Seperation Anxiety - After Broken Leg

[~Myschafis~]

Hi All,

I am posting to seek some advice on how to care for my now somewhat disabled dog.

I will start from the beginning a little bit so hopefully you get a bit of an idea of his past few months.

3 months ago Chartze broke is leg quite severly, requiring surgery, plates, screws the whole kit and kaboodle

Post surgery he has had around the clock care so to speak, he always has someone with him, as he really cant do very much at all other than walk a little way at a time, regardless of that he isnt a small dog and could quite easily damage his leg further, should he do something silly.

We are now 3 months in, leg is still broken but on the mend, so we feel it is about time he starts to spend a little bit of time on his own, in a crate.

He has been crate trained from a pup and loves his crate.

However we have created a monster, he is now dependant on human attention and is freaking out without somebody.

Tonight was the icing on the cake, broke out of a strapped down metal crate, poo'd and wee'd all through my bed and is obviously very distressed when left alone and this all happened in a very short space of time.

So my question to you all is how do I help him? What do we need to do from here on in to get him back on track

He has a really long rehab another year of being house bound basically, with little excercise and absolutely no playing with his 'buddies'

Any help/ideas/thoughts would be appreciated

Edited December 20, 2010 by ~Myschafis~

[corvus]

I think in general it is a good idea to get a vet behaviourist for separation anxiety cases, because it is quite complicated and can have different causes requiring different treatments. Sometimes anti-anxiety drugs are necessary, and it's better to do that early to disrupt the cycle.

Some things that have been effective according to the literature:

* Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol with a focus on desensitising the dog to cues that the owner is leaving.

* A signal that is played to the dog when the owner is about to return. You could try calling a mobile at home or something a few minutes before you get home. Probably should start with very short trips out, though.

* Encouraging the dog to find contentment independent of the owner, such as giving them Kongs.

* A special toy or treat the dog only gets when you are leaving them.

I did a literature review on this a while a go and was surprised to find the most effective was apparently the second one, although it's not really used anymore. A fellow had an 80% success rate with it some 30 years ago if I remember correctly. I don't know why it doesn't get used. The other treatments were hard to judge effectiveness because a lot of owners don't follow the instructions. So a special toy or treat appears to be more effective than the relaxation protocol, but owners are unlikely to actually do the full relaxation protocol. Just as an example.

Anyway, I would get the dog assessed.

[Aidan]

I agree with corvus, consult with a veterinary behaviourist. Anti-anxiety drugs might be very useful here.

[SilverHaze]

Are you crating him with another dog next to him? Or completly on his own?

[persephone]

Yes, consult a Vet behaviourist . poor dog..and poor you!

[Souff]

Hi All,

I am posting to seek some advice on how to care for my now somewhat disabled dog.

I will start from the beginning a little bit so hopefully you get a bit of an idea of his past few months.

3 months ago Chartze broke is leg quite severly, requiring surgery, plates, screws the whole kit and kaboodle

Post surgery he has had around the clock care so to speak, he always has someone with him, as he really cant do very much at all other than walk a little way at a time, regardless of that he isnt a small dog and could quite easily damage his leg further, should he do something silly.

Similar case here after a bad leg break and it has taken over a year to get things back on track. Definitely track down a behaviourist and get some help. Having another dog around for short periods should help too so perhaps see if you can 'borrow' a friend's dog for a few hours now and then.

Souff

[~Myschafis~]

We have tried crating him near a 'buddy' this has been a bit of a hit or miss result, either it will go great and they are calm collected happy to have a snooze alongside each other. Or will be super excited and try and break out to play, my preference is for him to have a friend near by, when it seems they are going to be sensible.

However, before all of this he was quite content on being crated alone and I would eventually like to get him back to that stage where he is comfortable again.

It is a long rehab he has another year of confinement and little exercise, so its a long time to have an around the clock baby sitter, and I want to nip this in the bud before the problem exacerbates itself further.

I agree with the behaviourist, I will be trying to contact someone reliable in the area, to get some further advice.

In all circumstances other than being left alone he is the same old happy go-lucky dog.

[SilverHaze]

Do you reckon if you had a crate big enough for two dogs that they would generally be calm chilling in there together?

I do sympathise - my older boy is 6 weeks into his recovery from a cruciate surgery (cut bones and plates and the lot lol) and he's going mental already and he's allowed to walk and generally have free reign at home as long as he's being sensible. Of course sensible went out the window this morning when he dug under the fence to go visit the neighbours yard

I'm counting down the days till he can exercise more - i don't know how he would cope with a year of confinement!

[~Myschafis~]

We are trialling different ideas with him, we have just gone down to bunnings and bought a whole heap of material for a new husky safe concrete run that can be ajoined to the side of the other dogs runs, so he can be near them, but not in with them so they cant be silly together.

Myshka and Chartze is about a zero to no chance of being calm together, Myshka's fault not Chartzes.

Its really hard because I cant exercise him at all, yet he still has all the energy he normally would, at first it was OK because he was in a bit of pain so kept him calm, now he is on the mend well....you would think he has saved all those beans up just for this.

Inside Chartze has a free reign, he doesnt venture outside much at the moment without a lead. We are going to trial having him outside next to the other guys and see if he is content just sitting and watching them...

I rang a couple of behavourists today, advice was, seperation is a must, but just increase the amount of time gradually if we try this with no improvement call in the hired help...

Hopefully he will respond to seperation in baby steps, the $750 I was quoted for their help is a bit too much of a hit to the hip pocket right now. So far though, he is content in a crate in the backyard next to the other guys...not a permanent solution and obviously cant leave him like that, but at least he is comfortable not being near us.

...

OUCH on the cruciate, I hope for your sake your surgery didnt cost as much as mine, being a cruciate though im not sure you would've faired much better. We have a dreadful breed to be 'confined patients' though. They seem to forget they aren't invincible

Edited December 21, 2010 by ~Myschafis~

[SilverHaze]

lol - the cruciate surgery cost a fair chunk - probably similar to what you paid, but well what else can you do with such an active breed. My boy seems to have declared himself healed and thinks he should be hooning with everyone, and isn't impressed with the short walks he's limited to.

Of course with all the things he's gotten up to i think my vet would have a heart attack if he knew!

A pen where your boy can see and interact with the other dogs should help alot. They just don't do "on their own" very well.

[~Myschafis~]

Yes he was not impressed with 'alone' up until this point he hasnt had the chance to be alone.

Now we have crossed the hurdle that he is OK with the other dogs in another pen alongside them, and inside at night.... The hard part is, me leaving him and having no idea what he is up to.

I hate the not knowing...

[Aidan3]

advice was, seperation is a must, but just increase the amount of time gradually

My "Calming Yo Yo" exercise is like the steroid-enhanced version of that, found here:

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1556

[~Myschafis~]

Thanks for that Aidan

Well I think Chartze heard about our little plan... we are just back from the vets and Chartze has slipped a disc in his back and he is back to crate confinement for a little longer yet with supervision.

He sure knows how to milk it!!!