Seperation Anxiety

[beken]

My two year old female gets bad seperation anxiety. The moment she hears the jingle of my keys she starts pacing, I've tried sitting back down for a while & she'll continue to pace until I tell her to stop. We leave her with my Mother-in-law's lab so she's not by herself & I could be gone 30 seconds, she'll urinate or poop.

She was crate trained but I hate to put her in there for several hours. Plus, she cries & cries if left there when we're gone & has bent the metal in the crate, I'm scared she'll hurt herself. We bought her at 18 months & her previous owner left her in the crate while gone but she had two other boxers next to her.

She could care less about food or treats, I've put pee pads down & they're always ignored.

 

[Gryphon]

Same problem

I have the same problems with Gryphon. I got him as a puppy and would crate him while I was gone for potty training purposes. He was an escape artist though, and we've been through several different crates (same thing, bending and chewing the metal). Now I just shove the crate around so that the door is against a wall so that he can't escape. He's two now, and I thought, heck. I can take out the trash, be gone for two minutes and he'll be fine, right? Wrong. I had just taken him outside before I left, and he still managed enough pee to leave just a nickel sized puddle on the carpet in front of the door. I could use the same advice.

 

[LILYLARUE]

I have two rescues and both with severe SA. The first one, Buster was a screamer and cryer if I left him. He would not, could not be crated cause he'd chew his way out, metal ones even. The other was Bella, who after 9 months can still be left for 3 hours at the most, uncrated cause she was a terror too. Lily is the only one that can and will be happy to be crated.

I had the luxury of taking them to work. Buster was "cured" within 3 months. Bella, still goes with me. Sometimes she will want to stay home in the morning or afternoon. But never all day without a huge poopy and pee mess. I think cause they both were found on the street, Buster obviously abused, Bella obviously crated her whole life and neglected.......they really seek human attention and affection. They are both so needy in that department. I kinda feel since they were so alone their former lives, that they crave, if not need for their mental health, to be around me always.

If your dogs can be trusted out of the crate, confined to a safe room or area, no need for a crate if it scares them too much.

There is a section of seperation anxiety in the training section and many, many threads with a lot of methods to try if you do a search. It will be worth the time to read all you can to see what methods you want to try. Sometimes it may take two or three or a combo of several to work on your dogs.

This condition can be cured completely or can only be "softened" depending on the severity of the case. I don't think Bella will ever be mentally ok with being alone for too long. Buster is pretty good alone now as long as I give him lots of attention when I get home and take him to the office every now and then.

 

[Tima]

Been there ..cleaned up that

My boy Tima has been the same way since a pup...training took forever with him .He's 8 now and still has the same ole issue....Mommy dont leave. I tried crate training at an early age and all that ended up doing was increasing his anxiety.
What I have found has worked (albeit to a degree) is to spend time every day repeating the actions that give him the anxiety...IE I put on my running shoes and sit in the chair until he calms down. I open and close the door several times a day. Leave for 5 minutes then 10 and so on. Also I find that a loooooooooong walk b4 leaving helps...
I hope your situation improves...patience certainly is key.
PS I found that ignoring during the am b4 leaving was key for him and ignoring upon return was also key...so as not to make it into an event...
peace and puppy love be with you