Orneriness when left alone

[drharps]

For the most part, my 2-year old BC mix is fine with being left alone. She goes into the basement and sits until we get home. For the past few weeks, however, she has gone into the kitchen and pulled things down from the counters. She doesn't often do much with them - yesterday she pulled down two dry pasta bags and a veggie broth box, chewed holes in each of them, then did nothing else. 

Sometimes it is because she hasn't been exercised properly, but there's now enough regularity that her energy level seems to be less of a factor. 

Thoughts on cause? Solutions? We can of course block her from the kitchen, but given the layout of the house that's an option we don't want to exercise. We are also putting things out of her reach more, but there's simply too much stuff for her to be completely devoid of temptation. Strangely, she has never pulled down her bag of food which is the easiest to reach. 

[SS Cressa]

Are you able to kennel her? Or confined her?

 

My one Border Collie who used to be and still is good loose 80% of the time when stressed will get into the counter or cupboards. I either block his access to the kitchen when I’m not home or he goes in the kennel or I confined him to my bedroom. He gets a bone regardless where he goes, a treat, and a toy. I do sometimes give him a kong or wobbler with treats but for him specifically when he is stressed or worried (some noises like thunder/fireworks/backfire of a truck/etc spook him) he will get into naughty in the kitchen. 

Idk if that helps. I have heard of setting the dogs up to correct them. So act like you leave but don’t actually... 

Also if possible don’t have anything on the counter if possible? 

My almost perfect dog has in the past got into: a bag of dry rice, flour, dry pancake mix, dry noodles, butter, baking nuts, unsweetened coconut flakes, peanut butter, and dried beans.  half of his goto I don’t even get like how is any of that possible tasty or intriguing !?! He even destroyed a cardboard box once. 

[D'Elle]

Block her from the kitchen or put things out of her reach. This kind of thing is best managed with simple solutions: make it impossible for the dog to get to what you don't want the dog to get to. You cannot expect to train a dog to behave exactly as you want him or her to behave 100% of the time when you are not there.  Even my fully adult and fully well trained dogs are not left with temptations when I am gone from the house.

Rather than going into a whole long investigation as the why she is doing this or how to try to train her out of it just make it impossible for her to get to those things. And, please, put the bag of food out of reach. Letting it be accessible is just asking for trouble.