Honestly I felt the exact same way you did about crating my sweeties. Listen it is bad for about a week and then they understand. They get used to it. They just walk their way into the crates when they see me grabbing my keys to go to work. Realize it has been about a year now but we needed it. Our male, chewed up all of our area rugs, dug a hole in several walls, ate window sills, ate door frames, cabinet doors, dresser drawers, oakley glasses, nike watches, coctail table, cell phones, and probably a hundred more things I dont even know about! But hey that is a thing of the past! I had a tough time with the crying and wimpering at night, but I fought through it and burried my head in the pillow. Eventually he figured out that I was not coming to get him.
But seriously dont give in...my husband gave up on night 3 and we had to start all over. Now we dont have accidents in bed and nothing is destroyed.
Just make the crate real homey...I cover them up in some fuzzy blankets and give them a little doggy bed with some toys, bones, and a tshirt of mine and my husbands. They love it. Our female goes in there for security when there is a stranger over or a thunderstorm.
Crates arent all bad and they come around after a week or so.
Good luck to you!

especially if he can see you. Didn't you say that at night time and when you are home he doesn't get into anything?

My current bully is six months old today. She has not destroyed one thing but I monitor her when she is loose, and she is never left uncrated. She has never had a problem. There are two days a week I work away from the house and can be gone as seven hours. However, I am not gone the other days of the week. I am amazed how easily she adjusts. She is always sleeping in the crate when I return, and all the dogs get dinner at l0 p.m. when I walk in. It sounds awful..but I know I am home with her a ton every other day of the week.

I had a Boston once who did the same as you ..ate the windowsills off of a rental unit in TX. I tried confining him to the kitchen when I worked at night, and he literally dug through the wall and also chewed off the bottom of the kitchen cabinets. It is amazing how much they can find to destroy even in a confined area.

My brother had heard stories of destructive bullies even though he hasn't owned a bulldog. He said mine would chew through my new house. I said no way. Well, so far I am right.lol She hasn't done any damage. Now, if I left her alone I would pay a price. I can already tell she has a penchance for the stuffed pillows on the sofa. lol She is always grabbing them off the couch when I turn my back. That is why I don't even get on the computer when she is loose in the house.


I have an octagon unit (I bought at Babies are Us) I used for the pugs at my mom's house. However, I think Zoe could move that all over the basement and get into something which might hurt her. I will probably just haul a large crate to Cleveland at Christmas or buy one there.

My non chewy older female, chewed up the door frame in the bathroom when I tried to leave her in there. So much for that. If you leave him in the bathroom, leave him in an expen. I had to repair the bathroom doorframes in an apt years ago with my first bulldog.

I would be sure to put all soap away. My friend's bully nearly died from eating the soap. lol Not really funny but I cannot imagine how horrible that had to taste but in a pinch....! My boy has eaten the chair rungs on the new kitchen chairs and rungs on an antique chair while I was in the room with him. I didn't even see him do it he was so fast!Good luck. Hope this works out for you.

I think I will try leaving him in the master bathroom while we are away. He likes to sleep in there, so it won't be too far of a stretch for him, and it is clean, has a tile floor, and there isn't really anything he can mess up in there. There is a pretty large space under the counter that he likes to sleep in when we are in the bathroom getting ready, and it is in our master bedroom so I can just open the door and he won't feel so alone at night. I think this will be an good alternative to crating him. Plus, it is in the middle of the house, so he can bark all he wants, and he won't annoy the neighbors. I'll put his bed and toys in there tonight and see if I can't get him to sleep in there. Thanks for everyone's help!

It will save your apartment and keep him safe while you are gone.

My Henry is the exact same way as your dog- a complete sweetie, but a heavy chewer. HE ahs chewed the bunk beds, eaten the swing set, doorways, etc. I could go on and on. I will tell you that if you have not tried Grannicks Bitter Apple Spray, to try it. It doesnt stain anything you spray it on and works 9 times out of 10 with chewers. You have to get the brand name "Grannicks" and it works best as a spray, not cream.

I know you say he is passing everything he eats. All I can say is be so very careful. Henry will eat and eat and eat. I have small children and he swallows so many of their toys and pieces of toys that I dont always know what he has eaten. He gets sick and throws them up, what he cant pass. I have cleaned up puke with vinyl siding pieces, rope toys (intact!), plastic, etc. in it. After he pukes it up, he feels much better but it scares me to death! What if he chokes on something or ingests something that kills him one day??!?!? All I can do is vacuum, pick up kids toys CONSTANTLY, and not let him have rope toys at any cost!

What works for us is totally replacing all his toys every 4 months (he mostly only gets the extra hard Nylabone toys he cant destroy -and littering the floor with lots of them!) and Bitter Apple spray on everything from the knees down. I hope this helps you somewhat. I feel your pain, but be very careful.

btw, Henry is crated when we arent home because of his dangerous chewing habits. Honestly, if it comes down possibly losing him to something he chewed and swallowed... crating isnt bad. He will get used to it eventually.

Wendy and Henry

Tyson was never crate trained so we have a kitchen with a door way so we keep her in there because there is nothing in there to mess up. Maby you have a room that is safe for her. I recomend a gate unstead of a door that way she dosent scrach the door up. Hope everything works out.

If you leave lots of safe activity toys- like a stuffed kong, or similar toys that will keep him busy, he will be fine in a confined area. He may be chewing when he is alone because has too much freedom or too large of an area to roam.
Knowing what he has already gotten into, I would never leave him free and alone again if I were you. I realize he is a good boy and he probably just gets bored or he is inquisitive. But you don't want to come home and find him after he has eaten through an electrical cord.

I have two soft side crates set up in my family room. I have sheets draped over the sides, top, and back to make them closed in and cozy like a den. (It's not exactly gorgeous decor, but hey, what the heck.) I leave the front flaps up and Junior and Roxy love to lay in there and sleep during the day sometimes.
If you have never crated your guy, you might try someting like that first just to get him used to it if you ever do need to crate him. It's good for them to not fear a crate. And most dogs really do like them if they are used in a positive way and not for punishment.

one more thing--
My daughter was horrified at the thought of putting her puppy in a crate. I finally talked her into getting one and now her little guy prefers to sleep in it rather than with her.

Even at 14 months old, our Bella will chew things if we give her too much freedom. She was in her crate until she turned a year old. Then, we gave her the kitchen. We pay the 13 year old girl across the street to come let her out after school. When Bella was 10 months, we let the little girl just put her in the house, not back in the crate - though the crate is where our good girl stays most of the time.

Imagine if your little pal bit off a piece of window sill and was choking on it, but you weren't there to help him! That is the extreme worst case, but please understand that it is for his sake as well that he should be crated.

I have recreated a lot of molding and woodwork with spackle and wood putty. You have to fill then sand, then spackle, then sand. Eventually, you will get really good at it.

also, we leave a lot of chew toys, kongs, tennis balls, etc in the kitchen for Bella to play with - and we leave some in her crate. She really loves it in there.

Another crate suggestion. We have a sheet that covers the back portion of the crate so it is very cave-like. I initially did this 'cause I was afraid the central air vent would make her too cold and we noticed that she squished herself as far back in the cave as she could. so, we covered more crate with the sheet. It's her favorite safe place.

it really is the best. there are so many advantages to the dog.

that spray only last for 24 hours, anyway. think if if your pup has to have a procedure done at the vet. he'll be in a crate/kennel then. the stress of the surgery will be compounded by the stress of the crate. our puppy hated her crate at first too, but in a couple of weeks, she was over it and doing fine. (treats are always welcome! )

Matt, what I do is use and x-pen and a crate. I attach the ends of the x-pen to the sides of the crate. That way mine can go into the crate, but they are not confined to it. They have enough room to stretch out and roam a little. It is a great alternative to crating or confining to a room.

Thanks for the ideas, I really appreciate them. He is such a good dog, he just has a few bad days that make him out to be a terror. He sleeps on his bed next to us at night, and sleeps the whole night through, he never goes to the bathroom inside, he walks on a leash, knows how to sit and stay, and soo much more. I just think that using a crate this "late in the game" would be a punishment for him. I think I will try to section him off to some parts of the house like the kitchen, and see if that will work. He just loves us so much, and gets upset sometimes when we ignore him or are gone. Thanks for the tip on the wood filler, I have alreay gone out and bought some, but I am afraid that he will eat that too, so that is going to be my big project before we move out. He didn't completely destroy them or anything, just took a couple heafty bites out of them, especially on the corners. I think if I fill it and sand the whole thing down, and repaint, then it won't notice be a problem. The carpet is okay, he pretty much just tore up the padding, which is easily replaceable. I guess its a small price to pay for being able to come home to him each day. I was more worried about his health. He seems to be passing everything he eats, so I guess he's ok for the moment.

concern too. It would be roomier than a crate, yet still confine him to a safe area. Toys R Us has a little octagon shaped gate set up. You can buy more sections if you want to make it bigger. I believe it's $59 for 5 or 6 sections.


A thought about the window sills-- You can sand, fill with wood filler, and paint. You don't have to replace them even if big chunks are missing. You can mold filler which dries to a hardened finish that will look just like the wood when painted.

You can also gate off the bathroom. Usually the outlets are high in a bathroom. If you have low outlets make sure nothing is plugged into them and get the plugs for them at the baby store.

I think you should give it a try. He'll get used to it and it will be like a little home to him. Always give him positive reinforcement, IE treats. When we leave the house we grab a treat and throw it in his crate. He automatically goes in there an is now used to it.

It really is NOT safe for your dog at that young of an age to be wandering around the house. They will eat anything and everything and it's just going to make him sick. If worse comes to worse, you can always gate off a certain room when you are gone.

Is it too late for him to be crate trained? I really don't want to put him in a crate all day while I am away. He hates being in his crate, and barks for hours on end when we put him in it. I know most people put their dogs in crates, at least on this board, but I would like to consider that a last option.

please put him in a crate when you are not home. Our dog would eat our whole house if he could and so that he does not get sick from doing so and so we can save our house, if we are not home, he's in his crate.

Hope that helps!

It will keep him safe while you are not around.

Crate. He will be safe and you wont have to worry about him chewing up the house. He isnt learning when left alone, he is doing what comes natural when a pup is bored.

Shelly

Wild West Bulldogs

The best way to keep a dog from doing all the damage your bully has done is by crating him. It is a very useful tool. It keeps the dog from destroying things and also from hurting himself. He ate your windowsill what's to keep him from biting a cord from a lamp or other electrical device.

You would be much better off crating this little bugger - save you lots of money. lol

Boss went to work with me for 2 months, so at about 4 months old we began to crate him because he got to big to go to work with me. He was crated every day until the day he turned 1. After that we'd leave him out for a few hours at a time until eventually we got to where we leave him out in the house all day. He's done so good except for the time he pulled a plant out of the planter and rolled around in the dirt INTO MY CARPET. Imagine my horror when i got home to see my husband cleaning the carpets and left that spot for me to see. Other than that, there's been no issues.