Help With Dog-->dog Separation Anxiety

[emmej]

Hello,

Just wondering if anyone can give me some tips on how to deal with my dog's separation issues when she is left behind without the other dog?

Background:

2 dogs: 1 lab, 1 lab x kelpie (the problem dog).

When I try to walk the lab on his own, the kelpie x will bark and bark when we leave the house.

I have tried distracting the kelpie x when I leave by throwing 1/2 a cup of pellets onto the back lawn so she doesn't realise she's being left behind (and I threw her ball for her for about 10 minutes before we left).

It appeared to work (stood a few houses down for 5 minutes to see if she would start barking, and she didn't) but by the time we got back from the walk (30 minutes) I could hear her barking. I snuck around the side of the house and she was just sitting on her bed barking.

Any suggestions?? (Walking them together is NOT an option) This hasn't been a problem before, but that's because my partner is normally home when I walk them, now I'm on mat leave I want to walk them in the day time.

TIA

Edited March 19, 2011 by emmej

[Aidan3]

Do you think it's genuine distress at being separated, or just "if I bark for long enough, they might come back and get me too"?

[Nekhbet]

you need to condition them to small periods of separation. Have one inside, one outside with a bone chewing away happily, then when they're quiet you can swap, one inside for attention the other out to chew their own bone. Do this gradually more and more you will be helping them learn to cope.