# dog too attached to me plus keeps chewing his pee pad



## 54321bam

My 8 month pup still follows me everywhereeee in the house. Since my apartment is tiny he follows me to the bathroom, kitchen everywhere! lol Mind you I'm out of the house from 4-8 hours a day due to work and I have to cage him because if I don't he chews up his pee pad and makes a absolute mess!!! I give him tons of toys and a treat in his Kong before I leave but he continues to do it. Figured he'd stop by 8 months but no avail! Any suggestions?


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## xellil

It sounds like he is bored and doesn't get enough exercise. Eight hours a day is a long time for a puppy to be cooped up. Do you take him for daily walks/runs? Go to puppy classes, etc?

My dogs follow me everywhere in the house, too. What else do they have to do?

It's like they say - people have lives outside of their dogs. Dogs have only us.


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## 54321bam

xellil said:


> It sounds like he is bored and doesn't get enough exercise. Eight hours a day is a long time for a puppy to be cooped up. Do you take him for daily walks/runs? Go to puppy classes, etc?
> 
> My dogs follow me everywhere in the house, too. What else do they have to do?
> 
> It's like they say - people have lives outside of their dogs. Dogs have only us.


Unfortunately I don't get to take him for as many walks as I'd like I'm guilty of that. But even then, if I don't cage him he causes destruction. I can't come home after a long day to clean up his messes every single time. I've tried to slowly transition him from leaving his uncaged in his playpen before bed and even when I go out for an hour or 2 but hes back to his old habits. Very frustrating as I thought there would be progress as he got older.

This is the type of destruction I mean! lol


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## Liz

Crating is not the end of the world. Lots of people work and crate. Do you maybe have and area you can put and ex pen in and his bed and some toys. Plus he needs exercise before you leave and when you get back. Following you - pretty normal I believe - I have 7 dogs and every time I go from room to room it is a parade! You might also check into some puzzle toys to help keep him busy.


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## bridget246

54321bam said:


> Unfortunately I don't get to take him for as many walks as I'd like I'm guilty of that. But even then, if I don't cage him he causes destruction. I can't come home after a long day to clean up his messes every single time. I've tried to slowly transition him from leaving his uncaged in his playpen before bed and even when I go out for an hour or 2 but hes back to his old habits. Very frustrating as I thought there would be progress as he got older.
> 
> This is the type of destruction I mean! lol
> View attachment 7006


That type of destruction will be the norm if aren't able to exercise him. I'd seriously try to find time to do it. We humans need to exercise too. Might as well get the dog in it as well. Don't know what type of dog this is. I selected a GSD because I know I'd be really active and wanted a dog that would fit that personality. When I injury my hip I really had to get creative on finding things for Bridget to do.


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## xellil

Really, he needs a long walk every day at the very least. He's being destructive because he's not getting enough exercise. Depending on the dog he might need alot more than a walk. 

8 months isn't close to slowing down. He's going to be active for many years, and need exercise.


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## Tobi

Crate him, end of story, at 8 months old if you let him go potty he should be okay for a few hours. at a year old he should be good for an 8 hour day easy. I crated mine up until he was about 2, he's the only and first one I've ever trusted out of the crate when i'm gone. you shouldn't be worried about the destruction when you get home if you don't crate, you should be worried about your dog ingesting something that will kill it before you get home. or put it in the hospital and cost you thousands, or kill it.

You NEED to exercise your dog, i can't iterate that enough. as a dog owner for many years i get frustrated when people complain that their dog is expressing themselves in such a way as yours is... it's simple, TIRE him out and he will be too tired to destroy everything.

The addage "lost puppy" rings very true for dogs they are attached to their people, sometimes i even follow mine from room to room...it's just the way they are.


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## 54321bam

He is a pomeranian btw. The thing is he had stopped chewing at his pee pads after I gave him a loud yelling at last time, but hes back to doing it. Trying to outsmart me the little bugger!

I also figured poms don't need as much walking. But I will definitely find more time to walk him more often! Btw he was just neutered just last month. Not sure if that factors in. Heres a pic of the lil bugger first day I got him 









How can you stay mad at this face???


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## 54321bam

Tobi said:


> Crate him, end of story, at 8 months old if you let him go potty he should be okay for a few hours. at a year old he should be good for an 8 hour day easy. I crated mine up until he was about 2, he's the only and first one I've ever trusted out of the crate when i'm gone. you shouldn't be worried about the destruction when you get home if you don't crate, you should be worried about your dog ingesting something that will kill it before you get home. or put it in the hospital and cost you thousands, or kill it.
> 
> You NEED to exercise your dog, i can't iterate that enough. as a dog owner for many years i get frustrated when people complain that their dog is expressing themselves in such a way as yours is... it's simple, TIRE him out and he will be too tired to destroy everything.
> 
> The addage "lost puppy" rings very true for dogs they are attached to their people, sometimes i even follow mine from room to room...it's just the way they are.


Did you crate when you were sleeping? I was trying to let him have the freedom of his playpen while sleeping since he knows my sleeping schedule. Its worked out fine until the last 2 days where he started tearing the pee pad to shreds again.


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## danecolor

i am just going to add my two cents about the walking - it is essential!

as a point of reference, i own a great dane. she sleeps just about 20 hours a day :biggrin: . yet even my couch potato gets at least an hour of structured walking a day (even if that is broken into 2-3 walks) as well as short training sessions for mental stimulation and off-leash running and playing time. every pom i have ever met has been a little ball of energy - i am not surprised that one would get into something when left alone without daily exercise.

the way i see it, a walk a day is the bare minimum for any dog, regardless of breed. tire that pup out and you'll have a better behaved dog right off the bat!


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## MollyWoppy

And, I'll quadruple ditto about the exercise. You have to, can't get out of it if you want your house and stuff left alone. If you can't walk as much, how about throwing the ball outside? Anything to get some of that energy out.
Have to admit, I giggled when I saw your photo, they truly are little buggers sometimes.
Don't forget you need to tire his brain out too. Are you training him and teaching him things? There's heaps of things you can do inside, like hide and seek, teaching tricks. You could fill the kong with his breakfast so he has to work for it. How about those little balls you can fill with kibble or treats and he has to roll it around the floor if he wants to eat? Or breaking up his treats and hiding them around the house so he has to use his brain and nose to find them?
Are you doing any puppy classes with him. And, taking him absolutely everywhere with you (that you can), like visiting pet shops and just generally socialising and tiring his brain out?
Believe you me, I understand, I went through hell for 2 years. I'd absolutely hate to think what hell I would have come home to if I hadn't absolutely exhausted my pup every day.
And, you are right, he is sooo cute! What's his name?


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## chowder

I have thoroughly agree about the mental stimulation. I had a trainer once tell me that working their brain is almost as tiring to them as working their bodies and it's true. I would take my pups to an hour of puppy kindergarten and they would come home and sleep the rest of the day. Their little brains were worn out from all the mental stimulation. Even now, when we go on walks we do constant training during the walk ....like sit, lay down, paw, look at mama, etc....just to make it more tiring. 

Plus, I get up an hour early to walk them and wear them out before I leave for school so that they are tired before they are locked up while I am gone. Sure, I would rather sleep in or lay around a bit later, but getting up early is the price I pay for having the dogs. And yes, they still follow me from room to room at age 6 and 4.


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## Donna Little

I always think of it like this; you can be sitting on your rear watching tv, cruising the internet, chatting on the phone, or playing on the X-box and you can walk away from that and feel like you've had something to do. If your dog is sitting there on his rear, it's probably because he's bored to death. And you know what that leads to. (Refer back to destruction photo at this point.)
All your dog has if he's not being taken outside for walks or playtime is you and the four walls he lives in. So he's gonna find himself something fun to do. In essence he's training himself to occupy his time in his own way and you get to follow behind him and clean up. 
As far as chewing his pee pads goes, if this is one reason you are hesitant to crate or keep him in an x-pen, then get something washable instead that can't be torn up. I have hospital pads at my house for my senior dog. They're made of thick material on the outside with a moisture proof material inside. She sleeps in an x-pen and I have those down because she can't hold her pee anymore. Even if she poops on one I can take it outside and hose it off before putting it in the washer.
And as some others have mentioned get him some mind stimulating toys to play with. Great way to pass the hours for a bored young dog. And as far as being too attached.... Is that even possible? I have 10 dogs and every trip to the bathroom requires at LEAST 6 dogs as my entourage. They go from room to room with me and I have 3 in the chair with me right now. :smile:


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## doggiedad

there's no such thing as a dog being to attached to their human. it's the
human/owner not being attached to their dog. well cared for dogs take us
out of our comfort zone. we have to get up extra early to take care of them before going to work.
it's much better for the dog to have someone come in and give the dog a break (or two)
when we're away working. our dogs need exercise and training and that doesn't matter
if it's a mutt, pb, large or small. when we have dogs we have to shift things around and
make sacrifices for the dogs benefit. we have to spend a lot time exercising, training and spending
quality time with our dogs. our dogs needs exercise and mental stimualtion daily and several times
a day.


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## 54321bam

MollyWoppy said:


> And, I'll quadruple ditto about the exercise. You have to, can't get out of it if you want your house and stuff left alone. If you can't walk as much, how about throwing the ball outside? Anything to get some of that energy out.
> Have to admit, I giggled when I saw your photo, they truly are little buggers sometimes.
> Don't forget you need to tire his brain out too. Are you training him and teaching him things? There's heaps of things you can do inside, like hide and seek, teaching tricks. You could fill the kong with his breakfast so he has to work for it. How about those little balls you can fill with kibble or treats and he has to roll it around the floor if he wants to eat? Or breaking up his treats and hiding them around the house so he has to use his brain and nose to find them?
> Are you doing any puppy classes with him. And, taking him absolutely everywhere with you (that you can), like visiting pet shops and just generally socialising and tiring his brain out?
> Believe you me, I understand, I went through hell for 2 years. I'd absolutely hate to think what hell I would have come home to if I hadn't absolutely exhausted my pup every day.
> And, you are right, he is sooo cute! What's his name?


His names Enzo. Enzo the monster 

I'm gonna have to agree with most of your posts but honestly, I think hes too smart for his own good. He knows exactly when hes going to the vet, he knows when I'm grabbing a goodie for him and so on. I would love to take him to Doggie school but (and this is by far not making any excuses!!) it is damn expensive here in HK costing about 700-800 HKD (100 USD equiv almost) a lesson! He is turning out to be quite the investment. I am not complaining as hes MY dog and I'll always love and take care of him but I would like to keep the costs down a tiny bit. At least for the remainder of the year. 

For his food I already have the large Kong where he has to roll it around to get to his food. I've tried the normal bowls as well as the eat-slow bowls and he still scarfs it down in under 20 seconds. REALLY BAD! At least with this thing he takes about 2-10 minutes to get to his food which he works damn hard for!

As far as mind stimulating things for him to do, what else can you guys recommend? I've already taught him a handful of tricks such as roll over, play dead, jump up, shake a paw and of course the simple sit, stay, lay down. He even knows to go to his crate when I say "Go to your room". I want to of course continue training but he's got such a short attention span! Lol!


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## 54321bam

Donna Little said:


> I always think of it like this; you can be sitting on your rear watching tv, cruising the internet, chatting on the phone, or playing on the X-box and you can walk away from that and feel like you've had something to do. If your dog is sitting there on his rear, it's probably because he's bored to death. And you know what that leads to. (Refer back to destruction photo at this point.)
> All your dog has if he's not being taken outside for walks or playtime is you and the four walls he lives in. So he's gonna find himself something fun to do. In essence he's training himself to occupy his time in his own way and you get to follow behind him and clean up.
> As far as chewing his pee pads goes, if this is one reason you are hesitant to crate or keep him in an x-pen, then get something washable instead that can't be torn up. I have hospital pads at my house for my senior dog. They're made of thick material on the outside with a moisture proof material inside. She sleeps in an x-pen and I have those down because she can't hold her pee anymore. Even if she poops on one I can take it outside and hose it off before putting it in the washer.
> And as some others have mentioned get him some mind stimulating toys to play with. Great way to pass the hours for a bored young dog. And as far as being too attached.... Is that even possible? I have 10 dogs and every trip to the bathroom requires at LEAST 6 dogs as my entourage. They go from room to room with me and I have 3 in the chair with me right now. :smile:


10 DOGS?!? and here I am worrying about one! Hahah that is awesome though. If only I had the time and space for more. 

The peepads he chews up when in the confined playpen. He doesn't do it when I'm at home of course nor when I sleep UNTIL the last few days! I hate having him cooped up all day so I give him his space when I sleep. Unfortunately if this continues, I will have to look into the peepad you're mentioning. What others could you recommend? I have tons of nylabones that he chews to shit. He stays quite busy when I'm at home. I'm just worried about the time I'm not and how amazingly bored being crated for that long can be!


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## Scarlett_O'

I agree with everyone else, he seems bored and need more stimulation. 


As far as classes, try and see if there is a local dog club, or dog training club, many times these cost less to join then actual lessons but will provide you with options to get him out!:thumb:

You can do doggie aerobics, all the things he has learned so far in a string....an example would be, sit, crawl, down, play dead, sit, jump up, and shake. Then mix it up, so he never know what's going to happen next, it will keep his brain engaged, only take you a few moments to do 3-4 of these and will help tire him out mentally. 

I'm sure there will be many other ideas, but ya....there really isn't any such thing as a dog too attached, I'm sitting on my love seat right now, I have one dog behind me on the back of the couch, one in my lap, one sprawled out next to me and the other two are playing, but checking on me ever 20-30 seconds, or if I even slightly move, which ever comes first!:wink:


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## DaViking

danecolor said:


> tire that pup out and you'll have a better behaved dog right off the bat!


+1000

To the OP; You need to mentally and physically stimulate your Pom pup otherwise you will have an ongoing nightmare that will only get worse. If he doesn't get guidance and stimulation from you he will make up his own "fun" and you will be less and less important in his life. I have a JRT x Pom mix and it's energy 24/7. No way to just mail it in. Since your pup is home alone during the day it might be hard to get to 4 walks but try to do 3 20 mins walks per day, morning, afternoon and evening. Add to that some fun training you can do at home. Simple things like sit, stay, down, come, cheese hunting, scent discrimination, anything where he have to use his brain. Google dog exercises and search youtube. It's amazing how tired they can get from brainwork. Bottom line, he needs stimulation and guidance. Is getting help from a professional trainer an option at this point?


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## Tobi

54321bam said:


> Did you crate when you were sleeping? I was trying to let him have the freedom of his playpen while sleeping since he knows my sleeping schedule. Its worked out fine until the last 2 days where he started tearing the pee pad to shreds again.


Yes, not because of potty training, but because i was afraid that he would ingest something, and i wouldn't know about it. Now that i trust him at almost 2 years he's allowed out of his crate at night (most nights, he's a wiggle worm and it's hard to sleep with him), and when we leave for 5-6 hours during the day he gets to stay out now, mind you.. he's usually very tired because i keep him that way.


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## 54321bam

DaViking said:


> +1000
> 
> To the OP; You need to mentally and physically stimulate your Pom pup otherwise you will have an ongoing nightmare that will only get worse. If he doesn't get guidance and stimulation from you he will make up his own "fun" and you will be less and less important in his life. I have a JRT x Pom mix and it's energy 24/7. No way to just mail it in. Since your pup is home alone during the day it might be hard to get to 4 walks but try to do 3 20 mins walks per day, morning, afternoon and evening. Add to that some fun training you can do at home. Simple things like sit, stay, down, come, cheese hunting, scent discrimination, anything where he have to use his brain. Google dog exercises and search youtube. It's amazing how tired they can get from brainwork. Bottom line, he needs stimulation and guidance. Is getting help from a professional trainer an option at this point?


I was considering doing a trial lesson with one trainer which costs a little less. I think thats the best route for me to at the moment. Even if its for him to come and sit with me and Enzo for an hour and get him into more stimulating activities.

I will try one more night in the playpen Tobi! I usually leave nothing in the play area for him to digest as its just the hallway of my apartment leading from the living room to the other 4 rooms. He usually behaves when I sleep but just these last 2 days hes been going after the pee pads again. He usually only goes after them if I leave him out when I'm NOT at home and he knows that I'm not at home. Its very odd. But yes I will definitely try to tire him out more! The lil bugger is a treat hound! Always expects a food reward the smart little guy lol.


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## Celt

With my boys, destroying peepads (and other "rippables") is their loving way of telling us that they feel ignored and neglected (poor spoilt doggies). Poms are actually quite energetic. My niece has 4 and a box full of toys for them. Her pups love chasing things, so she has these "toys on a rope" (kind of like cat toys) and this little rolly ball with a "tail" on it that moves "on its own" . These are used with supervision of course. Set up a "puppy obstacle course" using pillows, boxes, etc. to try and tire your little one out.

My 2 follow me everywhere (or at least attempt to). They lay outside of the bathroom waiting, after trying to push the door open and scratching to be let in. Every return (including taking out the trash) is greeted with swirling, jumping, dancing,and whining puppies telling us how badly we've been misssed. 
Oh, my "puppies" are 3 and 2 years old.


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## Pop Alexandra

You could try Wolf Methodology for some training resources that might make a difference.


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