Separation Anxiety

[mumsy]

Hey guys! We have a six month old pup who is great when he is with you.....not so good alone. I need some advice. He can now jump our fences, so must try to keep him inside when I go out. I will look at possibly a dog run but don't really have an ideal space.

I put him in a bathroom today for just over an hour. He chewed the architraves around the door, he had thrown up his breakfast and had trashed his bed. I put him in there with his bed, a pigs ear, some toys and water.

He is a delight when he has company so I'm thinking maybe a crate?

Any advice?

[nickojoy]

If he is doing that much damage to the bathroom, I would not try a crate as he may hurt himself trying to get out of it.

[oakway]

If it was me I would get a good strong crate and train him while I was their with him and then go out for about 5 minutes and come back and do not let the dog out till you have done this a second time.

Keep this in and out up for quite awhile till the dog accepts you coming and going. Also lengthen the times you do your in and outs and the amount times you go in and out.

[mumsy]

That is what I was sort of thinking. Definitely wouldn't leave him for long first few times.

It' nice to be loved but this is a little rediculous!! :D

[kiesha09]

I would be seeking the help of a veterinary behaviouralist. If he is doing that much damage the problem sounds quite serious. A VB can help you develop a program to help your pup to cope while your gone so that this problem doesn't develop into a much larger scale problem.

[mita]

There are lots of good guidelines for sorting dogs with separation anxiety. We've had 2 dogs that had it.....& the advice from a vet animal behaviorist proved to be brilliant. And not all that complicated. (Our sheltie used to rip the sunroom soft furnishings to pieces.)

. set up a day bed in a spot which is where the dog will be left alone. But use that spot for him when you're home, too. And make all good things happen for him on that spot. Like getting his dinner, treats, cuddles ets. So he get to 'think' of it as a good spot. And gets used to being on in that 'good' place, happy & comfortable, even where you're at home.

. always leave on his day bed, some old unwashed items of yours that strongly have your scent on them. The owner's smell is a good substitute for being there....to a dog's nose. Get the dog some soft toys from an Op shop (& cut off any plastic eyes/nose that he could choke on). Rub your hands & feet all over these toys to transfer your smell onto them.

.leave a radio playing tuned to a talking station, up high above him (so he can't chew it).

.when you leave him.....totally ignore him for 10 minutes before you go. And totally ignore for 10 minutes when you come home. If he jumps up & demands attention, ignore him during this time. Turn your back. When he's quiet & taking no notice of you, call him over to do the welcome home.

This is taking all the high emotion out of your coming & going.

.get on to obedience training....fast. The dog's tearing things apart when you're gone, is saying. 'I WANT you here!.

So a dog has to learn to earn any attention. Teach him to obey 'Sit'.....to get anything good in life, like meal, treat, cuddle, walk etc. If he demands something, don't give it to him. He must first obey 'Sit'.

This teaches him he can't demand anything.

These were among the guidelines the behaviourist vet gave us to do with the shelter. She told us to be absolutely consistent. Within a week or so, the sheltie stopped tearing up the furniture.

Edited May 20, 2010 by mita

[mumsy]

Thanks Mita

We are doing obedience training already. He does have a spot in the living room that he loves. I will definitely try the clothes with the smell on them. He has some soft toys but i will try rubbing them to give them my smell.

What do you suggest? Maybe go out for 10 minutes to start and then increase? During the week that you worked on this did your room get trashed? I'm a bit worried about my living room!

This is what he did the last time!

By the way that is two 4kg bags of cat litter.

Edited May 20, 2010 by mumsy

[dandybrush]

definately crate train him, he should pick it up being only a baby. do what some of the others suggested get him used to being in it when you're home put him to bed in it... never let him out when he is carrying on, move away or cover him over...only let him out when he is in a calm relaxed manner. and give him lots of treats when in it...then try crateing him when you are not home as it is the safest thing for him and your house

[dandybrush]

also something i would do is to teach him that it is ok to be separated from you even when you are at home maybe lock him outside for half an hour a day and only let him in when he is calm ie not whingeing. we did this with out boy and he can handle being locked out now even when we are home and has no separation anxiety at all

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

You really need some specialist assistance here, this problem is only going to get worse.

Do a google search on separation anxiety in dogs and how to deal with it. I'd also recommend Chinese herbs, they can calm a dog right down.

Dogs with Sep Anx feel terrible.

[Jigsaw]

You need to have a plan to find out what pace you can work at with regard to the desensitisation and counterconditioning. You may need to break it up into very tiny steps. You need to think through what steps you go through when you get ready to go out. Even the preparation of you leaving induces the separation anxiety behaviours and the release of stress hormones, so by the time you've actually left the dog is already quite anxious. It is a process that a trainer/behaviourist would be best advising you on the steps you need to take to resolve the problem. It is possible that your dog may need medication to help him with the separation anxiety as well given the level of destruction that's happening.

[Aidan3]

I've seen worse room trashings from dogs who didn't have SA if it makes you feel any better :-)

Go to www.clickertraining.com and search for my article on Separation Anxiety. In it is an exercise which you can begin right away, "The Calming Yo Yo". Lots of good feedback on this exercise but not many people will ever actually do it, probably because it doesn't make a lot of sense to anyone but applied behaviour analysts...