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Kennel problems; Dishonourable discharge!
Topic Started: 28 Jun 2013, 12:06 PM (348 Views)
John&Lynne
Newbie
Hi all,

Have just had to return home early from holiday as our GSDs Lady (nearly 12) and Stax (nearly 7) have been dishonourably discharged from the kennels they were boarding in! :dogincar:

Both were rescue dogs that were in kennels with the Dogs Trust for 3-6 months before we took them on over 3 years ago. Since then we used the same kennels we used for our previous GSD. However each visit we noticed fewer and fewer staff, longer and longer to answer the office door or phone etc. We believe that the owners were trying to run it themselves and had a few personal issues! Saying that there were never any reports of problems with our dogs or any injuries to them.

Last year we started using a different kennels - well established and recommended by a friend. They appear well run, have plenty of facilities, allowed us to look round, lots of staff and affiliated to our local vets. More expensive than the old kennels but for the apparent benefits a no brainer. Both dogs had been there several times before for periods of a night up to 3 weeks. No problems. They board together as they suffer separation anxiety. The kennels were aware of this.

However last November they went in for two weeks. On our return we discovered that Lady had chewed through the plastic coated wire mesh of their run/kennel towards the end of their stay. She damaged her gums slightly.

She had never chewed anything with us before although she does enjoy chewing/destroying her toys or any sticks/logs she finds on walks. However never anything else.

A few months ago I returned home to find that she had chewed right through a stool leg that was by the back door. The door is PVC and floor to ceiling glass giving a view of the garden. She had also chewed off the alarm wires by the back door. We initially dismissed it as frustration at being able to see a cat/pigeon/fox? in the garden and not being able to get to it. She did no damage to the door. There has been no repeat of this behaviour in the house since.

However we went on holiday a few weeks ago and placed both dogs in the kennels again for 14 nights. I received a call after 10 nights asking if I can collect them as

i) Stax was suffering with chronic diarrhoea and was stressed,

ii) Lady went straight to the same section of mesh in the kennel as before and started to chew/pull on it as soon as placed in the kennels. Both were moved to another kennel where apparently they could only see a paddock/lake with some wildlife (ducks/foxes). However Lady appears to have left the mesh alone in this kennel (different type of mesh?) but instead chewed straight through the wooden door breaking her incisor. The kennels also said she was stressed.

As I couldn't get a flight straight away they spent their final night in a 'corridor' between kennels which is metal.

Now Lady faces an extraction next week which is worrying at her age and we have no kennels to use.

Stax is quite a stressed little character anyway and does suffer with bouts of recurrent diarrhoea anyway which we finally think may be pancreatitis.

I have two thoughts on this - either Lady gets very angry/frustrated when she can see another animal (fox/duck/pigeon) and as in the case with the stool at home or the kennel door and vents her anger on in-animate objects or was it just boredom/lack of stimulation/excess energy? She is very active for her age and very 'switched on'/intelligent. She also dislikes all other animals (chases,hunts,kills). She has been on Big GSD walks before but had to remain on the lead and snaps at other dogs that get too close/come from behind her. Stax is very laid back, likes other dogs and dare I say it seems a bit 'simple'! Stax is quite happy chasing a ball up and down a paddock a few times, Lady is a very powerful hunter/chaser who loves to run great distances (we keep her on a training lead for walks though due to her chase tendencies) but is not overly interested in ball chasing. Is it that the kennels simply don't give her the exercise she needs?
:running GSD:

Can anyone share any similar experiences, advise, suggest reasons for this change in behaviour? As it is now we will be unable to go on holiday/break etc. unless we can deal with this behaviour. At nearly 12 years old where has this behaviour come from?

Any help/advice/insights would be appreciated! Thanks!

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pangolin
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GSD Addict
With such extreme anxiety, I would consider having a behaviourist in and discussing a behavioural modification plan, possibly alongside medication - something like Clomicalm or Selgian will allow a window of opportunity to deal with the behaviour, but must be used alongside behavioural treatment
Nicole Wilde does a good book on separation anxiety - called "Don't leave me". Patricia McConnell does a short, but concise, booklet called "I'll be home soon" which is a good read too.
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Barking Mad
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Dogmatic Poster
Cant you get someone to move into your house and look after them there ...
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