The Long Road Ahead

[obsolete]

I don't even know where to begin but here is a summary of where I'm at, at the moment.

Currently have a ~2 year old Great Dane/Catahoula mix. He has some issues I am trying to work on at the moment which recently includes getting a dog behaviourist in to assist. Main issues are separation anxiety and fear aggression towards new people/certain triggers with a dose of disobedience for good measure.

I am reasonably confident that a lot of the issues we have is due to the raising and training of the dog. At the time I got him I was staying at my parents house and they did not believe in a lot of the training techniques I was trying to use to raise a healthy, well-balanced dog - primarily they disagreed with crate training. Fast forward to today, where I have my own place (renting) and the dog has manifested the above problems over time due to lack of consistency and what I believe to be ignorance/stubbornness on my family and partner's part. I don't proclaim to be an expert but I spent a lot of time on forums such as this trying to build up as much knowledge as possible from different points of view whereas my family are more of the "I've had dogs my whole life, I know what I'm doing" approach.

The dog currently stays at my parents place for most of the week and I/my partner take him when we are not working usually at least 3 days a week he will stay with us. The main reason for this is due to his separation anxiety he has been destructive in the past. It's something I want to work on as well and I know this arrangement is part of the problem. The other reason why he is always under supervision is because my family think it's cruel to have a dog at home by himself all day...

I have been wracking my brain over some way to have him stay at mine permanently because I am confident that the shifting between homes isn't good for him but also now that we have the dog behaviourist I am also sure that my parent's will not be following through with the training aspects and we all know how important consistency is (huge reason for the problems in the first place).

So now that you've had the boring (super summarised) back story. My question to the community is, how can I setup the house in such a way to make this suitable for the dog but also not "cruel" or unfair. I don't want to leave him outside as he is albino and will just fry in no time. We have spare rooms in the house that I was thinking of converting into the dog's "room". Is this a good idea/can it work?

Is it cruel to keep the dog in the room for 7-8 hours a day without access to the toilet? The intention would be to let him do his business before work and then when someone comes home. I'd rather let him have the run of the house (for space purposes) but until the intensity of his issues have subdued a bit I'm a bit reluctant to let him have run of the house (we live with another couple, who like the dog but I don't want to risk it just yet). I would "stock" his room with bedding/entertainment to stop him from being overly bored. Anything else to consider?

Anyway this is becoming a wall of text, fast. I'm just trying to find the best way to help my dog overcome his issues without sacrificing his quality of life and unfortunately I have my parents and partner telling me that it's all too cruel and that I should just maintain this existing practice of shuffling the dog where he can have near constant supervision.

Thanks in advance.

[persephone]

Hmmmmm...

Has your dog been thoroughly vet checked for vision and hearing levels?Albinism can cause nerve damage in ears, and retinal problems in eyes . Deficiency in either/both can certainly lead to behavioural problems , if not specifically addressed :)

Personally I think it is unfair to leave a dog, esp a large one without toilet access for so long .... and I also feel there may be an exacerbation of problems if/when an anxious/fearful dog is to be confined to one room , alone , after being used to spending time with folks ....

I hope you have a good behaviourist and vet ...and I hope also you get some help from D O L ...

[Rosetta]

Sorry, just had to say - why is it a problem for him to be with your family during the day? One of the solutions often suggested for dogs with separation anxiety is "daycare" - in other words company for the dog.

I too think it not suitable to confine him inside for that amount of time. Can you not perhaps erect some sort of run for him outside with shelter?

Hopefully some of the experienced behaviourists will be along to offer advice re training techniques for you.

[disintegratus]

My big boy had some separation anxiety, and continues to have fear aggression problems. For the separation anxiety, he did kind of grow out of it to a certain extent, in that I did not go to extraordinary lengths to fix it. We did a bit of work on it, for example, teaching him to settle, then leaving the room for a few minutes. Once we'd gotten him to a point where he didn't have to hang out in same room as me, I'd leave the house for 5 minutes, then gradually made the leaving times longer. I think it also helped that he had 2 other dogs for company. Now he's fine, I can leave for any amount of time without issues. He still arks up when I take one or more of the other dogs out, but is not destructive or anything, I think it's more jealousy than separation anxiety as such.

As for locking them in the house, if it's guaranteed that it's going to be no more than 8 hours or so, I would think it would be fine. The problems arise when unexpected things pop up, for example when Zehra had her cruciate ligament repaired she had to be locked in the house. Ordinarly she wouldn't have been cooped up for more than about 6 or 7 hours at most, but my grandpa had a bad fall and we all had to go to hospital for him, so she ended up being locked in the house from 9:30 in the morning til about 2am. I was soooo impressed, there were no wee-wees on the floor. That said, it's the only time ever she wasn't even the least bit excited to see us, just barged straight past and out into the yard to let go of the huge wee she'd been holding onto!! I swear she wee'd for about 10 minutes!!

[Jumabaar]

My dogs are quite happily locked in the house while I am out and they can quite easily manage to hold on for 8-9hrs. When they are younger I leave my recycling in a box in the middle of the kitchen so they have something to destroy if they really want to. My back yard is not secure and there are lots of barking dogs in my neighbourhood so leaving them outside isnt an option for me. Considering I can leave out treat toys etc and find them unplayed with when I arrive home, and then have them be a hot item I am assuming they pretty much go to sleep when I walk out the door so location isnt that big a deal to them.

Re how long they can hold on- when its raining my eldest girl will hold on for 16hrs+ before making a quick dash out to the loo! So I dont think its cruel.

I do however think you would have to do a transition period if there is separation anxiety happening in the background. My dogs went from living with me and my grandparents who were retired to living with me and having me out of the house during the day- and coped ok, but I did put in effort to make it shorter times spent alone for the first week or so. Another consideration is ensuring the room you plan on using is dog proof and not going to get hot during summer.

If you think swapping houses isnt good for your dog then stand up and do whats best for him. Sometimes the less ideal solution (ie being locked up during the day) is still going to be less stressful for the dog in the long term. So consider rationally what you think is best then make it happen.