DESTRUCTIVE!! General Chat

Hi, I have an Alaskan Malamute which I'm beginning to hate!! He is the most purposefully destructive dog I've ever come across!! He is not satisfied with toys or anything unless he's ripping them apart or total destruction is accomplished.. I had him a custom built sturdy as they come wood dog house built and at least once or twice a week I come home to find more planks ripped off and chewed up!! As it is now he's 7mos old and I cannot leave him to free roam the back yard I have to keep him in his kennel 20x14.. If he's left out that's just more area/bushes he will destroy!! I've provided him with a kiddie pool and he's only interested in trying to figure out how he can rip it apart.. I'm generally gone 14hrs a day and even when I exhaust him walking or playing or spend whole days off with him he still does this!! Any suggestions??

Is your puppy left on his own for the whole 14 hours each day, or does someone comes round to walk & play with your puppy if not, then perhaps you need to think about giving pup up.

I work rotating shifts so it's not every day, nor most days.. Some days it's even if he's left alone while I run a few errands.. I refuse to believe this dog/breed has to be around people 24hrs.. I spoke to my breeder at length about my schedule and about me being single living alone... I paid $2500 for him.. I will be beyond upset if I'm soon to find out this breed can't be left alone without becoming frustrated even for a few hrs.. Not to mention has to tear up anything it can rather than play with the numerous toys in his area..

Dogs are not purposely destructive, they do it through boredom or anxiety, he is just a puppy and pups do these things,Mals are a high active working breed who need lots of physical and mental stimulation, ‘Every Day’

Don’t want to be rude but it sounds like the breeder was more interested in the money rather than the dog itself, if you read up on Mals you will see he is displaying normal breed traits.

Not being nasty but perhaps an older and different breed of dog might of been better for your lifestyle.
Puppies are high maintenance for first 18 months of their lifes, (house training, teething, socializing, mouthing, behaviour) I have to agree with Vee I to think the breeder was seeing $ & wasn't interested in your lifestyle.

I'm going to enroll him in obedience training in a few weeks.. I'm hoping this will suppress some behavior or at the very least help me with training/calming him... He picks up fairly quickly to command training although walking him can be a task at times.. Then times it's a breeze!! My concern is if he's going to naturally be this way all his life or will he calm down as he gets closer to 2.

Some dogs don't calm down at all others when they reach 4 years old.
At 18 months to 2 years old they are best described as unruly teenagers & will push the boundaries more & more to see what they can get away with, they can become very vocal & answer you back or totally ignore you, you might have to go back to basic training again with him again (sit/down/heel/recall/no/leave)

So let me ask u guys this.. What kind of dog houses do u guys have? I have a wooden one and he's slowly pulling planks off so eventually it will collapse if u don't have it moved.. How have you'll gotten yours to stop eating wood items? Outside obviously

All my dogs have always lived indoors, if he has to live outdoors make sure he has a secure, safe, well insulated kennel & outdoor run’ with bed risen above the floor and plenty of stimulation in between kennel time, if he is going to be left for more than 4/5 hours at a time then you really need to get a dog walker to break up his day.

If your not there to catch him chewing and divert him you will just have to hope he eventually grows out of it, you could try lining the kennel with exterior grade ply to insulate and prevent chewing Im not sure what setup you have but he should have something like these.

http://www.sherlocks-country-store.co.uk/theparkennel.html

He's sectioned off in a 14x20 8 foot tall chain link area of his own with an oversized wooden dog house which I provide several toys, kiddie pool, half grass have concrete planters, which he plays in the grass and sleeps/lays on the concrete... Rarely will he sleep or lay in the house.. However he loves to take his toys in there and play with them or chase his tell in there.. Kinda like he uses it as a play house..

This breed needs plenty of exercise and stimulation. Without it, they will become destructive while they make up their own ways to relieve their boredom. Of course, once they have found that way, it's good fun to carry on and quickly becomes a habit. They love to be around people.

14 hours alone is far from ideal for any dog - for this breed even worse.

What exercise is he getting? What do you do with him that uses up his excess energy?

I try to play with min in the back yard every day when he has interest, there are plenty of times he's not.. Then of course life does happen and some days I can't give him the u devided attention he needs.. I am single and live alone so it is a task.. Growing up we always had dogs, is kids went to school and other places when we got out while parents worked 10+hrs plus.. No one walked or played with dogs on a daily basis to exercise them and "chew toys".. Wth was that?!! No one did that in the area i grew up in.. Our dogs dug a whole or two and that was that... We didn't even keep stuff put up out of their reach, mom kept flower beds as well.. Dogs were just happy dogs in the neighborhood and outside... I never even heard of indoor dogs unless poodles when I was growing up...

He needs to get out and about with you. He needs to experience different places and smells, to meet other people.

Imagine being confined to your home, no TV, no radio, no newspapers. That is what your dog has and so he has found his own entertainment. He needs a lot more stimulation than he is getting. Only then will his true character surface

Can you not let him run the garden while your there interacting with him? Sounds like he's bored.theyre like children at that age.as many toys as you give him it doesn't make up for someone playing with him.

This can be a normal part of the breed. This is why don't research is very important and also big fail on the breeder for not giving you information.
Malamutes are active, working breed. He sounds very bored, he's also still a puppy so expect more chewing. He needs a lot of exercise and mental stimulation. You also need to give him stuff to chew while you are gone for dogs that will last for awhile big bones, hooves, ect.

Metal! You will need to custom make the house for him. The only other option of you want to use wood is to use sheets of wood, not planks and then add angle iron to all corners, lips, ect.

Yes I do this very often, some days I try to leave him to the whole backyard which only once wasn't a desaster.. I can literally exhaust him to the point his tongue is on the ground but if given the opportunity to, he will destroy something...

Funny u said metal I've been looking into that.. This is a new breed for me, growing up all my dogs got custom made wood houses.... None of which ever destroyed their home(den) I rather him dig.. Kong's, bones, ropes, balls, squeakers... He has all that.. The issue is he can't destroy those... It's the destroy drive I have an issue with.. I could tolerate him knawing/chewing on a corner of it.. But ripping the house apart... These planks are screwed and nailed.. When I come home the boards are ripped apart at the screw or screw intact with the plank.. Unfortunately it takes about 4 men to move this house and I built his kennel area after the house so I can't even get it out without removing a section of the privacy fence and have a 4x4 in the field behind my house to remove it.. Sad truth, I'm preparing myself to come home and find him with wood stuck in his throat or colon requiring surgery which may result in death.. And I guess that'll make him happy..

Lets hope for his sake that never happens !
A Metal kennel may stop him damaging it, but it will not get to the route cause of why he’s so destructive obviously your boy is very stressed, he also needs ‘mental stimulation’ as well as physical. He needs to be meeting other dogs ,going different places ect: to grow up as a well socialized adjusted adult. You need to find an alternative to confining him on his own for long periods, otherwise you risk ending up with one seriously screwed up dog.

Do you have him indoors with you when you’re at home??

No He's and outside dog which is all I'm accustomed to having growing up with.. Hindsight or knowing so many dogs these days have separation anxiety I wouldn't have gotten him I would have gotten an indoor dog instead... I am however looking at getting an indoor dog.. I had no intentions of him ever being and inside dog do to shedding... My inside dog will be medium to large size but no shedding.. My hopes is the two will get along and this may help... As the indoor dog can be let out during the day to play with each other... Until then I've hired a dog walker for daily use when I'm at work and he'll be in training for 6 weeks as well... So maybe in about two months I'll see some level of relief..