Anyone have a dog with seperation anxiety?

[Kyra231]

Our latest addition to my herd is a great dog, he's just velcro'd to me & loses his marbles when I leave his sight. We have a crate for him but he's almost tearing off his nails trying to get out :(

I wondered if anyone had any tips on how they've handled this oh so fun problem. <insert obligatory shoot the dog comments/pictures here>.

Also he's a blue heeler, aus. shep. mix so he cleared my tallest gate like it was nothing when I tried just gating him into the hallway.

[SHAFT]

If you cover the crate with a blanket to give the illusion of a dog's den, it'll help calm a dog with separation anxiety. When I first got my St. Bernard he had that problem, especially at night when I was trying to sleep. I covered the crate with a blanket and he'd sleep soundly.

[DCSL]

Yes. The main problem is that mine tears my stuff apart in her anxiety. I've lost furniture to this dog and had to pay $600 on my apartment when I moved out because she chewed through the countertop of the bathroom sink.

I've never been able to completely cure it. It helped taking her for really long jogs as a younger dog. Now that she's older, she doesn't flip out as often unless there's a storm. Playgroups at doggy day care also helped, where she learned life could be fun even without me.

And muzzling. When she started eating my books, I flipped out. She can and does drink through the mesh of the muzzle but she can't get her teeth around anything, which saves me from having to kill her. Bathroom counter, fine. TV stand, fine. But my books? Fuck that. Just have to make sure it's never overwarm in the house when I leave her like that because she can't pant as effectively. So yeah, combination of things.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

Our latest addition to my herd is a great dog, he's just velcro'd to me & loses his marbles when I leave his sight. We have a crate for him but he's almost tearing off his nails trying to get out :(

I wondered if anyone had any tips on how they've handled this oh so fun problem. <insert obligatory shoot the dog comments/pictures here>.

Also he's a blue heeler, aus. shep. mix so he cleared my tallest gate like it was nothing when I tried just gating him into the hallway.

When you crate him it's extremely important to not respond to him if he starts whining, chewing, etc. Every time you react to something he does while crated/give him attention, you're reinforcing his bad behavior and encouraging him to do it again. I'd first try crating him with you in the room and in site. Give him a bone/rawhide/kong to chew on while he's in the crate so he's not bored and while he's being quiet and well behaved, randomly stop by the crate and drop in some treats. You're trying to establish that the crate is a good, non-scary place.

From there, you will absolutely have to start leaving the room and leaving him alone in the crate. As awful as you're going to feel for doing it, you're basically just going to ignore him while he whines, cries, paws, and chews trying to get your attention. When he's quieted down and remains quiet for at least ten minutes, drop by, unceremoniously drop a treat into the crate (don't say anything, talk to him, etc), and leave again. The goal here is to get him to associate being quiet in his crate while left alone with something good (in this case, a treat). Eventually you can taper off the treats, but in the beginning I find them useful. This is kind of hellish until you pass the extinction period (where the dog seemingly becomes desperate/increases in feverishness to get your attention, then it tapers off dramatically).

Beyond that, when out of the crate, there are some things you can do to keep your dog calm. First, when you enter or leave the house/room, don't do anything to get your dog excited (talking to them, hand movements, etc). Make sure your dog gets a TON of exercise (tired dogs are so much easier to handle), so take him on walks, take him to the dog park, etc. You may even consider taking him to a doggy daycare once or twice a week. Finally, if your dog reacts to any 'leaving' rituals you have (putting on your shoes, grabbing your keys, etc) start doing these rituals without actually leaving. You'll desensitize your dog to the ritual eventually.

[HouseofElves]

If you cover the crate with a blanket to give the illusion of a dog's den, it'll help calm a dog with separation anxiety. When I first got my St. Bernard he had that problem, especially at night when I was trying to sleep. I covered the crate with a blanket and he'd sleep soundly.

This! Worked like a charm with my husky.

[Warriorbird]

Blue heelers are helped a lot by "jobs."

[DCSL]

This! Worked like a charm with my husky.

It's hard to find crates big enough to fit a Bernese Mountain Dog. ;_; Thank god I was able to crate train the pit bull at least.

Edited to add, crates that'll fit in a small home, that is. Any crate I found for her would have taken up the entire kitchen.

[Delias]

When I got Piper, ours was the third home she'd come to and her previous owners didn't treat her very well. You couldn't leave the room without her freaking out... so in order to show her that we were always coming back, we put her crate right by the front door and would crate her, go outside for 5 minutes and then come right back...basically doing anything possible to show her you would return and weren't gone forever. It took several months but she eventually got to the point where we could leave her all day, crated or not, and she wouldn't destroy anything... except she would lick the bed. At first I thought she was peeing on it, until I caught her at it. But still, my advice is the leave and come back right away thing.

[Showal]

My St. Bernard was a fucking maniac when I got her. I'd leave for work, she'd spend the next 8 hours barking at the door, covering herself in saliva and the door she saw me leave through and the surrounding floor in slobber.

I tried everything (except crating, due to her size). I took her on long walks, morning and night. I ignored her freak outs. Gave her no attention when she became incredibly excited when I came home. I stopped allowing her to sleep in the bed. I got some of that DAP pheromone stuff, recommended by the vet. I limited her space when I left to one room with a radio on, so she'd be more relaxed and feel like she had less area to "protect". I went through training, worked really hard with her on it. I went through desensitization training and worked on it every night for months. Basically, I did everything in the book, for months, and NOTHING worked. (Admittedly, it got a little little bit better for a few weeks at one point, but then it came roaring back much worse shortly after)

I was at my wits end. I seriously tried everything and I don't budge with dogs. I am really good at staying consistent.

Now my dog's great. I worked it out with my vet and put her on a low dose of prozac. It's incredibly safe. I had a theory that I just needed something to break the cycle. Pretty much, panic in some dogs feeds more panic. Barking for my dog was a release of her anxiety, but also made her more excited and, as a result, more anxious.

Sadie was on prozac for about 4-5 months. It took about a month to start working, but when it did, it was an amazing transformation. I'd come home to a sleeping and rested dog rather than a wet panicked freak. (Edited to add that this is very different than a sedated dog. That's not what I was seeing. She was in no way lethargic or sedated as a result of the prozac)

I don't recommend the meds route without exploring every other option and only then with a good consult with your vet and possibly an appointment with an animal behavior specialist.

I honestly believe that the prozac was the thing that allowed all the other steps I took with my dog to finally start to work. Here and there I come home to an overexcited dog, but really nothing out of the realm of what you'd consider ordinary.

Good luck. Unless you've had a dog with severe separation anxiety, you'll never understand why people stress over it. Hope things work out for the best.

[4a6c1]

Your dogs behavioral issues are rooted in self-identity.

Strict routines build confidence in dogs. Enforce a strict routine that works for YOU and stick with it. Also give him tasks to fulfill (can be as simple as sitting in one place for 5 minutes a day) as part of this routine and positive reinforcement afterward. This will work. Do it. DO IT NAOW.

[4a6c1]

^My instructions are especially true for utility dogs that were bred to perform.

[Kyra231]

Thanks for the help! He came from the pound and we had possible distemper scare(thankfully it wasn't, what a long ass wait for the test though!) so I hadn't been walking him just to be safe.

He's now recovering from neutering so in a few days we'll be back to "work". I have a Jack Russell / heeler mix already the same age as him so I've been working him into her exercises and obedience up to this point. Hopefully jogging once he's healed will take the edge off.

I'll definitely be using your suggestions. Almost all my dogs are pound pups, he's just the first I've ever ran into that's this anxious. Within 20 min of being at our house he was barking at the bathroom door if I shut it without him.

[4a6c1]

I've fostered hundreds of dogs and at least half of them bark all night at what ever door I put them behind. Its because they thought they were breaking out of jail and then wtf?? this lady is locking me up again damnit. Just lock him in there every day at the same time and keep a close eye on when he starts to behave better (no barking) and then reward him as soon as the good behavior starts up. Try not to produce any undesirable actions that are outside the routine. For example lock up time at the same time every day. That means peeing with the pooch watching... :-/

[Latrinsorm]

I only wish my parents had the opportunity to read this thread before my brothers and I were crated.