Hi,
I've just joined this forum. I've read lots of the threads on separation anxiety in general as well as the Papillon threads but haven't really found a way to solve some of my problems.
I bought a 6 year old Papillon in February from the RSPCA. He had been surrendered to them in December along with 12 others from the same household. The dogs were used for breeding and apart from a couple of the owners favourites none of them received much attention. I was told at the time that the main problem was neglect of the dogs.
I also have a cross breed dog. I had previously had a chihuahua that my crossbreed had grown up with but I had to put her down a year previously. He internalises his stress and about 6 months after losing the chi he started having major skin problems. Beef allergy was part of the problem but changing his diet to exclude beef didn't solve all of the problem. However, I noticed that when I took him away at Christmas and we were with other dogs he would settle right down and his skin started clearing up properly. On coming home, though, he started scratching and biting at himself again. I felt ready to have another one by this time, had decided that ideally I'd like a Papillon but wanted a rescue dog as well because with Fletch being nearly 10 I didn't want a puppy for him.
So on checking out the RSPCA site I found my Papillon. As soon as he and Fletch met they got on like a house on fire and he took to me straight away as well like he'd always known both of us. His name was Luke at the time but I quickly changed it to Ruben.
The things that have surprised me with him are that never having one on one time with people, is that he bonded to me so quickly. I expected it with Fletch but not with me. He also bonded to me very strongly. From the afternoon he arrived he has followed me absolutely everywhere. For the first few days especially I had him on and off leash quite a bit to assert my alpha role with him and to see how well he knew basics such as come etc. What he didn't know he learnt extremely quickly, especially considering his age and his previous situation.
Some stuff I don't know how he's picked up because they're things I haven't consciously taught him, such as when I'm in bed and I say "night night Ruben" he goes and lies down and goes to sleep lol. He also learnt what "go to bed" meant within a few days as well.
My problem with him is that when I go out he barks and cries, especially when he hears me coming back. I know he doesnt' do it after I'm gone because he's quiet until he hears my voice while I'm getting out of a taxi or being dropped off or if I'm not in a car he starts when he hears me get my keys out of my bag. Generally I feed them when I'm leaving so they don't see me go to work which solves most of my leaving problem.
I've tried waiting to come in till he stops barking. He then stopped barking till I got mostly in the door and then starts barking. If I have to put him in the bedroom, it's the same thing. While ever I'm away from the bedroom door he'll cry and bark and scratch, but if he can sense me near it he's quiet knowing that when he's quiet I'll open the door. When there are other people here he's 10 times worse if he's locked up.
The other issue I have with him is that he was hardly ever physically handled before he came to live with me and he has a real fear of being picked up. When I first got him he would yelp if it even looked like you were going to lift him. I'm at the point now where I can do very small lifts with him, say from the lounge to my lap or the bed to my lap but he still has a real problem with being lifted from the floor. I've worked slowly with him to build his confidence and trust but also because there are 6 years worth of whatever happened to him to work through. When I'm on the floor or on the bed with him he loves to curl up with me and climb on me and he's even learning to play with me now, but he still has issues with being picked up off the ground
The suggestions that I've been given all involve food. However, I'm not keen on bribing my dogs with food to do what I want them to do. I'm probably being a wuss but I hate the sound of a dog yelping and that's what Ruben does when he's frightened and that then freaks me out because yelping normally means pain. I've had him totally checked over by the vet and they can't find anything wrong with him. All of my other dogs bar one I've had from puppies and they've all been fully and properly handled when they were young so they've never had any fear or hesitation with this. This is a new problem for me and I'm not sure where to go next.
He's also frightened of feet which is an issue I have problems getting him over because I move around on wheels all the time. Also it seems as though he has like ESP for aggression in people. Even if they haven't shown any and are just standing quietly, Ruben runs behind me and whimpers. He's done this with a couple of people who I know have tempers but were not doing anything remotely aggressive at the time and they were people he was meeting for the first time. The RSPCA said that he hadn't been abused but I don't believe that from what I've seen with him.
Sorry this is all a bit jumbled but its' a hard problem to explain. In general he's alot more confident than he was when I got him and he seems to be totally happy and he is the kind of dog that needs to please. He's happy, he's always busy when he's not sleeping and him and Fletch get on fantastically well. He is extremely smart and apart from his fear issues he's just about perfect.
Thank you in advance for any suggestions you can give me.
Bron
