Does Your Boxer Have Separation Anxiety?

[Peggy G]

Separation Anxiety can affect all Breeds but I have heard that Boxers are even more prone to it since they are such people dogs.

Im curious how many of you have (or had) a Boxer with Separation Anxiety.

I would like to know if your Boxer was a Rescue.

If you have worked through it, please explain how.

Also, please explain what behaviors your Boxer exhibited when left alone.

Here is some information on the subject:

http://www.boxerrescue.org/InfoPages/separation.html

 

[Kysha]

Tegan had horrible seperation anxiety - she would bark constantly until we returned. We tried a few methods:
1. Seperate myself from her over a months time (so she loosens her bond with me). I wasn't aloud to feed her, cuddle with her, or groom her - boy that was torture, for both of us. I basically walked her enough so that she could relieve herself. My husband (boyfriend at the time) was the one who took her to the dog park, fed her and bonded with her more. This did not work at all. Although she now has a closer bond with David she still barked constatnly. This method was recommended by a vet.

2. Citronella bark collar. When Tegan barked the collar would spray coitronella and that was supposed to deter her from barking. This worked for about a month, she actually likes the smell of organges now.

3. Water. We hooked up a container of water above her kennel and stood outside. When she barked we pulled a trigger and the water fell on her (onle about a cup full). We did this religioulsy a few times a day every day. This didn't do anything except increase our hydro bill becuase we has to dry everything!

4. The last thing that we had to resort to was a shock collar :( We had gotten three warnings from our landlord and were on the verge of being kicked out. It was the hardest thing to do - leaving her at home knowing that she was going to be shocked. Before I put the colllar on her I put it on myself to know what kind of pain she was going to endure - it wasn't that bad but it did hurt. The shock collar worked and before we knew it we would leave her with the collar on without the battery, and now she doesn't need the collar at all.

Owen did not go through seperation anxiety at all, he is more attached to Tegan than us, and when we got him Tegan was curred of her barking!

 

[Austin's Mom]

Yes, Austin was a rescue. Even now if I take him somewhere other than my Mom's house he won't get out of the car. He sits there and shakes if I try to get him out. I think it's a fear of being left again. When he knows we are getting ready to leave the house he starts chewing my kids feet trying to take their sneaker off as to say "don't go". When we come back he has one of their sneakers in my bed with him. I guess sleeping with it is a sense of security for him.

 

[GG-CG-AG]

I voted for "Yes, severe"

We rescued Abby when she was 6 weeks old, so I don't think it's because of the rescue.

When we are getting ready to go, she will try to trip us while we walk, she chews our shoes and growls and barks at our feet. While we are gone she whines and barks the whole time (our neighbors let us know) and she goes completely bonkers when we let her out of the crate.

If we take her somewhere with us in the car and the car stops, she jumps up on the window. This is okay if we are at a stoplight, but if I'm a ctually trying to go somewhere, it's a pain because I have to wrestle her to keep her in the car while I run in. But then if I try to let her out, she just sits in the car and trembles and whines.

 

[Aimee]

Lexi had severe seperation anxiety. We had to work with a behavioral therapist in conjunction with Clomicalm. I would say that she is 95% cured.

Lexi's symptons were improper elimination, destruction, clingyness and escape.

She would poop and pee in front of the front door in the foyer of our old house EVERY time we left the house. Even if I went to get the mail. She could get out of any contraption be it a crate, gated area you name it. She would then destroy everything in sight. We lost a couch, kitchen table, berber carpet and padding, comforters, lawn furniture, she chewed the wires to the air conditioning unit outside, walls, window sills, base boards, coffee table, vase, light bulbs, bath mats, rugs, towels, shoes, belts and the list goes on. And as so many people ask, yes we still have her She then got so severe she began escaping out of the house. My vet finally recommended treatment when she ate a vase and damaged herself to the point of requiring surgery. We then knew she wasn't going through her "teen" years as I so thought.

Lexi rarely exhibits any of those behaviors now. Every now and then she will tear something up but I don't associate that with seperation anxiety now. She has grown up to be a big girl and even sleeps on her own bed at night now! That was a big accomplishment, believe me!

For those experiencing this, I would like to let you know not to give up. There is a way to work with it but time and patience is a must!

By the way, Lexi came from a breeder and was brought home at 9 weeks old.

 

[Brutus and Amaya's Mom]

I had to reply...My own dogs do not have seperation anxiety. They were crate trained since they were babies and are fine.

My current foster does have anxiety. In his past life he chewed on his metal kennel and wore away all his teeth. We are currently working to crate train him and he is making progress. I think the safest for Duke is a crate because I'm sure he would make a lot of trouble in the house.

 

[lawdawg534]

My Boxer Spinx would go absolutely insane if we left her at home by herself. When we first got her we tried to put her in the kitchen with a baby gate to keep her in. No only did she chew through the baby gate (cuting her gums) she pooped and slung feces all over the kitchen, on the ceiling on the walls and everything in between. The doctor told us it was probably separation anxiety. She seemed to grow out of it as she got older and when we got our second one (Tiger) she didn't act like that anymore at all. Spinx wasnt crate trained and I have heard that helps alot with calming the dog down. Tiger was crate trained and much more calm. Our current Boxer Tango is being crate trained and also much calmer than Spinx was. My wife stays home now so there is almost always someone here so I dont know if Tango would go through that or not. None of mine have been rescues.

 

[BluEydMaineiac]

My Lyssa was not a rescue dog I have had since she was 8 wks old.. she has seen a vet regularly and she is very happy and healthy he says BUT she shows all symptoms of separation Anxiety she has chewed things I would never imagine...My daughters matress for one Im talkin destroyed and Cd's
what are we supposed to do when there is somewhere when we just cant take her ie: Grocery shopping or a wedding or whatever!!????? we have tried crating her (didnt work) she chewed it all up.... I think I have only 1/4 of couch cushions left I cant help but wonder when is this gonna end....I love her she doesnt have a mean bone in her body and she is sooo fun to watch But Im not a rich person LOL cant just run out and buy extra cushions or mattresses whenever she feels anxious and Im home almost all the time and when im not here my husband is so she isnt left alone but only to go shopping is that weird????PLUS she gets PLENTY of excercise!! :confused:

 

[None-removed]

Dixie was a 2 y/o rescue, and a victim of horrible abuse, that was removed from her previous home by Animal Control. She hated men - I was the only man she truly tolerated, and it took months for us to develop a good bond. Once we started to bond, she showed signs of extreme SA and would injure herself daily, throw herself against the door, scream, eliminate, howl, and did roughly
$1500 worth of structural damage to the house. She would be completely exhausted when I got home. Because of known health problems, I was hesitant to crate her, but finally resorted to crating and training. She didn't do well with training alone so she was put on Clomicalm, and in conjunction with the training - the difference was amazing. 3-4 months after starting the training and med she was a different dog, probably 90-95% over the SA symptoms.

There is hope for even the most severe cases, and as a last resort there are always the meds - which work like Prozac does on humans.

 

[alaska]

I used to take my dog every where I went, so now that I can't bring him to work with me anymore, he has to stay at home in his crate, he has busted out of every crate I put him in. I finally found one he can't get out of. the only reason I crate him is because he turned the stove on once, by putting his paws on the front of the stove to see if there was anything good to eat.!!!