Separation anxiety in pets

Well my husband went away with work a month ago and will not be coming home for another 2-3 months. My dog (Maggie) was doing fine the first 3 weeks then all of a sudden has started being a pain up the you know where when I leave to go out. She starts chewing things, barking, crying and scratching at the doors. Also which is the worst part using the floor as a toilet. When I am home she follows me around all the time.

So I need help, she is stopping me from going out as I am sure the other people in my building are soon going to complain.

I have tried many things to keep her sane when I leave, Like putting cheese in a Kong, leaving the radio on, I have started closing doors behind me so she can't follow me. I have started leaving her everyday for a small amount of time (10 mins) and come back and ignore her.

Has anyone experienced this with their pets and have you got any advice?

Thank you
Michelle

have you tried taking her with you for a few days wherever you go. Then gradually introduce her back to being alone a very little bit at a time until she calmly accepts being left alone. This is a classic psychological strategy to challenge anxiety.

Separation anxiety me nads. Your dog's just being a spoiled brat. Kick in the arse will do the trick.

Let us hope you do not also suffer from the same symptoms.

I do usually take her with me everywhere, but its little things like going to the bank and food shops where she is not allowed that I am having problems with. Also when the weather is hot I feel bad about leaving her in the car. She has as well started barking in the car when I leave her there, when she used to love going in the car and I mean love it, she has loads of toys in the car and I always hide treats everywhere so she has to hunt for them.

Its just things like going to the cinema, this weekend I have been invited to go to a health spa with friends but I can't go as I can't leave the dog.

I looked on the web and they say shouting at her for barking and crying will only make the matter worse. So I don't know. My vet said that I could give her dog prozac, I mean come on its a dog! It just seems to strange.

Here, check with Potterstreet and ajohnson. They seem to be believers in such jibber-jabber too.

Sounds like you're doing all the right things Bellesparkes. It's a pretty common behaviour in dogs to become over-dependent on their owners.

It shouldn't take to long to correct if you are persistant though. Dedicate this weekend to your pooch and constantly leave and return without any fuss. Don't let her get excited about your coming and going.
Pretend to leave sometimes and then don't, or just leave quietly/return quietly other times so she stops associating certain things with being left alone and will become bored with monitoring what you are doing.

Make sure the toys are left out all the time, not just when you leave, otherwise she will learn that the kong and radio equals lonely-time. Stop allowing her to come with you everywhere and don't make too much fuss when she is allowed.

I think you should be able to find loads of advice on the internet about this, it's not uncommon.

What age is your dog ?

It's hard to condition an older dog to periods of beiing alone, especially if it's used to haveing people around, or if it's a breed that's fixated to one person rather than a group.


By the way what the hell does this mean ? Have I missed some whole thirties subcultural thing ?

Kong is a toy that is meant to relieve Boredom.

Thank you everyone for your advice. She is 1 and half years old. She is a lovely dog and I just don't want to start loosing my temper with her. I also want to go out as I will start going crazy sitting in this house alone!.

Bellesparks theres also plenty of dogsitters and ex-dogsitters on this forum who can hire if this is an ongoing thing. If you can steal some of marshbot's time thats who Id recommend since *i think*she had veterinary experience from NZ.

I think Marshbot has posted some very good advice. If you try those things and they don't relieve the problem, though, I would definitely go to the vet and try the Prozac.

It's been used for at least 10 years in dogs and cats for behavioral and anxiety problems.

i know a person who's fluent in English and is a dog behavior therapist person if you want to talk to someone she can help.

No vet experience sorry, just an animal nursing cert. (I couldn't handle the icky vet stuff. It only took seeing one abcess drained to figure that out. Yuuuuck!)
I can still consider dog care in Schwabing or Neuhausen but already travel daily for dog walking so couldn't fit in any other areas at the moment.

@Yeti,
Excuse the description, but a Kongs are usually lumpy, hollow balls which you can stuff treats in. Dogs rate them almost as much fun as eating each others vomit, ie awesome fun.

Thank you every one for your advice. I have always found this board to be extremely helpful.
I will def try Marshbot suggestions. over the next couple of days. Hopefully it will help. I thought as well I might take her again to doggy classes to see if that will help with her confidence in me and in herself.

Thank you Mere, I would love to talk to your friend about her.

I had a bicycle like that too.

To return to the dog question:

I usually get my dog a calf's thighbone when she has to spend four or five hours alone but that Kong sounds like a great idea. Three hours alone are no problem for her but I started training her for this when she was about a year old.

You'll need to start training her by rewarding behaviour such as whining, scratching , peeing on the floor, watching Jerry Springer reruns etc by negative attention. Unfortunately there is no easy or fast way to do this as it would involve watching your dog from a position where you are concealed and she has the feeling that she has been left alone and sending her into her basket or bed anytime she starts. you can do this outside as well . A dog traing ground often has walls that you can hide behind but still observe the dog.

Have you tried crate training? (This is where Keydeck comes in and says something like "NOOO don't put her in a box") Or at least keeping the dog confined in one room (some people prefer the bathroom as it's easier to clean up after accidents)? The reason why crate training (or confining) works is that dogs are den animals. Sometimes, when they have the run of the whole house, the get very anxious because they feel like they have to protect the whole place. When they are stressed they feel more secure in their den. Many owners don’t want to crate their dog as it is “cruel�. But they are thinking like humans, not dogs. And I wouldn’t leave my dog alone (in or out of crate) for more than 6 hours. Also, the crate is never punishment – it’s always the happy place.

Also, I would take a little longer than the weekend to get her used to being alone. As Marshbot said, leave for a bit and come back - but only when the dog is quiet. You want to praise for quiet and your arrival is praise. All punishment should be you ignoring the dog. Then mix it up at bit - put on your shoes, grab your keys, and pretend to leave. But then put everything back and sit on the couch. And I can’t remember if you mentioned your good-bye routine. I get completely ready and then sit on the couch for 15 mins. I then give the dog her Kong toy in her crate and then leave. No kisses, hugs or pets. And when I come back, I give about 15 seconds of hellos and then ignore for about 15 mins.

I would also do small increments of alone time - 5 mins, 10 mins, 15 mins up until 30 mins. I would then make sure he/she was 100% quiet at 30 mins for a few times, then go for up to an hour and see how the dog does. If, at any time, the dog is not quiet for the full time you are gone, you should go start again at the previous time increment. They say dogs don't understand time. When you're gone, you're gone. And if they don't cause trouble within the first hour, then they won't do anything. My dog, however, learned very quickly that anytime she was alone for under 30 mins it was a test. And if she passed the test, then I would come back. So she started howling about 45 mins to an hour after I left (I have a tape recorder to monitor her) when she realized I was really gone.

All of this worked with our 9 year-old Schnauzer (not exactly the calmest breed!) Just typing this out made me realize what a little pain in the ass she is. But look at that face.

>> Then mix it up at bit - put on your shoes, grab your keys, and pretend to leave. But then put everything back and sit on the couch.

Putting the psych back into psychology?

The crate technique's been effective for dogs in our family as well.

why that?

i can attest. such a sweet stair-walking dog.

@Elfenstar - Because going and coming should not be a big deal. When the owner gets home and pets and kisses the dog, and the dog gets all excited, coming home becomes a big deal. Then the dog associates the owners return with hugs and kisses. So, when the owner is gone, the dog "calls" the owner back by howling or gets frustrated and/or lonely and chews. My 15 seconds of kisses and pets is about 10 seconds too long, and so I ignore her just for a bit so she calms down. She sees to be doing quite well with our system.

Also TOTALLY forgot another very important point - exercise. Make sure the dog is getting enough. Not only do we walk her 2-3 times a day, we take her out with us almost all weekend and go for long walks. By Monday, she's happy to see the back of us so she can get some rest.

And don't get me started about the stairs - about fucking time!!

Welcome to a man's world.

You have a 9 year old schanuzer in your ass? I knew it was something...

I *heart* parny.

My dog in the US has this problem. So my mom gives her doggie prozac twice a day.

@Bellesparkes: I'm so sorry to hear about the problems you're having with Maggie and separation anxiety. I've been through this before, and I know how excrutiatingly painful it is!

We adopted a dog when we were living in the states (ok, we rescued her from a neighbor's family who couldn't take care of her), but were only lucky enough to have her with us for 2 years, before she developed a terrible disease and had to put her asleep. (God, I miss her still!!! )

Taylor had a pretty severe problem with separation anxiety as well, which we didn't discover until later on because my husband was working from home most of the time while we had her, but then he had to go on business trips, etc. We tried everything that was recommended here by everyone else, except for crate training, which I just couldn't do at the time. (Looking back, though, I think it might have been a wise thing to try). We tried the medication as well (I can't remember the name of it, though), but it didn't seem to have much effect other than making her kind of sleepy and groggy and less destructive, so we took her off of it.

Another thing you could try that might not have been mentioned yet is Bach's Rescue Remedy.
Also, I found a lot of help and support at the time on www.doggiedoor.com. (Although I can't get to the site, so I don't know if it is just down, or defunct). But on this website there was a gentleman who specialized in dog behavior who had written an excellent book (unpublished though I think) on separation anxiety in dogs. Unfortunately it's in my storage unit in Nevada right now, but if I can find information about it, I will let you know.

I wish I could suggest a solution that worked, but unfortunately our Taylor always struggled with separation anxiety her whole life. One thing to remember, too: the more upset you become about the situation, the more she will sense it, and the worse it will become. So try as much as you can to remain calm and relaxed, and hopefully she will pick up on that instead.

Good luck, be strong, be patient, and hang in there!!! Your dog is worth it!

I was under the impression that when times got rough, guys aimed their gazes a little lower than the face . ...

Here is the link to the book I mentioned: Canine Separation Anxiety Workbook by James O'Heare.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Lose vs. loose

damn I thought I'd be clever and post some of your spelling mistakes JE but couldn't bloody well find any!!! only one which i think is a typo anyways!

mi speeeling is alwase perfekt so dreem on dood.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I think there might be an extra r in there somewhere.

Lots of good advice from Cookie.
Our schnoodle has had a thing about stairs too! (much angst)
It's so hard listening to the poor little creatures get upset when you leave. We had a horrible time with our little dog when we first moved here. We also try to "mix things up a bit" so pup doesn't know for sure whether we're leaving for how long etc. Always make sure we come in and put our keys down, coats away etc ie don't make too much of a fuss of her when we come home.
Good luck

So your husband's away, and now the dog has gone spatty. Not what you need.
What's the pack heirarchy in the house? As Cookie said, whats the coming/going routine? Not just when you are leaving or arriving, but also when you take the dog out for walks. What are the walk routines like? How is the dog on the lead, and is it different mornings and evenings? Where does the dog sleep? How do you behave when it follows you about.

Screw this insane dog prozac idea, whack a few Bach remedy drops in the drinking water if you must, but dog behaviour being "fixed" by drugs does not sort out the root problem, which could therfore manifest itself elsewhere. IMO, most dog probs are down to pack behavior, and be sorted out relatively quickly - look at it, you say the dog has only started playing up recently, behaviour changes fast.

Be happy to come round and offer you any help if I can. Ain't no expert by any means, I'm just well into this dog psychology stuff.

I unfortuanately had this problem with my 7 year old Basset Hound. I tried all that you have but had to eventually take him to the vet. With some dogs it is just very difficult to get them to be okay when you are gone. The vet perscribed some kind of medicine, but was basically doggy prozac. I hated to put him on it and it sounded mad to me, but the dog was fine afterwards. There was no change in his behaviour at all other than he didnt do all the shite dogs do when dealing with seperation anxiety. Plus i only gave it to him for like 1-2 weeks. I didnt want him to get hooked on the stuff and I felt bad giving him a pill. But he was 100% cured and no side effects or anything from it. I would choose this as a last resort option. This is was America so I am not sure if they will perscribe something like that here. Laws are different and such with pets, I mean here it is illegal for a vet to declaw a housecat, but in America it is a completely acceptable thing to do.

Jesus, dogs on Prozac ?

What next, bdugies on benzedrine, hamsters snorting lines of coke, cats smoking rollies and falling out of trees ?

My word Don Riina, when I saw you were posting on this thread I thought it was going to be to say something along the lines that no human should be allowing a dog to rule their life...a few swift kicks...or BBQ them if problem not resolved.

I am shocked and amazed to see your...soft side

I myself have not had a dog since I was a kid, but my roommate has two that are LOCO and doing a lot of the behaviors mentioned. I will definately tell her to tone down the attention she gives them on coming home and leaving.

Thank you everyone for your reply. I have started the leaving Maggie alone for a few mins every other hour or so. She seems to be doing ok.
To make things worse I have just found out from my husband we are moving in December. So that is going to help! NOT.

This is my rountine with my dog

In the morining between 8.30 -9.30 We go out for a walk. Usually a short walk. just to pee and poo.

Middle of the day say around 4 -5 we go for another walk, maybe in the Heidelbergs hill or somewhere where she can go of the lead and run around, play catch and stuff like that.

Then around 9-10 in at night we will go for a half an hour to an hour walk. She usually bumps in to hundreds of dogs, most she plays with, sometimes we go around a friends house and Maggie plays with there dog.

When we don't go on the walks we will play in the house, like catch and tug of war. Other then that she sleeps.

So that is mine and Maggies life!. When my husband is here he does the night time walk and usually jogs with her.

She sleeps in her basket in our bedroom. We have used cage training with her, when she was a pup. At the moment she wont go near it. Even with cheese and I have tried fesh meat!.

Hope this helps with any other suggestions.

Sorry about spelling mistakes! Loosing losing Oh well

Michelle

My friend has just recommended a book so I might get that as well and see if that helps.
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB687

@Mere thanx for the messages, it wont let me reply ofr some reason.

Show this to your dog and she'll be laughing so much that she won't have time for anything else. I think Marshbot deserves a prize.

Bizzare you should think that.I might be 100% behind mass genocide and the indiscriminate carpet bombing of every middle eastern country, but why on earth would I ever kick a dog? That'd be nasty.

Kicking dogs?

You kick my dog!

(can't find one without the shoddy flash animation)

Wow my dog is alittle star!

I finally left her today for 3 hours, I filmed her with my web cam and she didn't bark, didn't poo or wee all over everything!. Didn't chew up anything apart from her toys.

SO a HUGE BIG THANK YOU to everyone for all your help and support. I think my little doggie has got over her anxiety!

Cheers
Belle