Kelpie Dogs and Red Heeler Puppies - How to stop destructive, digging, disobedient behavior

by June
(HackhamWest,SouthAustralia)

Our puppy is a "Pet rescue" puppy originally dumped in Darwin, then sent to Sydney and now to us here in Adelaide. At first he was very quiet, loving etc; now he is so naughty. He digs holes at least a foot deep, and today has chewed our new outdoor blind - biting through the zips, torn up the cover on his bed,chewed up the mat he sits on to eat, all in the space of 3/4 hour. what do I do? He is about 6 months old and (we think) Kelpie Red heeler. What can I do?

Hi and thanks for your question - it is always difficult to take on a dog that has been badly treated in the past. Your dog has been passed from place to place and has never been in one place long enough to have any form of obedience training. I would start by speaking to a local dog behavior expert or take him to puppy training classes - do you know why? Well firstly a dog behavior expert will be able to work one on one and puppy training classes will give your puppy the stimulation that he needs (another question - when the time is right speak to your vet about being neutered - as this might limit some of the behavior problems). Ok back to stimulation - the Kelpie need LOTS of stimulation - if they do not receive the stimulation that they crave then you are in for trouble i.e. digging, barking and destructive behavior - couple this with the fact that he is also a rescue dog it just compounds the problem. So give your dog lots and lots of stimulation - this means lots and lots of exercise, games and reinforce positive behavior. This will all help to reduce your dogs behavior problems in the future.

Hope this helps.

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