Henry scratches at the door and wall when we are out.

[Sparky]

Hi everyone!

I am brand new to the forum, which I've found very helpful.
My partner and I have just bought Henry, who turned 3 yesterday, and have had him for a month.
We have trained him to go to toilet when we take him for walks so we don't have any accidents in the house anymore and he'll go to his bed when we tell him and sits when we ask.
He doesn't whine when we, or if it's just one of us at home, are upstairs anymore like he did for the first 2 weeks of having him.
He knows where to and not to go in the house now.
He cuddles up to us and loves our attention that we are smothering him with, as he was a stud dog kept in a kennel outside.
So far he sounds like the perfect dog, but there's a but....
When no one is in the house, for no longer than 4 hours may I add, he scratches at the front door and wall and is slowly destroying it!
We've tried to tell him off, as hard as it is as he's so cute, and also spraying behavioural spray on it and telling him NO but once that wares off he's at if again.
The spray says to do it every 2-3 days but we have been doing it very day to try and stop him.
We've thought about lessons and training but was wondering if there is any advice someone can give to us please.
Henry is our first pet and we love him to pieces but we cannot have this all the time

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks people!

[shaynapug]

I would crate him while you're gone. Being a kennel dog, he's used to it......and will feel comfortable in one. Then.......you're happy and he's happy when you get home!

[Snifter]

You can't tell him off because he only does it when you are out. Telling him off on your return is pointless and will just upset him.

The spray is clearly not working.

I think the only option is to make sure he cannot get to the areas he likes to scratch. You may need to buy a pen, or gate him or crate him.

My Toddy is a bit of a scratcher. I keep big brown cardboard packing boxes and have one or two around the house. He is allowed to scratch those and I praise him when he does. Any other scratching I see him doing is nipped immediately in the bud and he is told "no".

Training is always good in cementing the bond between you but there is no control really over what he does if left unsupervised.

[Sparky]

Thanks for the replies!
We tried to put him in a crate at first and he absolutely hated it!

The trouble is our down stairs is completely open plan so we can't contain him...

[Sparky]

He only scratches at the same place.
I think he's trying to get out to see where we are as he's alone.
I do shift work and when I get in from nights and my partner goes to work he doesn't do it because he knows I'm upstairs.
But he does howl!

[Snifter]

Genuine Savic Dog Park Puppy Exercise Pens at Canine Concepts

I have one of these types of pens. They are very useful. Apart from using it as an actual pen (which he might tolerate more than a crate, which he may associate with bad times) you can also fold it into various shapes (like V, C, L). So you may be able to fashion it into a shape which at least protects your front door and wall from him. Of course it may mean he scratches somewhere else.

What type of door do you have? I wonder if you could get some large sheets of clear perspex and and attach them to the door somehow to protect it.

[Daisy's Daddy]

I was going to recommend exactly what Bella has posted. We have an exercise pen similar to the linked pen and use it for a ton of things. We can block off a very wide doorway to keep them contained in part of the house, we can block off access to a specific door or area, or we can turn it into an actual pen in the center of a room where the pugs can't harm anything at all.

Good for you for adopting a breeder pug, and good luck.