Puppy destroys while I sleep at night.

[Galieth]

I have a 7 and a half month miniature Australian shepherd named Vinny.
I've had him since December. About 3 months ago he begun to sleep with me at night,
because he doesn't have accidents in the house anymore at night (prior to this he was
put in his kennel to sleep) But recently during the night he's been destroying the most random things, I wake up to my mom screaming. Sometime during the night, he decided to literally chew the whole arm off of a lounge chair. I don't know what to do about it. He has a huge toy basket,
with just about every kind of toy there is. I take him potty every hour on the hour till, about 2am and then sleep till about 7am. This routine has never been a problem for Vinny. And normally, if he ever did need to go potty at night-morning, he wakes me up, and I take him out, that's also never been a problem. So why is he destroying my furniture.

1) I have no idea how to discipline him when it comes to destroying something, and especially because I don't know when it happens.

2) The only 1 thing he does not have is a chew bone. However, it gets expensive especially because we also have a well behaved German shepherd that gets hold of em one way or another and eats them literally in one bite. But you only missing a chew bone be the reason he chews on everything else????? Also, I don't want to go broke getting chew bones every week for him just to keep him from chewing, there's got to be another way (nor do I have the money to)

3) Cheapest way possible is better for me, I have no job at the moment and am relying on my boyfriend and selling unneeded things on ebay. (getting married and moving in a month)

--------------------------------

This is the LAST resort before I consider getting rid of him, as much as I don't want to...and as much as he DOES piss me off like no other when he screws up..I've never had a lonely day without him....But if this issue doesn't fix up, ASAP, I'm going to be kicked out at the hands of my own parents.

Vinny for the most part is OK. He's hyper and energetic during the day. We recently nipped off the barking and barking due to separation anxiety using a spray collar due to neighbors complaining. He doesn't have accidents. And now we have this issue that I really don't know how to fix.

As of right now, he's on lock down, he's in his kennel, and shall remain there for a few hours, coming out only to go outside.

[Shearaha]

Your best bet would be to go back to Vinnie sleeping in his crate at night. That would be the simplest and cheapest solution. You could also try locking him in your room since it seems, from your post, that he's going after things outside of your sleeping area.

[Galieth]

Shearaha

Your best bet would be to go back to Vinnie sleeping in his crate at night. That would be the simplest and cheapest solution. You could also try locking him in your room since it seems, from your post, that he's going after things outside of your sleeping area.

Everything he has destroyed is actually IN the sleeping area. I live in a good sized basement at the moment, in my parents house. Sort of like a little studio.
With him being in the kennel at night from now on again, will he ever be able to sleep outside of it, without destroying again?

[Shearaha]

Galieth

Shearaha

Your best bet would be to go back to Vinnie sleeping in his crate at night. That would be the simplest and cheapest solution. You could also try locking him in your room since it seems, from your post, that he's going after things outside of your sleeping area.

Everything he has destroyed is actually IN the sleeping area. I live in a good sized basement at the moment, in my parents house. Sort of like a little studio.
With him being in the kennel at night from now on again, will he ever be able to sleep outside of it, without destroying again?

7 months is still pretty young to be left unsupervised in a large area. He should be able to be left out eventually, but you may want to do it in more stages. Maybe start with an X-pen around where you sleep, then maybe move to an adjustable tether so that he can gradually be allowed more room.

You could also try really wearing him out just before bed. Have a long hard play session, or do some shaping games and "fry" his brain so that he sleeps through the night.

[Galieth]

Shearaha

Galieth

Shearaha

Your best bet would be to go back to Vinnie sleeping in his crate at night. That would be the simplest and cheapest solution. You could also try locking him in your room since it seems, from your post, that he's going after things outside of your sleeping area.

Everything he has destroyed is actually IN the sleeping area. I live in a good sized basement at the moment, in my parents house. Sort of like a little studio.
With him being in the kennel at night from now on again, will he ever be able to sleep outside of it, without destroying again?

7 months is still pretty young to be left unsupervised in a large area. He should be able to be left out eventually, but you may want to do it in more stages. Maybe start with an X-pen around where you sleep, then maybe move to an adjustable tether so that he can gradually be allowed more room.

You could also try really wearing him out just before bed. Have a long hard play session, or do some shaping games and "fry" his brain so that he sleeps through the night.

Okay I'll definitely try that.
Thank you.

[Shearaha]

Galieth

Shearaha

Galieth

Shearaha

Your best bet would be to go back to Vinnie sleeping in his crate at night. That would be the simplest and cheapest solution. You could also try locking him in your room since it seems, from your post, that he's going after things outside of your sleeping area.

Everything he has destroyed is actually IN the sleeping area. I live in a good sized basement at the moment, in my parents house. Sort of like a little studio.
With him being in the kennel at night from now on again, will he ever be able to sleep outside of it, without destroying again?

7 months is still pretty young to be left unsupervised in a large area. He should be able to be left out eventually, but you may want to do it in more stages. Maybe start with an X-pen around where you sleep, then maybe move to an adjustable tether so that he can gradually be allowed more room.

You could also try really wearing him out just before bed. Have a long hard play session, or do some shaping games and "fry" his brain so that he sleeps through the night.

Okay I'll definitely try that.
Thank you.

No problem 3nodding I've got a 2yr old that we adopted in October (sig pic) He's just in the last couple of weeks been allowed out with us while we sleep. He's still on a tether most of the day, though he also get to just drag a leash around sometimes. He's got some fear issues that require us to keep him on a lead of some kind so that we can quickly grab him if something scares him. But he's getting better all the time.

[~ Aki - Fairy ~]

How much mental stimulation does he get during the day? (play, training, toys/feeding objects that make him think, etc..)
How much physical exercise? (walks, runs, fetch type games, etc..)

Crating at night is the "easiest" and "cheapest" way to deal with the problem, since he's okay with the crate and you already have one.

Instead of letting him have 20 toys available at all times, only let him have a few. Switch the toys out weekly.
Lots of toys is great and all, but if he has access to all of them all the time, they all get boring that much quicker.

Instead of feeding him his food in a dish, get a treat ball and feed him that way - it'll require him to work and think for his food (learning how to get the food out of the ball and the movement involved in doing so), and unless his whole meal will fit in the ball, it's also interactive because he has to bring it back to you for refilling every little bit.

[Latrans]

Seven and a half months is still a baby. Punishing him after the fact (when you find the destruction) makes no sense. All he's learning is that you randomly yell at hit him.

Put him back in his crate at night, and make sure he's getting enough exercise during the day. He should be getting ~an hour a day of play time (fetch, walks, hiking) and ~an hour a day of training at this point in his life.

Maybe you should get rid of him, though. This is a pretty basic part of dog ownership for which it seems like you're maybe not prepared.