Help, think Lola has a bad case of seperation anxiety :(

M

MrVelvet

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 May 2011
Messages
1,601
Location
North West, Lancashire
Visit site
As title really, came home the other day to a note pushed through the door from our neighbours saying she is very loud when we are out and it is distressing. Brings on a major panic from me!! What else can I do? she's crated when were out with the TV on in the living room, she has chews and toys, she is crated through the day when we are there and she is fine. We are looking into getting a walker to come see to her on the odd day that mine and OH's work overlaps but other than that what can I do :(

I'm now in panic mode thinking were gonna get thrown out of our house and ahhhh basically... in a bit of a mess :(

eta and her crate is covered with a thick blanket!
 
Last edited:
How often is she left alone for? A dog walker may be the answer.

But, why not go and talk to the note leaver, to find out more details etc....

Our neighbours dogs will set up after about 5 hours - and it is very, very annoying.
 
She has been left about twice in the last 6 weeks and for no more than 4-5 hours. I have been researching dog walkers and a company near me (run by a family friend) do day care too so I think this may be the answer short term. I did go speak to the note leaver and he said it goes on non stop whilst im out, which i dont really believe as he also lied about the time it began (which i know it a lie because i wasnt home at that time and had lola with me) he also said it becomes illegal after they go on for an hour or more?!?! which scared me!
 
Train being left. Crate- go upstairs for 10 mins- repeat. Crate- go in the garden for 10 mins -repeat, crate go upstairs for half hour- repeat, crate go out for 10 mins- repeat, crate go out for ten mins -repeat. Gradually increase the time she is left. No big reunions when you come back in the room - if she is quiet just open the crate and carry on doing what you were doing.

Is there any reason she is crated not free when you leave her?
 
How often a day should I do the 10 minute leaves?

We have friends next door but one to us and we usually pop over there in the evening and crate Lola (funnily enough she never makes a fuss then though, could this be because its a regular thing?) and one day we decided to test the water and leave her with the run of downstairs, we went next door and came back 10 minutes later to peek through the window at her - she had poo'd 3 times! wee'd right next to her bed and was shredding things!!! So, yes there is a reason she has to be crated lol.
 
My dog was really noisy when I first got him, luckly my neighbours have been understanding, he is much better now but I try and leave him everyday for a few hrs. He has now learnt to just go to sleep The biggest thing as someone else said do not make a fuss of her at all when you come home, until she calms down!!
 
With dex i did it as often as i could. He did not show any signs of SA but I never wanted him to- I had no idea how he would react to being left, although having been in kennels i imagine it was easier for him. I did not crate though, just shut him in a room away from me, but he knew i was still in the house. then did the same thing when I left the house, for increased periods as often as i could- had the first week I had him off work. Partner works from home alot so he has company most afternoons.

ALWAYS leave em something to do- Kong chew toys etc.
 
Don't panic re the neighbour for now, rightly or wrongly it is actually extremely hard to bring about a case against a noisy dog believe it or not.....it includes the dog barking more that a certain amount of time at a certain time and first the council come and park and listen and then they would give the neighbour recording equiptment/whatever it is and even then it takes along time to bring about action.
Record her yourself as suggested to make sure he is not over exaggerating, it could be that she cries for half an hour then nothing.
Then begin a routine of crating her when you are home alot more often than your are, and ideally she should go to bed in there (I am sure you mention she sleeps in your room) owner choice, but it does not help in cases of SA, and having her in a crate in your room would help the situation even more. If she does spend alot of time out of the crate when you are home start and half it and have her in the crate for half whilst you are pottering around with her cover on and tv on just the same as when you go out.
Also mimic you goig out and sit in silence and wait and see if she starts to get restless.
Make sure you are closing the door to, it's not a case of door open and her going in as she pleases. Try a DAP plug in near her crate.

Send neighbour a note telling him you are working on her noise/being left and apologise. Ask the neighbour on the other side if they too can hear anything?
 
yes she sleeps in our room but I'm thinking that may have to stop now. I will put her crate in our room tonight and start trying to wean her out of our room and also put her in her crate more often. I am now researching DAP plugs - can I get them from the vets?

Thanks Cayla that's put my mind at rest about the council so will hopefully have it nipped in the bud before anything comes about from that.

Thanks everyone for your replies, i have just come back in now and ignored her and after 15 mins she has just gone to her bed so have left her :)
 
Copy-pasted from a thread I did on another forum about SA...

We all know ‘pack theory’ is a load of bull but there is a kernel of truth in it in as much as dogs are what you would call a pack animal. They need companionship, human and/or dog, and do not come mentally equipped to deal without it. It’s actually a pretty big deal to expect a dog to be alone for periods of time. I’m also of the opinion that dogs have a poor concept of time – and of course cannot understand you when you tell them you’re only going out for ten minutes – and thus every time you leave them the dog might as well assume that you’ve gone forever. This is especially true for rescue dogs who may well have been left for unacceptably long periods of time in their previous home(s), confirming their fear.

As such, for many dogs being able to leave them alone requires an active process of teaching and conditioning. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a puppy so I’ll leave any puppy specific advice to others, though most of this will also ring true for them, and concentrate on adult dogs.

The first step is to create a secure and limited space. For many dogs this will be a crate – again, there’s been discussion on crates here before if you do a search, crate training requires a conditioning process as well but the long and short of it is that you need to make the crate a wonderful place to be. Cover three sides with a blanket to make a nice den, feed the dog in the crate, give them nice raw bones and stuffed kongs, pop the dog in and out of it at regular intervals, always with treats and toys, close the door briefly while you’re in the room and then immediately open it again, work up to being able to leave the dog in there with the door shut while you go about the house doing chores, making sure the dog can hear you and not see you. This process can take months.

The same applies if you’ve made a safe space somewhere else – this is usually the kitchen, so the floor is easier to clean. Fit slide or hook bolts at the top of doors so dogs can’t open them or close the area off with stair gates (extra tall ones are available especially for dogs). The smaller the space the better. Fit locks to the fridge, bin and accessible cupboards.

As with the crate process above you need to practice in tiny steps. Start by putting the dog in the crate/safe zone with something really stimulating – a big raw bone from the butcher is ideal, a kong stuffed with something yummy (and frozen to make it last longer) – and then stay in view but ignore the dog for a while. Very, very gradually, repeat this process but move a little further away each time – have the dog sitting in the kitchen chewing their bone while the family sits in the living room and watches TV, a stair gate separating you so the dog can see and hear you but not reach you.

Stair gates are ideal for additionally preventing the dog from following you from room to room which should be discouraged. Basically the aim at this point is to get the dog used to spending time on their own in a room while still being aware that you are in the house, just not being able to reach you. Again, this process can take a long time – if the dog becomes distressed, you’ve gone too fast.

Some dogs become anxious to triggers like putting on your shoes and picking up the keys. The solution is the same again – practice doing these things without leaving the house. Put your shoes on, chuck the dog a filled kong and then sit down and watch TV, jangling your keys. Repeat ad nauseum. Practice slamming the door without actually leaving until the dog doesn’t react to door, keys, shoes, coat etc.

When the dog has no reaction to any of these things and can stay in the safe zone alone for short periods while you’re upstairs out of sight and hearing, you start leaving. Initially, you leave for a matter of seconds. Open the door, step out, shut the door, immediately open the door and re-enter. Ignore dog completely. Gradually work up to being able to stand outside for 10, 20, 30 seconds at a time. This process is really tedious, I’ll admit. Again, if the dog shows signs of distress take it right back to the last point. It can take weeks or months to get as far as 10 minutes with a really, really distressed dog. Include any other triggers here – starting the car engine, for example.

At all times ignore the dog when you return – the urge is to praise them for their silence, or comfort them for their distress, but these are only confirming to the dog that they were right to fret. Ignore, ignore, ignore until the dog calms down.

Once you get to about 15 minutes with no reaction you can start increasing the time in longer increments. I know this sounds like a really tedious and long process (it is!) but this is the solution to SA.

It goes without saying that the dog must be receiving an appropriate amount of exercise at all times; a tired dog is a good dog. This includes mental stimulation – an hour’s training class will tire a dog out far more than an hour’s walk. Practice focus training at home, teach your dog daft tricks, set up some agility jumps in the garden, have half an hour of heelwork in the garden with stops, turns, down, send away, teach them new things all the time. Keep them busy! Never leave the dog unless they are physically and mentally tired.

Some people have good results from things like DAP spray/diffuser/collars (NOT spray training collars) Zylkene tablets etc. which are potentially worth investigating.

:)
 
Oh dear, not an easy one! I think it is actually something they do grow out of but you probably should try leaving her in the crate whilst you're out and about in the garden etc. I would give her a kong stuffed with some cream cheese or chuck of cheese wedged in so it takes a good long time to get out.

I just got my rescue dog over a week and a half ago and she has got very attached to me and barks if i leave her/ignore her or if she wants anything! She has actually been remarkably good over night and when I've left her in the kitchen when i go down the stables. However, last friday (i had been out on a works do) she woke at say 1am ish barking furiously and this seemed to anger my neighbour who then smashed on the wall and shouted for us (me and my lodger) to "shut that *****ing dog up!". Not very pleasant and of course this wasn't going to stop her barking!

I haven't actually spoken to him about it - I don't really know him. My lodger and i both agreed that the day the neighbour stops snoring loudly and stops playing loud music late at night the i shall think about stopping the dog barking! What gets me is the reason I think she was barking was because of noise he was making in the first place!

I guess it depends what relationship you have with your neighbours and what the style of note was they wrote - was it pretty polite or not? I would maybe ask them what she was doing - howling/barking?? For how long etc.
 
Mr V The Red Nosed Hooligan said:
yes she sleeps in our room but I'm thinking that may have to stop now. I will put her crate in our room tonight and start trying to wean her out of our room and also put her in her crate more often. I am now researching DAP plugs - can I get them from the vets?

Thanks Cayla that's put my mind at rest about the council so will hopefully have it nipped in the bud before anything comes about from that.

Thanks everyone for your replies, i have just come back in now and ignored her and after 15 mins she has just gone to her bed so have left her :)
Click to expand...

Don't worry re haste to ge her out of your room, the actual isue is not her being in the room but the fact that it would be ideal to get her in her crate in your room and cover the crate as you would downstairs, get a second crate if need be, but his is by far the most effective way of dealing with SA.....if both upstairs and down stairs crates are fully covered she will be confuzed to know the difference when placed in them, at present she does as she is not crated upstairs. It' very workable dont panic:p, if I could not cure the SA dogs I get in I would be a demented walking zombie with dogs I could never rehome, I have a very effective routine and its works very well;)
 
Our dog used to have separation anxiety until we got another dog. He would howl/bark and defecate in his crate so i simply stopped leaving him, he eventually grew out of it with company. If your dog did 3 poos and a wee in the space of 10 mins when left then i'd say that's definitely SA as not normal behaviour. A curtain twitching neighbour complained (the one time i left him at home for 2 hrs as for the most part he came to work with me anyway) but she complains about dogs barking in the garden if they play etc, used to complain about the previous owners' kids playing outside, and likes to leave ****ty notes for me and my other neighbour with dogs. Anyway, I ended up calling the council just to see where i stood, and basically the guy told me that if it's happening during the day there's not much they can do about it. It's only if it's during antisocial hours that they really take action. So that really set my mind at ease.

I can't wait til i have my baby..she's going to wish it was the dogs barking when the screaming child keeps her up all night. hehehehe.
 
Thanks everyone - theres some fab advice here! I crated her in our room last night uncovered and she just slept all night whereas usually she's up and down and unsettled so I actually think the crate helped her. I will try covering it tonight and just take it from there. I have been putting her in and out, she's in now in the kitchen and I am in the dining room on the laptop (open plan so she can see me). Now my mind is at rest about getting into trouble I can concentrate on helping her get better! I am starting to think I may have 'babied' her a bit in the beginning but it's all a learning curve! Will try the stuffed kongs too with something really tasty.. she tends to leave toys and other food when she's anxious. I have a lot to go on with now so thanks everyone :)
 
Glad its going ok so far.
Yes lots of good advice. I will be using some as my pup follows me everywhere cries his head off if i go upstairs and pushes through side of baby gate. Although weirdly he is fine crated downstairs and if i go out of the house. Just goes to sleep.
So i will be shutting the baby gates behind me and see how he copes!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top