Separation Anxiety

[coco22]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone where has any advice regarding separation anxiety?

I think Obi is having separation anxiety. He follows me around the house a lot and when I leave the house, he would bark, whine and scratch the door frantically. We live in an apartment so I'm afraid that his barks might annoy the neighbours.

We did try leaving him home alone for a couple hours when he was (about 12 weeks old) and he was ok with it. But now he panics when he thinks we are going out and would follow us closely when we walk around the house. We confine him to an area of the apartment when we go out and we would leave him with a box full of his toys. We also leave treats around the area so that he can have some fun time looking for treats while we are gone. Is it better for us to leave him in his crate when we go out? He's currently 21 weeks old.

Obi at 10 weeks

Obi at 16 weeks

[Odette]

Odette does that too, not just with me, but if my partner goes out. She scratches at the door for about a minute then stops. I've waited and listened, and she stops pretty quickly.

Another thing i do is put some food in her kong or in her feeder ball and leave her with that when we leave, so her attention is elsewhere. Havent really had any major issues, we live in an apartment too. This morning i left the rest of her breakfast in her feeder ball, and then left. It should keep her occupied for a little while at least!

What really worked for us, i think, is that we would confine her to an area (for us, it was the spare room) for an hour or so every now and then, even when we are home, so she doesn't think that any time she is confined that we have gone. She got used to being alone on the house, even when we are home, so when we DO go out, she doesn't immediately think we are leaving....

[Gayle.]

Obi is adorable.

Make going out a good thing by giving him a treat before you leave.....a treat that he ONLY gets when you leave. When Benson was a puppy, I'd give him a brisket bone to gnaw on before I went to work each day. Not only did he love it, but it made up part of his diet. Because I was working shifts, I left at different times of the day and he wasn't always alone, so he only got it if he was going to be left alone.

[persephone]

What really worked for us, i think, is that we would confine her to an area (for us, it was the spare room) for an hour or so every now and then, even when we are home, so she doesn't think that any time she is confined that we have gone. She got used to being alone on the house, even when we are home, so when we DO go out, she doesn't immediately think we are leaving....

Sounds a good plan to me

With dogs, I think that the more clues they get that "SOMETHING" is about to happen,. the more they will throw a tantrum

I would also suggest that a few times during the day, you confine Obi to his area...very matter-of -factly..no baby talk, no pats goodbye, no admonitions to be good/quiet ..just have treats and toys ready, pick him up and put him in there..walk away immediately, and DO NOT respond at all to any forthcoming hysterics

He will hear that you haven't left, but are going about your normal routine..and he should settle and enjoy whatever nice things you provided!

He has to learn to be alone,.and to be independent. He also has to understand that what you say goes..and he has no say in the matter

IMO. all comings and goings should be done with as little 'conversation' as possible...just everything low key and matter-of-fact.

The more we give away in our conversations/body language, the more our dog will pick up on that and react.

It's not easy to listen and NOT respond...but it is important! if a pup whinges/screams/scratches for 10 minutes and you finally give in........................ well, next time he will do all that for maybe 1/2 an hour, 'cos he thinks you WILL eventually give in

Only pay him attention when he is being quiet, and preferably just lying still..... then, when you let him out..just do it, and walk away... don't pick him up, or anything...wait a few minutes, and if he is very settled, then tell him how beautiful he is and he IS!

[coco22]

Thanks for all your replies. I will certainly try the suggestions mentioned.

GayleK, I work shifts too but my partner works from home. That's why there's always someone home with Obi. I'll have to let him get used to being alone for short periods of time everyday. I observed that he does notice cues like the sound of keys, me taking my bag etc. That's when he gets anxious and starts following me around closely.

We have a tenant leaving with us as well who spends quite a lot of time with Obi. But when she leaves, Obi is usually fine with it. Only occasionally he will walk to the door and whine a little and then he'd get over it. He has the most reaction when I leave the apartment. My partner says that it's because I spend too much time in contact with him. I guess I will have to reduce my contact time with him but sometimes it's tough... as he's just too adorable to ignore especially when he gives me that pitiful look!

[Cockerlover]

He is divine & has trained you well!!!!! brake the habit now! or it will be a life time problem; do as others have suggested & leave him alone for short interals @ first then increase the time,do not make a big deal of your leaving ;but reward only the good behaviour; good luck stand firm ;dont let those eyes win!!!!!

[coco22]

We have started to leave obi confined to the hallway near the bedrooms a couple times a day while we are home, leaving him with his fav squeaky toy and also his special treat while we watch tv in the lounge room.

Have also tried a few times making trips to the supermarket or going out for dinner at nearby restaurants while leaving obi in the hallway. So far so good..... he is too engrossed with his fav toy and special treat to even notice the sound of the main door closing while we leave. We always leave the TV on in the lounge room so that he thinks that we're still home watching tv.

[Dogsfevr]

Thething to remember is us humans create separation anxiety & its the dogs that suffer the most.

As a human the best thing we can do is not be selfish to what we want but to be very considerate off what the dog can suffer if we dont meet half way.

We always stress to people if the dog becomes very vocal & neighbours start to complain then the problem becomes major.

Cavies are people dog but there also very sporty & do like being tom boys the problem is they learn very quickly whether it be bad/good behaviour..

I would consider you behaviour when you leave & the way you re enter the house.Many make a big deal out off it & the dogs react too to that

[Danois]

Someone commented about giving a favourite treat - the issue that may arise is that there is then an association between that particular treat and you leaving and not coming back for ages - ie the anxiety kicking in.

What I did with Angs (with thanks to Sas and Steph&Bam) was to desensitise him to leaving and returning - leave the house and wait for him to settle, return to the house and ignore the dog until he relaxes (lies on side for example), then get up and repeat and keep repeating until they do not pay attention or make a fuss.

The importance is also routine - everyone needs to leave and return in the same manner.

When I leave I do not say anything to Angs, everything else is already organised and I change my routine around. I usually tuck a pigs ear or something into his toy bucket or out the back when he is not paying attention.

I ignore Angs for a good 10 mins when I arrive home. I come in, drop my stuff, feed the cat, bathroom, change my clothes and then say hello etc. By this stage he is nice and quiet and normally bored with me so I call him to me, put him into sit and give him an ear scratch.

[coco22]

Someone commented about giving a favourite treat - the issue that may arise is that there is then an association between that particular treat and you leaving and not coming back for ages - ie the anxiety kicking in.

What I did with Angs (with thanks to Sas and Steph&Bam) was to desensitise him to leaving and returning - leave the house and wait for him to settle, return to the house and ignore the dog until he relaxes (lies on side for example), then get up and repeat and keep repeating until they do not pay attention or make a fuss.

The importance is also routine - everyone needs to leave and return in the same manner.

When I leave I do not say anything to Angs, everything else is already organised and I change my routine around. I usually tuck a pigs ear or something into his toy bucket or out the back when he is not paying attention.

I ignore Angs for a good 10 mins when I arrive home. I come in, drop my stuff, feed the cat, bathroom, change my clothes and then say hello etc. By this stage he is nice and quiet and normally bored with me so I call him to me, put him into sit and give him an ear scratch.

We leave treats around the confined area so that he can have some fun searching for treats.

When we leave the house, we never make a fuss of it. But when we return, Obi would be very excited and run to us and wanting attention from us. Do we completely ignore him completely until he's calm and settled?

I have tried to ignore him and wait for him to be calm and settled before giving him attention but sometimes he gets impatient and would start to bark to get our attention. We live in a small block of 9 flats and we have heard him bark when we were out of the flat before. we could hear him very loud and clear at the stairway and even when we are out of the security door.