Hi everybody, Vegas is a am staff cross Bull Mastiff, she has been rather naughty lately and destroying everything in her path, this is so not like her. She is still just a puppy. We have given her many t5hings to keep her occupied but when we are not home she has free reign and she knows it. My question is does anyone know much about these breeds? Maybe she needs more exercise than we give her?? I just have no idea. She has taken on the mastiff figure but has the staff head. Do these dogs have special requirements in relation to both physical and mental stimulation? Any ideas are very much appreciated.
It could be normal adolescence...or it could very well be that she's not being mentally and physically stimulated enough. I would consider getting a crate and training her to go in it when you aren't at home if there is a danger to her getting into things while you're away. Even if you could gate off one room in your house and make sure there's nothing she can get into there, would be better than nothing. Have you tried taking her out for a bit of free run and play before you leave? She should come back home and sleep for a while after that, and then leave some interactive toys or chewing bones for her when she wakes up.
She is outside while we are at work, she is just so cheeky. She gets walked every morning and afternoon and outside she has puppy heaven with toys tied to trees so she can play tug of war and many other toys left all over the place. She pulles every bit of washing off the line (which she has only started a couple of weeks ago) digs holes everywhere, rips plants out of the garden. She has A big body pillow that I got her to snuggle up to while we are not home had it looked like it snowed in my back yard the other day because she pulled it apart. She is a cheeky ******. I just dont know how else we can stimulate her and feel very bad as she is obviously not happy we are at work but its not like we have a choice and unfortunately we cant take her to work, our jobs dont permit
Sounds more like separation anxiety to me if she's being that destructive and it's not an excess energy thing...
Perhaps she has just learned that pulling washing off the line and doing a bit of gardening for you is more fun than the other toys she has to play with?!
Washing on the line is no different to the tug toy on the tree to your dog. Dogs tend not to differentiate between one tug toy and another . Simple solution is not to put washing out unless you are at home to supervise so that she can learn which tug toys are acceptable and which not. Management is key with young dogs while you are not there to supervise. Put up temporary barriers around the plants, provide a sand pit for her to dig in and teach her that it's only acceptable to dig there. Get her out for a good walk before leaving and include in that some training exercises to tire her brain. She's a terrier and a muscular terrier so is full of energy. She will expend that energy both in acceptable and unacceptable (to us) ways. Give her every chance to settle by making sure her diet is good. Avoid additives and colourants as these tend to hype up already excitable dogs.
