My dog acts up when I am on the phone

Mistral001

I have a dog which came from a dogs home a few years ago.  He had a few behavioural problems when I got him, but by and large has settled down to being fairly well behaved, but he has one behavioural problem that still persists.  When someone rings me, he whines for a while and then goes to a waste paper basket and starts to tear up its contents.  If there is a cap or scarf or pair of gloves not put out of his sight he will chew it and destroy it.  Also, sometimes he will bark when I am on the phone.  He is a biggish dog and his bark can be ear-piercing for anybody sitting next to him and no doubt very annoying to the person on the other other end of the phone. 
  
Does anybody have any advice on what to do to curtail this behaviour?  I have done all the obvious stuff like put boards over the wastepaper baskets and put all small clothing accessories  out of his reach, but sometimes it is difficult to do this all the time and when someone rings out of the blue there is always a chance that there is something he will get and proceed to destroy.   All suggestions are welcome.

KxMx

Could you keep some treats or a chew toy near the phone? And give them to him with some praise before you answer the phone. 
Gives him a positive association with the ringing phone and something to distract him. 

Mistral001

KxMx said:

Could you keep some treats or a chew toy near the phone? And give them to him with some praise before you answer the phone. 
Gives him a positive association with the ringing phone and something to distract him. 

Those are good suggestions.  I have tried giving toys during phone calls, but he quickly gets bored.  He seems to be only interested in doing things during calls that I do not usually allow him to do..  His mischievous side  comes out.  

tacpot12

Get a crate to put him in while you are on the phone. 

macman

If it's only incoming calls, then it's the ringtone, not the fact of you talking on it. So change the ringtone to something more canine friendly? Suggestions please?

Mistral001

He usually only behaves badly when the telephone conversation is longer than about five minutes, which makes me think it is a sort of jealousy he has that I am devoting my undivided attention to someone else.  If I can catch him and hold on to him and stroke his head he will calm down, but some of my relatives stay on the phone for maybe an hour and I cannot do this for all that time.  All my relatives are dog lovers but I still detect annoyance in their voice when during a call, I have to excuse myself to try to control my dog.   

sheramber

My two used to play chasing round from the kitchen to the dining room to the lounge to  the hall to the kitchen ......
They never did it any other time.
It is similar to kids who act up when mum is speaking on the phone.
Teach him to go and settle on his bed or on a mat by rewarding him for being there. Once he will go and lie down on cue use that when the phone rings. 
However, if he is used to  getting attention/ interaction a lot you cannot expect him to suddenly  shut off  because you are talking on the phone. 
Fill a kong with something soft- cream cheese, meat paste etc there are recipes online- and give him that when you answer the phone. That will keep him busy for a while.

carefullycautious

You can easily cure this. Each day pick the phone up say hello and then put it down gradually extend the time you talk on it. If the dog reacts initially put the phone down and go about your business. Go back to the phone when he is good. Is this a mobile phone or landline? 

Mistral001

sheramber said:

My two used to play chasing round from the kitchen to the dining room to the lounge to  the hall to the kitchen ......
They never did it any other time.
It is similar to kids who act up when mum is speaking on the phone.
Teach him to go and settle on his bed or on a mat by rewarding him for being there. Once he will go and lie down on cue use that when the phone rings. 
However, if he is used to  getting attention/ interaction a lot you cannot expect him to suddenly  shut off  because you are talking on the phone. 
Fill a kong with something soft- cream cheese, meat paste etc there are recipes online- and give him that when you answer the phone. That will keep him busy for a while.

Yes it is exactly like this.  He knows he can get away with being naughty when my attention is 100% elsewhere.  The treats suggestion might work.  I will have to put them somewhere he will not know about to stop him pestering me for them when I am not on the phone.  

Mistral001

carefullycautious said:

You can easily cure this. Each day pick the phone up say hello and then put it down gradually extend the time you talk on it. If the dog reacts initially put the phone down and go about your business. Go back to the phone when he is good. Is this a mobile phone or landline? 

This might be worth a try, but i am not a good actor and I suspect he would know the difference between a fake call and a real one.  It is a landline.  

Jenni_D

Mistral001 said:

carefullycautious said:

You can easily cure this. Each day pick the phone up say hello and then put it down gradually extend the time you talk on it. If the dog reacts initially put the phone down and go about your business. Go back to the phone when he is good. Is this a mobile phone or landline? 

This might be worth a try, but i am not a good actor and I suspect he would know the difference between a fake call and a real one.  It is a landline.  

I agree that this tactic is probably the best bet. You could ring your landline from your mobile (assuming you have one) - if you want to avoid call charges simply hang up the mobile just before you pick up the landline phone. That way he hears the ringtone so believes it is a real call.