up. As she gets older, this behavior may extinguish itself providing she isn't 'allowed' to do it now.

Good luck, and please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with.