Has anyone had a dog with moderate to severe separation anxiety?

Question

What did you do to help them with this problem? I have tried everything suggested on the internet except medication. The vet said we could try it but I really would like to avoid that. I've thought of adopting another dog but Oliver is already 2 years old with this problem and I'm afraid getting him another playmate wouldnt help. Any suggestions?

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He is crate trained and actually it is part of the problem. As soon as you walk out of the house he makes the worst noises, almost like he is being beaten. but as soon as we walk back in he's fine. His crate is a steel frame and he has already pull the bars out to the point of pulling out teeth. So we tried leaving him out loose in the house. Bad idea. He attacked the door so violently that he was bleeding when we got back. He wont even go outside unless you go with him. btw He is a mixed breed and weighs 30lbs. While I am home he will follow (only) me to every room of the house. He is fine until he knows we are about to leave (by picking up the signals) then he hides and wont come out for anyone, starts to breath heavily, etc. We've never abused him and if anything he always been the baby, which i know now is probably the source of the problem. I did get him from the shelter and i have read that shelter pets are at a higher risk for developing this.

Also, I would love to have another one just because I would love to give one a home. I love animals and another one would be wonderful, I dont just want another one to help him, just thought it would be a nice thing for both of us. I guess the real worry is that the new one might become like oliver and then they may hurt themselves or each other. I was hoping another one would help him learn to become independent.

Answer 1

Actually, getting your dog a playmate might help alot if the dogs aren't kept in cages while you're out of the house. I have an australian-shepherd mix that used to bark, whine, chew, and pee only when I wasn't home. My neighbours were getting angry at the noise, which got even worse when I bought a cage for him to stay in while I was out (the only way I could eliminate the damaged furniture!). I eventually emptied our sunroom of furniture, and put him in there with lots of toys while we were out. It cut down a bit on the barking, but he still peed while I was gone. When I got a Jack Russell for my son, the neighbours mentioned that my house had been much quieter than it had been in a long time, and I found that the new dog's habits almost seemed to rub off on the shepherd. It did take a few months, but I can now safely leave both roaming the house while I am away.

Answer 2

My breed tends to have SA and I had one that I would consider severe. She would absolutely freak out if left alone, although she was fine as long as there was another dog with her. Maybe you could borrow a friends dog for a week or so and see if it helps.

It may also just be you leaving. Make sure you are not making a big deal out of leaving or returning with alot of fussing. Sometimes leave him for short periods so he realizes every time you leave it is not for hours. Get him some special chewies that are only for when you are gone to keep him busy, leave a radio or tv on for noise. Think of it from his point of view (although I have no idea how you are doing things). You are there, there is fun, treats, noise, and just general excitement. You go and there is a crate, quiet, and boredom.

Another thing you can do is to get him tired. A dog that has been for a run or chasing a ball is more likely to lay down and sleep

Answer 3

It wasn't my dog but an ex bf had a lab/rottweiller mix who did. He tore apart a steel welded crate. He'd get on the table and counters and once wiped out a pound of chocolate (anyone with dogs knows how dangerous that is). He had other dogs in the house with him so wasn't alone...and *my* dogs started figuring "well he can get on counters so can we" - before this my BC you could leave a sandwich on an end table and she wouldn't touch it until told to. It got to the point it was either bf took the dog with him in the truck (which he didn't want to do) or the dog goes on medication. He took option three - left with the dog. Which was fine to me because he wouldn't discipline the dog at all so the dog was unruly.

I don't have a lot of suggestions other than a playmate probably wouldn't help - it didn't in this dog's case.

Answer 4

Dogs well always have some form of seperation anxiety. I know of two dogs that don't like it when their owners go on holiday. One starts to mess up the floor instead of doing it outside her business that is. Because she knows that her masters are going on holiday. Dogs are very social animals and pack animals. Like people they have these feeling of seperation anxiety. You can try and get another playmate for Oliver, see what happens. And if you work you can try putting Oliver is a doggie day care. Don't laugh these places are out there and the most part very well run. Other thing is if Oliver is a small dog try taking him to work. Some places allow you to take your dog to work. These are just some suggestions.

Answer 5

I actually had a cat that had separation anxiety. The best solution is to get him a playmate. It worked with me. Also when your about to leave the house don't say goodbye to your dog or make a big deal about it because then his anxiety will increase. If you do get him a playmate have them seperated and then slowly introduce them over about a month. It should work. This can aply to any animal. The trick is to not make your homecoming the highlight of his day. A playmate would keep him busy and happy.

Answer 6

I am afraid my answer is not so positive. I am struggling with this myself: 2 rescue dogs who always had a mild case of this but who developed severe SA after a few years of being with me (this is really common with rescues, unfortunately). They were wailing and howling for a few minutes off and on all day. While this may not sound serious to some, it is enough to get you evicted if you rent!

Like you, I tried everything on the internet: distraction with filled kongs, ignoring for 15 minutes before leaving house and after coming home. Since I was in danger of eviction, I put them on Clomicalm (anti-anxiety med) from the vet, and then accompanied this with a serious behavior modification program (the meds alone do nothing, but they do take the edge off, making training more possible).

Following advice found online and in the Clomicalm video (your vet can get it), we stopped sleeping with the dogs in the bed and made them sleep in dog beds on the floor. We also stopped letting them sit on furniture. (The exception is we made sure to have some serious cuddle time, briefly and regularly, so they would not feel neglected.) The idea is that your dog is too close to you and needs to learn to feel comfortable at a distance. The little guy would follow me from room to room. In time, he learned to be by himself more.

We did desensitization training.
Basically, we ignored them for 15-25 minutes before leaving and then walked out of the house. When returning, we ignored them for 15-20 minutes. We started by leaving them for 30 seconds, then doubled it, until we were up to 4 hours. We left a tape recorder running to see if they made a sound.

We only left them for training. If we had to go to work, we had them stay at doggie day care. It was important to the training that they not have any "setbacks" i.e. no fussing whatsoever.

This desensitization training took months. Any time they fussed, we cut the time in half again. So we might go for 30 seconds. Come home. A little later go for a minute, come home. A few hours later 2 minutes. Later 4. They fussed. The next day we started at 2 minutes again, and so on. Whenever someone stayed home all day, sick or something, they'd have a setback the next time we left.

They rarely fussed, so we worked up to an hour and a half fairly quickly. Then it took a while to get to 4 hours, because we had some setbacks. But by this point, we were feeling really successful. And then after a few months of holding steady in the 2.5 to 4 hour range (we did not want to increase to a full day too fast), we moved--to another unit in our building. And overnight, unbelievably, they totally regressed. They could not be alone 1 minute. Apparently moving (even within the building!) was a terrible shock.

Apparently setbacks happen with Separation Anxiety. Just like one day we could do 15 minutes and the next day, had to cut back. But we never expected to go from four hours to zero in one day.

Now we are speaking to our vet again about other options, but are seriously worried. We took 6 months to be able to leave these guys for 1/2 day, and now a total setback. All I can say is that anyone who does not know about this condition thinks it's silly, but it is a real psychological condition and more serious than people think. It's breaking my heart. If anyone has more suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I have spoken to others who have tried all this and still had trouble.

Also, I would caution against a second dog. My first dog had no separation anxiety. When I got the second a year later, he had a mild case. He taught the first! So unless the dog you acquire is dominant and has some influence over your dog (it sounds like another respondent here had that experience), it could backfire. The SA dog could teach the normal dog to fuss. They act like a pack together, a pack whose leader has left them. (That's what howling and crying are about.)

Good luck.

Answer 7

I'm afraid I don't have any novel ideas, especially if you've already done some research of your own and the tips you've come across haven't helped. I do, however, have an opinion about getting another dog. It's my opinion that your dog's separation anxiety has to do with YOU leaving him alone, not with general lonliness, so I don't think that getting another dog will help him. I also don't think it's right to get another dog just to help one you are already having issues with. Have you consulted with any professionals other than your vet, such as an animal behaviorist??

Good luck!

Answer 8

What kind of 'separation' are you talking? All dogs have that anxiety. They will chew on their legs and do all kinds of weird things. We leave the tv on when we are gone, even just to work. My dog is a scaredy cat already, so we try to make her comfortable. She is ten years old. Surely they get used to our leaving. When we go on trips, we get a 'sitter' of sorts, that we trust to take her out and feed her the way we do. And to play with her a little, before leaving.

Answer 9

This is for ESSs. but may help with your problem.

Separation Anxiety in English Springer Spaniels
Separation Anxiety is the most common problem I encounter in talking with people about English Springer Spaniels. Maybe it is because a large part of my springer related activities revolve around rescue dogs. Maybe it is because springers are such people loving dogs they are more passionate about bonding than other breeds. Whatever the reason, it is a very disturbing problem for a new owner of an "older" dog.
So what exactly is Separation Anxiety? Basically it is panic. The dog has been separated from his original family. He may have been a stray that became lost or escaped his fence. He may have been an owner turn-in. But he is not now with the family (good or bad) he loved. He may have spent time in a shelter.
You appear on the scene. You take him home, love him, feed him and play with him. He decides you are great and doesn't want to "get lost" again so he is worried when you disappear. He has no way of knowing you only went to the store and will be back in 10 minutes. He panics. In his panic he may try to jump through screen or glass doors or windows to follow you. He may scratch up the wall or woodwork in an effort to find you. He may urinate or defecate all over your house or he may bark himself hoarse. None of these activities will make you or your neighbors happy. All are classic symptoms of Separation Anxiety.
So what can you do? First ASSUME your dog will suffer some degree of Separation Anxiety and prepare to prevent it.
Ideally you should have 3 or 4 days to acclimate your new dog. But if that's not possible it is always best to bring a new dog home on Saturday morning so you will have the entire weekend to work with the dog before you have to leave him alone.
The very first thing to do BEFORE bringing the dog home is to purchase a crate. The crate can be either wire or molded plastic. See my article on Crate Training and Housebreaking for the pros and cons of each. The crate needs to be neither too large nor too small. It should be just big enough for the dog to lay down comfortably. For an "average" springer this means about 36" long , 20" wide and 24" high.
This is not cruel. Dogs are den animals and sleep 18 out of 24 hours anyway. The crate is a safe, secure place that is his very own. It should never be a punishment place but always a good, safe place to be.
Place the crate in the kitchen or family room where your family usually gathers. Do not put the crate out in the garage or down in the basement. Teach the dog to go into the crate. You might have to push the dog into the crate the first time or two until he understands what you want of him. Toss a cookie or treat into the crate, give him a command such as "kennel", "crate", "get in bed" or whatever word you choose and push him in. Tell him "good boy". Do not close the door at this point. Use small pieces of cookie and do this several times until it becomes a game and he willingly goes into the crate. When it is time for dinner give the dog the chosen command and when he goes into the crate put the food down and close the door. Leave him in the crate with the door closed for about 10 minutes after he has finished eating. Stay in the room busying yourself with something else. Do not permit ANY noise from him while in the crate. If he barks, whines or fusses yell "NO" and bang on the top of the crate. If this doesn't work, squirt the dog on the muzzle with water from a water gun or bottle sprayer. When he is quiet for a few minutes take him out and take him to the bathroom. It is important to teach the dog to stay quietly in the crate. This is one of the greatest lessons you can teach your dog.
You can teach this in about 24 hours. I used to have a male that was used at stud quite a bit and when his "ladies" came they had to stay in a crate just like all the other dogs. Many of these females had never seen a crate but in just a few hours they went in willingly and even knew which crate was theirs.
When you go to bed take the crate into the bedroom. When you are ready to go to bed take the dog outside and then put him in the crate. Turn out the light. If he barks or whines yell "NO" and bang on the crate. After a night or so he will sleep quietly in his crate.
Yes, and what about separation anxiety?


Ok, now you have your dog crate trained. He is quiet and comfortable in his crate. He has a nice blanket to sleep on and a chew toy to entertain him but up until now he has pretty much been in the same room with you or other family members. Unless you just won the lottery or you were born a Vanderbilt, you eventually have to go to work. To prepare Bowser for the traumatic experience of being left alone, break it to him gently.
Put your dog into his crate. Feed him breakfast and go outside for 5 minutes so he is alone in the house. (or thinks he is) Come back in and leave him in his crate another few minutes before taking him outside to potty. If he is quiet while you are gone, tell him good boy. If not, tell him "NO" quiet. The idea is to gradually increase the time you can leave the dog alone before he starts having a fit. After you can be gone an hour and he is quiet then you can quickly increase the time. Always leave your dog in his crate when you leave. Never leave the dog loose in the house if you are not there to supervise him. He may injure himself or damage your home in his panic to find you.
It is also very important to make sure your dog gets sufficient exercise. I don't mean just letting him out to walk around the backyard. I mean he should get panting, blood pumping, hard exercise. A tired, sleeping dog is not anxious.

Answer 10

ya i have 2 dogs w/ it. one is a puppy and we put him in his crate with a bunch of chew toys and stuff. my other dog takes doggie-anxiety pills that are all-natural and work like a charm. the name of them are: Ark Naturals Happy Traveler.
they are all natural calming pills that should help.
sorry if they don't work or if this isn't helpful : (
Good Luck!