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Old February 24th, 2015, 07:56 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,528
LOL, eight months old is one month shy of what I have come to believe is THE worst age for acting up, nine months. So I confidently predict it will only get worse.

You started trusting your dog alone at a much younger age than I ever did.

How long is he alone? Did you work him into being alone with only minutes at first and up to longer and longer times?

Ditto the exercise question.

I do not like to see a young dog, or any dog, crated for a whole work day, over 8 hours. By that age most can hold their bathroom needs but they are still growing and can't move around properly and if they do have to poop or barf then they're stuck lying in it.

I prefer the crate to have an open door and be within a big secure pen. I'd like them to have a mid day break, you or a neighbour come in to take them out for half an hour or so. There is also Doggy Day Care and you might find only a few days a week has effects that last the whole week, my friend did. My friend also hired a dog walker who took her GSD out for a hour long walk off leash.

Good luck. It's bad enough coming home to a wrecked house but you could come home to a seriously ill or dead dog. They will chew and swallow the darndest things.
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