Seperation Anxiety?!

[JeffnCel]

Buffy is now 10 months old, and I thought that her whingyness was just because she was a dobermann. I have been taking her to a dog swimming pool for fitness once a week for 2 weeks now, with an extra session last night, and the lady who runs the pool and swims the dogs, is quite concerned as Buffy just shuts down if I walk away from her. The only way she swims is if I run next to the pool with her.

The lady, who has experience in dog behaviour and owns a dog security company, is concerned about Buffy's dependance on me, and has suggested that I put Buffy in a kennel for a week to try and break the cycle.

Could this possibly be seperation anxiety? When we go out, we have to crate Buffy inside as she just barks constantly if left outside, and our neighbours have threatened to have her removed. She's alright in her crate, she must feel safe in there. But even if I walk from the front door and go into the garage, Buffy starts to whinge, as if I'm leaving.

I don't know what to do. I don't particularly want to leave my dog in a kennel, but if this is only going to get worse, maybe it's worth a try. Any advice, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[laffi]

Have you done any "Separation Anxiety Training" with her (for example leaving her in the yard for 1, 2, 3... min and come back each time without making a fuss)? There is heaps of info about it on DOL.

I am definitely not an expert but I doubt that leaving her in a kennel for a week is going to solve anything. I think it could actually make things even worse once she is back.

[ruthless]

I found Patricia McConnells book on Separation Anxiety pretty good. It's only small, you could read it in a night. Have you tried NILIF also? I'm a recent convert Here's a good link http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

I can tell you my routine, there might be a few things you can try...

Lots of exercise in the morning before you leave

Give them Rescue Remedy/Nervatona

Leave the radio on in the garage beside their run

Give them no attention for 20mins before you leave and 20mins after you get home

Leave one of OHs stinky work tshirts in each of their kennels

Leave them with a kong/bone/everlasting treatball/something they have to work at

DAP has also been suggested, but I haven't tried that yet.

Good luck

[MarkS]

Putting your dog into a kennel will not fix seperation anxiety. You need to change your relationship with your dog, and how she veiws you. Sounds like you have conditioned your dog to be overly dependant on you. This is usually caused by 'mothering' a young dog to much, and not allowing it to deal with stress in a natural way.

I would get a good behaviourist out to assess how bad the situation is and to guide you in the right direction to building your dogs confidence levels up, and not to be overly dependant on you.

[CP*]

Whatever you do, do not put your dog in a kennel. One of my dogs is a bit clingy but when I left him with someone for a couple of weeks he came back a basket case. He is now on anxiety tablets while I get him straight.

I see a behavourist regularly and she has said some breeds are just more clingy, plus, I was at home for his first year so we were together all the time and, of course, he never goes out of the house & yard without me. He (usually) has no problem with me going to work or nicking off with his mates at the park though.

So, let me tell you what was suggested while he is on the meds.

Play hide and seek (me hiding and get someone to hold him back).

Ignore attention seeking behaviour

Have someone look after him for short periods, building it up each time. So 15min of fun time at least every 2nd day with someone else, then 30 min next week etc. My aim is for him to stay overnight at someone's home. The fun time can be just having someone else take him for walks at the moment.

Hope that helps. I havent started yet, so cant tell you how it is going. The meds are good for the anxiety, but it makes him very naughty.

[JeffnCel]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I have yet to talk about this with the trainers at my club, which I will be doing on Friday night. I can't see how I am "mothering" Buffy while I am at home, the only thing I do to calm her is put her in her crate when I go out. I don't usually spend time with her during the day, because it's too hot to start with, and I don't want to get her into a routine of doing stuff in the middle of the day, and then when I go back to work she'll wonder why it's all stopped.

We haven't been able to get her to "deal" with being outside on her own when no-one is home because of our neighbours. They want a silent neighbourhood, and have the right to have Buffy removed. The only way to keep her quiet when we go out, is to put her inside.

I will contact a behaviouralist and see what they say. Ruthless great info thanks for that.

[Eileen]

What is DAP?

[MarkS]

Play hide and seek (me hiding and get someone to hold him back).

For a dog with high levels of seperation anxiety I personally wouldn't be playing hide and seek. If the dog is so highly stressed when the owner goes out of site, and a person is holding the dog back, this stress level will rise significantly. Then when the person lets go of the dog, and the dog goes looking for the owner in a highly stressed condition, finds the owner we are actually making matters worse. We are building up the dogs stress, and then reinforcing a stressful state of mind by being rewarded for finding the owner.. I do not recommend this at all for dogs with extremely high levels of seperation anxiety.

[JeffnCel]

Apart from the problems we have at home when we go out (which have been solved by crating) Buffy has never had a problem going with anyone else. She is regularly trained by people at our club, in order to show techniques and she's quite happy to do this. Maybe it's the added stress of the swimming that is sending her a bit over the edge.

[ruthless]

What is DAP?

Dog Appeasing Pheremone. It comes in plugin diffusers, collars and sprays.

[ness]

Hi Jeff,

I would say if it bothers you then you have a problem and it needs sorting otherwise maybe its not as big an issue as a trainer might think. To me it would depend on how important it is.

I am realistic with mine now in that I don't think she could cope in a kennel environment and pretty sure will never have to be placed in such an environment.

I also believe that some signs of separation anxiety can be situational (well at least from my own personal belief).

I would have long denied the fact my BC had separation anxiety but it was very apparent when I last took her interstate on holiday and left her behind at the place I was staying only for her to have jumped the front gate about 10-15 minutes later. Funnily enough this was also the first time she has refused to eat while I haven't been around. She was left with a bone and other dogs around and people.

She has jumped gates at home when I have been across the road at my uncles place doing work, even when my parents have been home.

She does however manage out of sight stays for obedience alright and is non-destructive at home when we leave so it can't be horrendous. She is also pretty independant at the park so is this SA or not?

Does it bother you that your dog shuts down when your not around especially considering you are talking about an environment away from home? If the dog is good at home and good in other situations I certainly wouldn't be resorting to a drastic situation like placing the dog in a boarding kennel for a week.

ETA. Yep I would agree swimming can put some dogs over the top so it might magnify any problem.

Also on the matter of playing hide and seek funnily enough this has never caused my dog any problems but I guess thats just one example and maybe she doesn't have SA.

Edited January 24, 2008 by ness

[neatz]

Hi, I had a dobe x (see profile photo) who had a milder case of sep anxiety and I think it is common in the breed as I have seen Sherry's manerisms in other dobes. Also she almost always had a lick sore on her body somewhere from constant licking. This pretty much dissapeared as she got older but she also was given a companion (GSD) and if you are able to I would recomend this highly. I guess it's not addressing the problem but I found it helpful. Leaving radio on is good too. I definately wouldn't leave your dog in a kennel as this would be your dogs worst nightmare. On the plus side my dog Sherry was the canine equivalant of my soul mate (she was PTS recently) and she would never run off if I had her off lead, always came on recall (was top of her class all the way through obedience) and a couple of times I would come home from work to find gates blown open by wind and there was my girl in the back yard waiting for me. Be patient, seek help from your vet as there are perscription medications that can help and definately give the dog lots of exercise/obedience training. Also maybe let your neighbours know your situation and to give you some breathing space to work this out.

[Erny]

I haven't read through every post, but just want to make a note here in case it is relevant to any of your cases ....

"Separation Anxiety" does tend to be over diagnosed. In many cases, it is lack of "independance training". In other cases it can be "denied access" that causes the dog to behave in some of the ways described.

Separation Anxiety is a pretty complex emotional issue for the dog. In some cases, it is very hard if not impossible to cure and for those extreme cases, it is often a matter of "management" - where the dog believes it cannot function without the presence of the person to whom the dog is so attached.

If it is separation anxiety, kennelling the dog carries with it the very real potential of making the situation worse. The SA afflicted dog goes to the kennel and stresses. When the dog is picked up he/she is so relieved, but then becomes worried that his/her 'person' will disappear again, so becomes even more clingy. Any time the dog is left, the anxiety levels rise faster and often higher, simply because it now recognises that the separation may be a big one.

I know that some 'normal' dogs, when they've stayed at kennels, can be a bit clingy when they return - but that does not necessarily mean they are afflicted by "separation anxiety" issues. Often that 'clingyness' settles down over a day or two and things return to normality.

In many cases that I see, it is quite often not "separation anxiety" per se, but more an anxiety where the dog believes it is the leader and as such becomes anxious when it is prohibited from being able to protect and govern its 'pack'.

In any case, leadership strategies are prescribed. As to what other program is put into place depends much on the lifestyle of the owner/s. Sometimes it is that very lifestyle that makes it very difficult for an effective program to be followed.

Edited January 26, 2008 by Erny

[JeffnCel]

Thanks for the info Erny. I love reading your posts

I spoke to the trainers at our club on Friday night, and they don't think it's seperation anxiety, they think that Buffy is just sensitive and in stressful situations she just "shuts down" almost. We've had problems with her being outside when we go out, but if we put her in her crate and go out, she's absolutely fine. Not a peep out of her.

I took her swimming again today, and she did better, but it was still obvious that she wasn't going to go anywhere without me walking right next to her. It concerns me that she won't do anything without me being there, but at the same time, almost 95% of our lifestyle she is absolutely fine with. Hopefully she will get more used to being with other people.

[tarope]

JeffnCel,

We had a beautiful brown Dobe for over 10yrs, she was exactly the same if you left her alone for just half an hour she would rip everything up in the house. She slept in our room all her life, towards the end of her life when she started to wet herself I put her in the spare room at night and she screamed and cried all night. She also ripped her bed up as well, so she was put back in our room.

I think it's a Dobe thing as other breeds I have owned never had this problem, but I could be wrong. She was not the only dog but she missed us so much. Such is the love this breed has for their family, she's been gone for over 4yrs now and we still miss her very much. Enjoy your Dobe as long as you can.

Edited January 27, 2008 by tarope