Separation Anxiety:Dogs

[TimG3394]

Perhaps this isn't the ideal place to ask this question, but I know we have a lot of dog owners on here, and in the end, you guys always show the light at the end of the tunnel.

We adopted our dog, Jordy about 6 months ago. He was found at a rest stop in Texas so we are not sure of his past. He is potty trained, great with other people, kids and other dogs.

However, there is one thing that is a big challenge. His separation anxiety. It started off bad (chewing up house, escaping, chewing through cage, barking/howling) and we did everything in the books to try and help the guy. We've used medication, dap diffusers, thundershirts, you name it. I have used all these things a long with training.

Here is a video from today. I left for 10 minutes and set it on record. This is the last 2 minutes of while I was gone. (The first 8 were him just running around whining)



Has anyone dealt with this before? Will it ever change? Perhaps I'm just looking for some hope. It's definitely not bad as it was, but living in an apartment makes it difficult. We are using doggy day care right now for the 7 hours a day I'm at work (split shift)

Thank you for letting me vent.

 

[mancest]

Man, I feel for you and the poor guy... We have a cocker spaniel who used to cry for 2 minutes everytime we left him, but with treats and a shock collar we broke that. But this is way more then that...

I think you have been doing so much already, not sure what advice I can give you, but good luck!

Really hope you can get something solved for your and his sake.

 

[GolferGal]

We went/still go through this with Duke. We lived in a place with a shared wall and our neighbors would complain to us all the time. We tried medication, crate training (not easy with a 9 year old dog), etc. but nothing worked. He chewed through our kitchen wall, which was attached to a sliding glass door at the front of the house, my guess is because he was trying to escape to find us. We are in a single family home now and he seems to be doing a lot better. In fact a few times when I have come home he is fast asleep and doesn't even hear me come in.

I wish I could offer a suggestion, but we never found anything to work either. It just took time, and even now we still don't leave for more than a couple of hours at a time because we never know what he might do.

 

[Jericho]

My dog has severe separation anxiety and you just learn to deal with it. She's now 7 and still shakes when we're leaving the house. We also tried medications (she became lethargic), doggie scented candles (relax them), etc.. but nothing really helped. Some helpful tips we were given are:

1) Do not make a spectacle of leaving or coming home.
2) Do not give too much attention right when you get home
3) Do some dry runs where you get ready to leave (get packed up, get the keys, etc...) but don't leave. Make it so the dog doesn't know if you're leaving or not. Eventually when you get ready he won't care.

You have it good...my dog hates kids (we just had a baby..she likes the baby but we'll never be having her friends over lol).

Sorry I'm not more help.

Good luck

 

[TimG3394]

We went/still go through this with Duke. We lived in a place with a shared wall and our neighbors would complain to us all the time. We tried medication, crate training (not easy with a 9 year old dog), etc. but nothing worked. He chewed through our kitchen wall, which was attached to a sliding glass door at the front of the house, my guess is because he was trying to escape to find us. We are in a single family home now and he seems to be doing a lot better. In fact a few times when I have come home he is fast asleep and doesn't even hear me come in.

I wish I could offer a suggestion, but we never found anything to work either. It just took time, and even now we still don't leave for more than a couple of hours at a time because we never know what he might do.

When he got out when we were both at work he must of used his paw/nose to unlock the slider then broke through the screen. A very nice neighbor who grabbed him and called us said she saw and heard him just sitting on the front porch howling and crying.

 

[deuce]

I had a GSD that suffered from extreme separation anxiety. I still have damage in my house from a few of her "incidents". Medication didn't work (had her on generic prozac), neither did crate training (the huge beast literally ripped apart a metal crate). There are ways to train it out, that works for some dogs. You could talk to a animal behaviorist, but it's going to cost you some ducats and a whole lot of time.

 

[ddec]

Lexie had this when we first got her. We had crate trained her when we first got her, and then slowly started to leave her on her own. However the first time we left her alone for a day she destroyed the place. Chewed up mini blinds, knocked down stuff off of shelves, tore apart other things. Eventually we got one of these things. It's a Kong dispenser of sorts. You can set the time to 2,4,8 hours if I recall. Worked perfectly. Throw in 4 of the Kongs and we'd put peanut butter and stuff like that in them. Randomly the machine will beep and release a kong filled with her treats. We would then come home and find 4 of those things laying around, meanwhile everything else was just as we left it.

 

[GolferGal]

My dog has severe separation anxiety and you just learn to deal with it. She's now 7 and still shakes when we're leaving the house. We also tried medications (she became lethargic), doggie scented candles (relax them), etc.. but nothing really helped. Some helpful tips we were given are:

1) Do not make a spectacle of leaving or coming home.
2) Do not give too much attention right when you get home
3) Do some dry runs where you get ready to leave (get packed up, get the keys, etc...) but don't leave. Make it so the dog doesn't know if you're leaving or not. Eventually when you get ready he won't care.

You have it good...my dog hates kids (we just had a baby..she likes the baby but we'll never be having her friends over lol).

Sorry I'm not more help.

Good luck

Those are all great tips, our vet told us the same thing. Doing the dry runs, by doing the things you would do to leave, but then not leaving is a really good one. That seems to work for Duke. When we would get dressed, or put shoes on, or if I would grab my purse or keys, Duke would FREAK out, he would starting spinning in circles and barking and panting like a maniac. Now he just stares at us.

 

[MPlefty]

Lexie had this when we first got her. We had crate trained her when we first got her, and then slowly started to leave her on her own. However the first time we left her alone for a day she destroyed the place. Chewed up mini blinds, knocked down stuff off of shelves, tore apart other things. Eventually we got one of these things. It's a Kong dispenser of sorts. You can set the time to 2,4,8 hours if I recall. Worked perfectly. Throw in 4 of the Kongs and we'd put peanut butter and stuff like that in them. Randomly the machine will beep and release a kong filled with her treats. We would then come home and find 4 of those things laying around, meanwhile everything else was just as we left it.

I liek the Idea of that, but did your dog gain any weight?

 

[The Dave]

I live in an apartment now and ran into this issue in the first few months of getting my dog, a springer spaniel...we found that exercising him before work (walk, fetch in a park, laser pointer inside when it's cold or raining) really helped to get his energy out...we now leave a Kong with treats or peanut butter for him when we leave for work and he has been doing great. We found that a tired dog is a good dog.

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[GolferGal]

When he got out when we were both at work he must of used his paw/nose to unlock the slider then broke through the screen. A very nice neighbor who grabbed him and called us said she saw and heard him just sitting on the front porch howling and crying.

Yup, that's what Duke used to do. He broke the blinds to the sliding glass door, and then tore the wall apart. We used to enter from the front door right next to it, so he knew that's where he could sit and see us come home. He would howl for hours, it broke my heart when I found out he was doing it.

Lexie had this when we first got her. We had crate trained her when we first got her, and then slowly started to leave her on her own. However the first time we left her alone for a day she destroyed the place. Chewed up mini blinds, knocked down stuff off of shelves, tore apart other things. Eventually we got one of these things. It's a Kong dispenser of sorts. You can set the time to 2,4,8 hours if I recall. Worked perfectly. Throw in 4 of the Kongs and we'd put peanut butter and stuff like that in them. Randomly the machine will beep and release a kong filled with her treats. We would then come home and find 4 of those things laying around, meanwhile everything else was just as we left it.

That is the coolest thing I have ever seen! We couldn't use it in our house because the dogs would fight over it while we were gone, but that's awesome for when we are home.

 

[MPlefty]

I live in an apartment now and ran into this issue in the first few months of getting my dog, a springer spaniel...we found that exercising him before work (walk, fetch in a park, laser pointer inside when it's cold or raining) really helped to get his energy out...we now leave a Kong with treats or peanut butter for him when we leave for work and he has been doing great. We found that a tired dog is a good dog.

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that is so true, every time our dog is misbehaving si when we ahve been neglecting him a bit

 

[deuce]

I liek the Idea of that, but did your dog gain any weight?

Doubtful. I have a couple of Kong's and those things are indestructible. It doesn't take much peanut butter to keep them busy and they'll spend hours trying to get to every little bit of it. I bet they spend more calories fighting to get what is inside the Kong than what they'll consume. Peanut butter as a treat is relatively cheap too.

 

[ddec]

I liek the Idea of that, but did your dog gain any weight?

Hard to tell how much from this. When we rescued her she was really underfed and weighed only 44 lbs. She gained some good weight in the first 4-5 months we had her because her diet was better. We didn't start leaving her alone until about the 5 month mark. So gained some after we used it, but instead of giving her 1 jam packed kong, we would more even it out throughout the 4. She was never considered overweight by the vet.

 

[TimG3394]

Lexie had this when we first got her. We had crate trained her when we first got her, and then slowly started to leave her on her own. However the first time we left her alone for a day she destroyed the place. Chewed up mini blinds, knocked down stuff off of shelves, tore apart other things. Eventually we got one of these things. It's a Kong dispenser of sorts. You can set the time to 2,4,8 hours if I recall. Worked perfectly. Throw in 4 of the Kongs and we'd put peanut butter and stuff like that in them. Randomly the machine will beep and release a kong filled with her treats. We would then come home and find 4 of those things laying around, meanwhile everything else was just as we left it.

Interesting. Even though Jordy is not food motivated at all (will only grab the kong once we return) this might be worth a shot

 

[ddec]

That is the coolest thing I have ever seen! We couldn't use it in our house because the dogs would fight over it while we were gone, but that's awesome for when we are home.

Duke would hoard them. But yes it was a very cool thing. When our dog trainer mentioned it I bought one immediately.

Doubtful. I have a couple of Kong's and those things are indestructible. It doesn't take much peanut butter to keep them busy and they'll spend hours trying to get to every little bit of it. I bet they spend more calories fighting to get what is inside the Kong than what they'll consume. Peanut butter as a treat is relatively cheap too.

exactly. You can fill them up as much as you want, but a little PB goes a long way. We also used to throw them in the freezer over night. Make them last a little longer for when she would get them.

 

[TimG3394]

Thanks for all the tips and words of encouragement everyone. Sometimes we feel like we are the only ones dealing with this. It's nice to know it happens and there is some hope it can be overcome.

 

[GolferGal]

Thanks for all the tips and words of encouragement everyone. Sometimes we feel like we are the only ones dealing with this. It's nice to know it happens and there is some hope it can be overcome.

We never thought Duke would get better. We actually bought a minivan so we could take them with us everywhere we went because we were afraid to leave him home alone. He isn't completely better, but it has improved, and with time, and continued effort like you are already doing, I am sure it will get better for you too.

But know that you are most definitely not alone.

 

[deuce]

exactly. You can fill them up as much as you want, but a little PB goes a long way. We also used to throw them in the freezer over night. Make them last a little longer for when she would get them.

Yep, the freezer is a great trick.

 

[Erky]

Get a Dropcam and you can watch your pet over the Internet. Some versions even let you talk to the pet. That might help.

 

[tequila4kapp]

Sorry about your situation.

We got our lab from a rescue organization. The greatest dog in the world and we were his FIFTH family in the first 3 years of his life. He had been tossed aside so many times that he had serious separation anxiety - he would break out in ugly blotches and lick/chew/bite his own paws to the point of bleeding (we put snow booties on his paws for this) when we left for work. It has just taken time for us (we've had him for 10 years now). He's way better, but it still has to be managed. He's okay when we leave to go to work. But if he sees us packing for a trip you see that he visibly gets worked up. We NEVER send him anywhere to be cared for, but instead always pay to have the same person house sit and stay with him. Keeping him in his environment with a person he really knows has done a lot of good.

 

[TimG3394]

Get a Dropcam and you can watch your pet over the Internet. Some versions even let you talk to the pet. That might help.

90% of the times I leave as a test run, I have Skype set up on my tablet streaming to my phone. I watch him as I drive around the block and it usually does nothing when I try to correct his behavior

 

[Brianbigoats]

We had an issue with our doberman when she was young she would cry the hole time we were gone but as she has gotten older it seems to gotten better

 

[Dogman]

With one of ours, we tried a crate. Put a pillow in the crate wrapped with an old shirt. She did well. After about 3 days, we would put her in the crate, but leave the door open when we left. She quit getting in the garbage, and being destructive.

 

[apriliamille]

we leave the radio or tv on for them when ours are in their crates when we leave. we mix up the yums in kong treats. plain greek yogurt, peanut butter, sometimes we use some fords jerky treats (on ebay but in my home town area) hidden in them and freeze them. keeping plastic water soda and gatorade bottles around are a nice quick toy when you slip in a dab of peanut butter. the feeding puzzle toy was used also
but then we had also brought in a canine behaviorist who put our dogs on a canine boot camp for 30 days. it really sucks and i think half the cost involved was me texting and calling her and telling her how mean she was and my dislike for her training methods .



edit. actually just watched the video. does this dog sleep in your bed? near your bed? in sight of you? im sure the dog has something going on if was abandoned in the rest stop and found someone who is caring. also a tired dog does not necessarily mean agility, tired needs to be brain tired (my dobe taught me that one)