vendictive dog

Question
About 4 months ago we adopted a female dog, around the age of 10 months, her owners surrendered her because she had parvo and they couldn't treat her, anyway treatment went well, shes very healthy, oh I forgot to mentioned spoiled. Everytime we leave her to go somewhere she shreds what she can and also goes potty in the house, we take her out a lot thur out the day, I tried putting her in a cage, well that didn't work she would still potty in her cage, cover it with what ever I put in there for her to lay on . I am at my wits ends with her, Please help.

Answer
It doesn't sound like she is vindictive. It sounds like she may have separation anxiety. With SA a dog becomes frantic when left alone. There are ways of coping with it. Here's an excellent article which will give you an overview. http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/sa.htm
With severe cases, your best bet is a behaviorist, and possibly anti-anxiety medications prescribed by a vet knowledgable in behavior, along with a well thought out desensitization plan. It's important that th times when you leave and when you come home are non-dramatic, and I'm betting when you come home to a big mess, you are naturally angry and frustrated, so she is anxious about you coming home. It's a difficult problem, and you could probably use professional help. Training and routine and structure will also help, since when the dog knows what to expect, they are less anxious in general. So a specific anxiety is a bit less likely to send them over the top. One way to find out if this is separation anxiety as opposed to simply a dog who's having a party because nobody is home to tell her not to, would be to set up a video camera to record her activities when alone. Sandy Case BFA MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com