Ask the Experts: My Spaniel is Hyper, Destructive and Exhausting

Your Pet Question:

Our 20-month-old English Springer Spaniel is super hyper and steals couch cushions, dishtowels, shoes, or whatever he can and chews them to pieces if we don’t stop him. His reign of destruction is apparent all thorough our home. Help!

Ronald, Kamloops, BC

The Expert Says:

First you need to drain his hyper energy before you can deal with his destructive ways. A daily fast-paced heeling exercise should do the trick. Speed up, slow down, change directions frequently, have him stop and sit suddenly, ensuring he is always at your heel. The exercise and constant mental challenges will wear him out physically so he’ll be too tired to wreak much havoc when he returns home. Also, when you can’t keep a very close eye on him, I advise putting him in a puppy playpen until he can be trusted not to destroy property and possessions. Place his own chew toys in there to give him the message that chewing things in there is fine, but only HIS things and ONLY in there!

Joe Rosen, owner of JR’s Dog Training in Montreal, Quebec