Seperation Anxiety

[Siobhan]

Hi All --

I have a problem, but I need to give you some background before I can tell you what's going on...

My husband and I have had a little tri colour Miniature Foxie cross boy for a while now - Chili. We absolutely adore him and he's settled in quite nicely. We rescued him from a shelter after the loss of our GS late last year. We are unsure of his full history however we do know that he and his sister were removed from his last home by the authorities. Some of his behaviour is fairly typical of abused dogs and we don't have too many issues dealing with them. For example, we are fairly sure he was abused a lot at dinner time as he won't eat if you watch him, or he will bring a mouthful of food out into the lounge and hide under our dining room table to eat it. He's obviously been belted up because even a pointing finger can send him into fits of fear. We have never hit him, but he's definitely got some left over anxiety.

Anyway, the behaviour we are most concerned about is the seperation anxiety. We only have a problem with this if his routine is broken. He's left at home most of the day, but we leave and return at the same time every day so he's not worried. The problem arises when either my husband or I leave the house at night. He bonded with me very quickly and when I leave the house, apparently he walks around the house whining and pacing for hours. He didn't bond as quickly with my husband (I believe he was abused by a man) however in the last few months (with quite a lot of work) he's become very fond of him. Tonight when Chris left, Chili became extremely depressed. He is sitting at the front door and won't move. He's become very quiet (he's usually very energetic and a bit of a loony!). He will come over for a pat but just goes back to staring at the door. I'm really not sure how to deal with this. I've called him, picked him up and brought him over, sat on the floor and called him, offered him treats, I've even tried just leaving him and only speaking to him if he came over for a pat, but he's still really quiet and depressed.

Any help that someone can give me would be very much appreciated as I'm running out of ideas.

Thanks for taking the time to read my extremely long post :p

[Erny]

For what period of time have you ignored his behaviour?

As an aside - whilst one could possibly think "abuse", that's not necessarily the case. However in the absence of not really knowing, think of the dog in terms of what he is now rather than what you think he might have experienced. By the sounds of it he needs more self confidence. Training (tricks and obedience); sports such as agility; and the like, can help with that.

Avoid giving him attentions which can serve to (inadvertantly) encourage/reinforce his lack of confidence and/or anxious behaviour.

Train him up into enjoying games such as chase ball/tug. When you have a dog that is addicted to games such as this, it helps in 'snapping' them out of what might otherwise be for them anxious moments. These games should ideally be structured - that is, YOU begin them and YOU end them, all on your terms.

Similarly, other things should be on your terms as well. Give him jobs to do - IOW he doesn't get anything he likes unless he does something for you (on your terms) that you like, first. ("NILIF"). Be happy when Chris leaves (you better explain this one to Chris first, or he might think something is 'up' LOL) and play a game with your dog.

Exercise - get him out and about walking.

Routines aren't always good things - it builds expectations and one day when those expectations inevitably cannot be met, that can be most upsetting to the dog. Randomisation in certain and many instances is a good thing.

Be calm. Be assertive. He needs to be able to feed off your 'matter of factness' and your lack of concern. Whlst your concern would of course be for him, he may interpret that concern to be for the same thing he is concerned about. He'll 'read' that from your body language; fussing and tone of voice.

Block him from being able to sit/lay at the door. It's not HIS job to be concerned about HIS pack members. It is YOUR job to be concerned about YOUR pack members. That's the message you need to get across to him and this generally comes by being matter of fact and having that "get on with something else" attitude.

Dogs need exercise (mental and physical) first; discipline; with affection last. You need to avoid nurturing those 'dependant/anxious' emotions. Dogs are engineered for autonomy. We need to help them be what they are supposed to be.

Edited October 1, 2009 by Erny

[persephone]

Agree with erny!! :p

especially the fact of NOT 'rewarding' him inadvertently when he is showing those behaviours.

[CP*]

If he is already hiding food can you hide some in the house every time you leave (when you know he is going to become anxious). One of my dogs used to throw tantrums (spinning, stamping and barking) if I went outside without him. In fact he did this if any of his 'flock' left him - didnt matter how many people were staying behind with him, even if it was me staying behind. Now he cant wait for me to leave as he knows he will get his 'treasure hunt'. He gets his breakfast kibble this way (hidden around the house) for when I leave for work and I just set aside some other kibble with some treats for if I go out at other times.

[pete cassidy]

Hi All --

I have a problem, but I need to give you some background before I can tell you what's going on...

My husband and I have had a little tri colour Miniature Foxie cross boy for a while now - Chili. We absolutely adore him and he's settled in quite nicely. We rescued him from a shelter after the loss of our GS late last year. We are unsure of his full history however we do know that he and his sister were removed from his last home by the authorities. Some of his behaviour is fairly typical of abused dogs and we don't have too many issues dealing with them. For example, we are fairly sure he was abused a lot at dinner time as he won't eat if you watch him, or he will bring a mouthful of food out into the lounge and hide under our dining room table to eat it. He's obviously been belted up because even a pointing finger can send him into fits of fear. We have never hit him, but he's definitely got some left over anxiety.

Anyway, the behaviour we are most concerned about is the seperation anxiety. We only have a problem with this if his routine is broken. He's left at home most of the day, but we leave and return at the same time every day so he's not worried. The problem arises when either my husband or I leave the house at night. He bonded with me very quickly and when I leave the house, apparently he walks around the house whining and pacing for hours. He didn't bond as quickly with my husband (I believe he was abused by a man) however in the last few months (with quite a lot of work) he's become very fond of him. Tonight when Chris left, Chili became extremely depressed. He is sitting at the front door and won't move. He's become very quiet (he's usually very energetic and a bit of a loony!). He will come over for a pat but just goes back to staring at the door. I'm really not sure how to deal with this. I've called him, picked him up and brought him over, sat on the floor and called him, offered him treats, I've even tried just leaving him and only speaking to him if he came over for a pat, but he's still really quiet and depressed.

Any help that someone can give me would be very much appreciated as I'm running out of ideas.

Thanks for taking the time to read my extremely long post

These problems normally arise through our humanising the dog...he is a pack animal and "not" human, dogd do not reason as humans do. We cured our dog from separation anxiety by not saying goodbye to him, no eye contact just walk out and upon return do not go straight to him and make a fuss as this will make the problem worse Its difficult but ignore him when you return, No eye contact, do a couple of things and then give him some attention....Timewise, dogs have no conception of time if you are away 5 mins or 5 hours. You can cure problems that previous owners have created...We had a rottweiller that every morning when I went to his kennel he would cower...I overcame it by just going into the garden and allowing him to come to me when he wanted to. He must have been hit for fouling or something......

Regards

PC