Separation Anxiety

[FreyasMom]

My 8 yr old male is having issues as well. Thinking back, I think it started in 2009 when my then husband left to attend police academy. I was diagnosed with cancer shortly thereafter and he became mor clingy. I just thought he could sense I was sick. Hubby and I divorced in march and puppy and I moved from MD to FL a Fe weeks ago. He has chewed on doorknob and clawed the trim on to doors, broken a new gate and clawed carpet today. We are renting this house so I'm really needing him to get better. I did get som Prozac for him, he has tons of toys, hasn't used a crate in year because of the drooling and escaping some of you mentioned. It's like he's a puppy again. I have. Dog walker that comes daily while I'm at work.....may have to double that for a while. I adore him but this is stressing me out. Any suggestions??

Sorry wish I knew what to tell you cause we are still having the issue. Freya has been on Prozac for almost a month now and all it has done is make her more lethargic when we are home, hasnt done anything for when we are gone. I am going to give it one more month and if it doesnt help, I will take her off of it. Other than that, she is still doing the same thing :-(

 

[daisyandduke]

Have you tried putting her in the kennel WHILE you are home for short periods of time until she feels like the kennel is a safe place? Or feeding her in her kennel leaving the door open for her to go in and out freely? When/If she does go in there on her own will....there needs to be LOTS of praise and partying! Some sort of reward needs to happen....may it be treats or some play time. Fortunately, I have not had this problem with my Boxers....investing the time in the very beginning when I brought them home to make the crate a safe haven for them took some patience and work. They did not like it at first, but now they go in there freely and they know that is their space. Good luck to you.

 

[Fabbidavisjr]

Tips

My 2 and a half year old had this for about 6 months.....we didn't crate train.....so she was destroying furniture, pictures, remotes, Christmas trees, etc.....so i did ton's of reading and decided to train it out of her...here all the extreme things we had to do for months to train her.....

1. When you get home ignore her for 2 whole minutes......
2. When we do acknowledge her we tell her to get a bone, so she runs to get her bone then we pet her....This is so when she gets anxiety she thinks of the bone we want when we return home so she chews that while thinking.
3. We leave the tv on everyday so she has something so its not so quiet.
4. before we leave we give her a bone that she only gets while we are gone..
5. Ignore her for 5 minutes before leaving...
6. Say the same exact thing everytime you leave the house no matter if its for 1 minute or hours....
7. Move her bed farther and farther from your bed so she become more independent...start by moving it a foot, then another foot, until she is competely in the hallway....
8. Exercise of course
9. Bones and other chewing toys are great....
10. Stay patient....

It took a whole lot of practice but now she is great...hasn't had a incident in over a year....She's 2 and a half....I'm sure you can use all these with her crate..

 

[FreyasMom]

Have you tried putting her in the kennel WHILE you are home for short periods of time until she feels like the kennel is a safe place? Or feeding her in her kennel leaving the door open for her to go in and out freely? When/If she does go in there on her own will....there needs to be LOTS of praise and partying! Some sort of reward needs to happen....may it be treats or some play time. Fortunately, I have not had this problem with my Boxers....investing the time in the very beginning when I brought them home to make the crate a safe haven for them took some patience and work. They did not like it at first, but now they go in there freely and they know that is their space. Good luck to you.

Yes, she loves her kennel when we are home, she has no problem in it at all. She will go in there to nap etc. It is just when we are not there that she has the issue :-(

 

[FreyasMom]

My 2 and a half year old had this for about 6 months.....we didn't crate train.....so she was destroying furniture, pictures, remotes, Christmas trees, etc.....so i did ton's of reading and decided to train it out of her...here all the extreme things we had to do for months to train her.....

1. When you get home ignore her for 2 whole minutes......
2. When we do acknowledge her we tell her to get a bone, so she runs to get her bone then we pet her....This is so when she gets anxiety she thinks of the bone we want when we return home so she chews that while thinking.
3. We leave the tv on everyday so she has something so its not so quiet.
4. before we leave we give her a bone that she only gets while we are gone..
5. Ignore her for 5 minutes before leaving...
6. Say the same exact thing everytime you leave the house no matter if its for 1 minute or hours....
7. Move her bed farther and farther from your bed so she become more independent...start by moving it a foot, then another foot, until she is competely in the hallway....
8. Exercise of course
9. Bones and other chewing toys are great....
10. Stay patient....

It took a whole lot of practice but now she is great...hasn't had a incident in over a year....She's 2 and a half....I'm sure you can use all these with her crate..

Thank you, it is worth a try, we have decided to take her off the meds today. She is not her normal self, and it is so sad :-(

 

[dora]

I have a similar situation, my 9 month girl Proxie was fine with the crate until I went on a work trip for a few days and my boyfriend (now ex) watched her at his place. She had a terrible experience and was in the crate way too much and finally got to the point she broke out of the metal crate, cutting her chin and then messing up some things in the house.

I have tried everything to re-crate train, but she goes into panic mode!!!! She has figured out how to open every crate I tried since then! She even let my friends dog out of her crate when she got out!!

I really tried to re-train, I got a plastic crate with comfy bed and lots of treats and praise if she even went near it! I called it her 'room' instead of 'crate' since she seemed to react to the crate word, and even moved it to a different location. Nothing worked.

I get so worried she will hurt herself breaking out that I tried leaving her out and she was so-so. She would get into random things some days and not others, and was having accidents on the floor.

So... I found a doggie daycare thats on the way to work!! It is an expense to do this but it has helped sooo much! I drop her off on way to work, pick her up after 4 hours and drop her back off at the house. She goes right to her bed in the living room, and sleeps until I get home!! She is so much less anxious and so well behaved with a few hours of playtime with other dogs! Its worth the money for peace of mind and not worrying, and not replacing household items!!! ... of which, she figured out how to unzip the couch cushions and remove stuffing, no damage, but a pain to put back together ever day!!

I am hoping to do this a few months and then when she is a little more mature maybe try reducing to ever other day. And eventually down to once a week.

I think it has helped the separation anxiety to be away from me but be in a fun environment! I think she looks forward to me leaving now so she can go play haha!

Don't know if there is a doggie day care nearby you, but it really gets the edge off for them, plus its great exercise and socialization!!

Good luck!

Jenny

 

[FreyasMom]

So... I found a doggie daycare thats on the way to work!! It is an expense to do this but it has helped sooo much! I drop her off on way to work, pick her up after 4 hours and drop her back off at the house. She goes right to her bed in the living room, and sleeps until I get home!! She is so much less anxious and so well behaved with a few hours of playtime with other dogs! Its worth the money for peace of mind and not worrying, and not replacing household items!!! ... of which, she figured out how to unzip the couch cushions and remove stuffing, no damage, but a pain to put back together ever day!!

I am hoping to do this a few months and then when she is a little more mature maybe try reducing to ever other day. And eventually down to once a week.

I think it has helped the separation anxiety to be away from me but be in a fun environment! I think she looks forward to me leaving now so she can go play haha!

Don't know if there is a doggie day care nearby you, but it really gets the edge off for them, plus its great exercise and socialization!!

I totally agree with you and I love that option. Thing is we have one that is close and it does not allow the dogs to socialize, the workers only take the dogs out every so often to play with them, not the other dogs :-( I have called a day care that has some in the state we are in, but they are not looking to open a chain in our town anytime soon :-( We are looking into getting Freya a brother, in hopes that will help.

Thanks