[Mrtymoose]

Here is a little bit of background, we have two dogs Shelby a 4 y/o shep/rot mix and Remington a 3 y/o English Pointer. We got both dogs from our local Humane Society at different times, Shelby first.
When we first got Remington we tried crate training him but he would break out of the crate no matter how we secured it. So we let him have have free reign of the house with Shelby. No real problems at this point. Jump forward two years. Remington now is able to open our back patio sliding door, we started putting a rod between the door frame and door so it can not be opened. We now have gone through 2 handles, new curtains and destroyed trim.
It only gets worse, on the 4th of July we made the mistake of leaving them home during the fireworks. We left the inside doors open so they could get to any part of the house but scratched up the front door and the attic closet door terribly. We were not happy but we made the mistake of leaving them alone.
Now it seems that any time we leave the house he is scratching the door to our bedroom along with the sliding glass door. It is getting extremely frustrating knowing that you will be coming home to damage.
Could something like fireworks set off the separation anxiety again or is there a possibility of something different going on? He is going to the vet for shots soon so we will also bring this up to our vet but any advice until the visit?
Sorry for the long post but we are at our wits end and do not want to get rid of him. Thanks

[cigwyllt]

How frustrating for you - and how distressing for poor Remington! I really understand what you're going through - my own rescue dog had similar issues when we first got her. The length of time she was left was irrelevant - if I left her to go to the bathroom or to put washing in the machine I would come back to find a mess on the floor and something destroyed. Any longer than that and the whole house would be a disaster zone. What worked for us was to restrict the area she had to "patrol". She seemed much happier if she was left in a small space rather than having the entire kitchen to guard. I say we left her in the kitchen - she would climb to the top of our fridge freezer (6ft high) or jump over the gate separating the kitchen from the dining room. She was seriously anxious.

That was 10 years ago. Now she is an old lady of 12/13 and happy to stay in the kitchen with the other dogs but she is still anxious when left alone. Last year we left her in the kitchen with the other two dogs when we went out on New Year's eve. The gate wasn't closed properly and the two little ones got out of the kitchen. Toffee tried to follow them but got stuck. I don't know how long she was stuck there - I'm afraid it might have been all night. She was very sore and in a lot of pain afterwards but recovered. But it just shows that that sort of anxious character remains.

Just a thought - could you train Remington to accept a crate. Rather trying to shut him in it when you go out straight away make it a really positive place, lots of treats, feed him in there, make it cosy and den like with a heavy blanket over it. Then when he chooses to go in there you can start to close the door for a couple of minutes at a time and gradually build up until you can leave him there.