Separation Anxiety tips please!

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Parkranger

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So the new hound will go for an hour on his own in the kitchen now while i'm working upstairs....we do this about 4 times a day to get him used to the fact that he cannot be glued by my side.

I took him to the yard early this morning, fed horses, walked him for an hour and then put him in the car, with the windows down, while I rode for 40 mins. he does bark when left in the car but it's on and off now which is good.

So, any tips on leaving him the house on his own? I've got a dog walker sorted (for the odd days that I'm not at home) and have asked that she tells me 30 mins before she comes so I can put him in the kitchen and she can pick up and drop off from the kitchen without me being around.....we're going to start this tomorrow while I'm working from home. I don't make eye contact or a fuss when I leave him or come back.

Luckily he hasn't got a big bark but I'm concerned about his barking when I leave the house - left him for 10 mins the other day and he was getting himself in a state bless him.

I realise that he's just moved in with me and settling will take a while and I'm hoping that my lodgers dog (moves in a week Friday) will help but am I doing everything I can?

Any other tips?

Thanks
 
Not sure if you will come back here, but here goes.
I personally would invest in a crate, and instead of lavishing him with attention focus on exercise whilst he is settling, the worst thing u can do is say...let him sleep in your room, sleep at your feet, follow you around the house and take him everywhere you go, if you had a crate you could start off by placing him in it and stay in the same room and get on with something, and then literally walk in and out without paying attention, if he is kicking up a fuss at night, u could place a crate in your room if thats where u have him now, it means he is still crated (so it's positive) as he is still with you but at the same time a trick, cos he is in the crate, when u get up, no fuss straight out to toilet, same when u come home, you can put treats in and feed him in there, but in the beginning whilst they are anxious they may not touch them, so the main thing is walk the legs of him then in the crate, this way all attention is physical exercise and no ott affection.
When u see sign of him settling without fuss, then start to gradually build up time spent with you other than walks, ask your dog walker not to fuss when she comes to take him out, no speak or over excitement, and hopefully she will do what she is paid too (ware him out and return him) when u get home let him out to toilet then straight for walk, then home tea and crate, and gradually introduce a cover so he cannot see where u are.
 
I agree with Cayla, make him tired by focusing on the exercise, but don't forget that if the body is tired but not the brain, he will probably still have energy enough to feel lonely.


Is he food orientated or does he stress himself up so much that he doesn't bother about food?
If he is interested in food also when he is on his own and you have a Kong, fill it with something, carrot purée, yoghurt perhaps mixed with a little liver pate etc, put it in the freezer and give it to him frozen when you leave him. If that works and you have a cooler, you could take the frozen Kong with you an give him in the car too and not only at home.


Also if you feed dry food, don't put it in a bowl without spread it out all over the floor and let him work to find it, hide a favourite toy and let him find that, if you have empty toilet rolls, put a treat inside one, pinch the ends together as much as is suitable according to his level of being food driven and willing to rip things apart to be able to get to the goodies or if you want some brain-exercising toys (boredom breakers) that you can hide treats or his food inside, I have some of Nina Ottosson's, my dogs favourite is Dog Tornado Wood.

They are sold in UK, e.g. nina-ottosson-training-toys, boredom-dog-toys and petplanet.
As I recall, Prose's Stella enjoys this boredom breaker Boston-terrier-challenge .



Do you have a D.A.P? HHO thread about Dog Appeasing Pheromone (D.A.P.) diffuser

In clinical trials with D.A.P.™, destructive behavior and vocalization (excessive barking and whining) were improved or resolved by 72 percent and 85 percent respectively.

veterinary information D.A.P.


You don't have to use the thing to plug into an electric socket it seems, D.A.P. dog collar Somebody who has used a D.A.P. Dog collar

A double-blind placebo-controlled study which ran over a period of 4 weeks, involving D.A.P. dog collars and police dogs in Austria .
 
A DAP diffuser has really helped next doors dog. The barking is minimal now, compared to a more or less ongoing noise.

I hear what Cayla is saying - and goodness knows she's the voice of experience when it comes to dogs. But I simply couldn't deprive him of affection and attention - and on my bed and by my side he'd be.......
 
But (in the nicest possible way!) that's a very human way of looking at things and why so many dogs have issues!

You want it honey? OK, you have it, whenever you demand it. Oh, I can't give you whatever you want right at the minute. Hey - why are you sad? Why are you being naughty?

Plus my bed would collapse if mine came anywhere near it :p
 
I know, I know..........

But look, you're talking to someone who's recently watched Marley and Me - and is in love with BF's Bichon Frise............

Stepping away from the keyboard now:p:D
 
CaveCanem said:
But (in the nicest possible way!) that's a very human way of looking at things and why so many dogs have issues!

You want it honey? OK, you have it, whenever you demand it. Oh, I can't give you whatever you want right at the minute. Hey - why are you sad? Why are you being naughty?

Plus my bed would collapse if mine came anywhere near it :p
Click to expand...

LMFAO at you 2, esp the bed collapsing bit:D:D I just got up and it's woke me up more:D

It does work Amymay, but I hear what you are saying:D (you softie), when you are like me and have hundredes to contend with and you have a time frame to get them into home and crate trained and seperation anxiety free, which is possibly why they where handed in to us you need to let the mind rule and not the heart (It's also better for the dogs mins);)......im doing it with a saffi now (the hardest breed in the world):mad: to crate train or crack seperation anxiety, and I have done so within the week by exercising her and not lavishing her with atention, she has a run on a morning then an afternoon then tea time with my pack (it kills her):rolleyes::D but she will try and keep up:D, this was her routine, she was in the crate inbetween time with me in the house walking about and ignoring and she had lots of yummy treats inbetween and slept, now she is coming in the sitting room for some stroke time on a night time, and she will now go in the crate herself no probs when ever and is silent, and she has a new mammy and daddy and big brother (labrador):D coming to see her on Saturday:D and they needed her crate trained to seperate them both until they are used to each other.
 
amymay said:
I know, I know..........

But look, you're talking to someone who's recently watched Marley and Me - and is in love with BF's Bichon Frise............

Stepping away from the keyboard now:p:D
Click to expand...

Lol, I watched Marley and Me, as funny as it was and heart warming, that dog would not last 2 mins in here displaying that behaviour:eek::rolleyes::D not that I would get rid....just train the bloody hoon:D:D
 
Thanks guys!

Crate training isn't really an option as I have another dog moving in a week tomorrow (with lodger).

I'm hoping that she'll make a massive different to him but I am ensuring that he's spending atleast 5 hours a day in the kitchen now while I work upstairs.

I asked the dog walker to pop him straight back in the kitchen earlier from the walk while I picked my mum up from work. He was only barking intermittently when I got back so I think it's starting to work!

I will try a DAP difusser - used one on Jack and it didn't work at all.....although it's probably going to help when his playmate is introduced anyway.

He's not food orientated in the slightest which makes things quite difficult although for the firs ttime today, he took the kong that was smothered with beef spread (yuk) and it seemed to help him forget where he was.

Unfortunately he still won't sleep while he's on his own in the kitchen but I guess that will come in time.

Hes such a lovely dog that I do want to get this cracked........
 
CaveCanem said:
But (in the nicest possible way!) that's a very human way of looking at things and why so many dogs have issues!

You want it honey? OK, you have it, whenever you demand it. Oh, I can't give you whatever you want right at the minute. Hey - why are you sad? Why are you being naughty?

Plus my bed would collapse if mine came anywhere near it :p
Click to expand...


;) But, but if I demand them to sleep in my bed and they don't obey, does that mean that my dogs are smarter than me and refuses to be treated as humans?

When I say "Any bitch in the house, come and sleep in my bed!", sometimes one of them comes,
e050.gif
other times I have to go and catch the first one I find, carry her to my bed, lay her down and say "Stay!"
Then I hurry myself down into the bed and it is all warm, cosy and lovely :D , until a minute or so later when she plays out the "I'm having a heatstroke and have to get out of here"-card...

b005.gif


I do consider it to be perhaps the biggest fault in their breed's character, when they usually believes it gets too hot as soon as a human wants to sleep in the bed too and leaves as fast as possible. *sigh*







Honestly, I can understand if people feel that it seems a little backwards, I think that most people that buys dogs wants their affection, attention and of course company and then, when they get the dog, they're being told they should keep it on a distance?
That said, I do agree with Cayla and you,CaveCanem, about that a lot of today's dog problems comes from when we think about them and treat them as humans.


However it is as with most things in life, as long as what you do really works for both you and your dog, then you don't have any problem to fix and you can continue the way you do.
Also, only because you don't shower your dog with cuddles at any given opportunity from the day you get it, to me, it wouldn't mean that you can't cuddle them, at all, for the rest of their life. Without it only means that you do it less than what you would want to in the beginning and when you cuddle them, you need to think a little about when, how and how much you do it.



*sigh* I will continue to wish I could find this in my bed one morning...
4355767987_ba36415c55_m.jpg
 
You can still Crate Train him, even if the other dogs are going to be loose. My Mum Crate Trained her IWS whilst the other 5 dogs were loose, and Otto is crated at their house with the other loose around him. It's the only way he'll settle in a strange place.
 
Well he seems to be settling already - see my recall post!

I'm not overly affectionate with him until I want to - we have 'playtime' a couple of times a day and then I encourage him to go into the kitchen for a snooze and his meat stuffed kong.

When I got home earlier his barking was intermittent and I do think he's going to be a dog that once he's settled he'll be fine.......

Re. distancing yourself - I really do understand that but I got him as a companion so I guess we have to work out ways that we can make this work for us!
 
Mine are companions too...my whips make good companion hot water bottles and my rotti is a perminant attatchment to my side, but I always get a routine in place before the affection comes, there is nowt worse than seperation anxiety for the dog and your neighbour:rolleyes::D
 
I agree that you should still be crate training him even though the other dog is around. You want him to be able to calm himself not need another dog or person to do it for him.
 
CAYLA said:
Mine are companions too...my whips make good companion hot water bottles and my rotti is a perminant attatchment to my side, but I always get a routine in place before the affection comes, there is nowt worse than seperation anxiety for the dog and your neighbour:rolleyes::D
Click to expand...

Very good point!
 
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