We have an 18 month Tibetan Terrier/Poodle mix. We got him when he was 2 months old. We did crate train him when very young but he became terrified of his crate at about 9 months old. He's had run of the house since then and has done well. He went thru a terrible stage of separation anxiety at around 9 months old as well and we got him thru that.
Bart gets walks every day, does some training at least 4 days a week. He has the basics down and we're learning tricks now. He has toys that he can play with and get food out of. Bart is full of vinegar and he's not always real quick to learn something. Once he understands what we want, he's happy to comply. Overall, Bart is a good boy.
Bart has developed a couple bad habits.
I was laid off from my job in Aug. I've been home with him a lot. Now when I do go out even for 1/2 hour, he tears something up. It might be a magazine, tv remote, a snow boot, it really doesn't matter. We can't keep replacing things. We don't want to confine him as that is too frightening for him. How can we teach him to respect our things and just chew his while we're gone? He learned a long time ago what is his and what is ours.
The other issue with Bart is he becomes very frightened when we cook. It's gotten to the point where all we have to do is take something out of the fridge. He'll hide behind the sofa or go to his bed in our room. We've just ignored him with this first started but it's gotten worse. We've tried getting him to engage is some favorite play during cooking and he just runs away. I know he's afraid because twice the smoke detector went off, but that hasn't happened for months. I love to cook and hate seeing him hiding because he's scared. How can I get him over this?
Thank you so much for any insight you can give me.
Firni
