my german shepard has serious seperation anxiety. Even tore apart the bars of his metal crate. Any ideas?

Question

Can I givie him a sleep aid or something ? Im afraid hes gonna hurt himself. If I leave him outside he chews or jumps on our french doors and wood fences.

He is a rescue dog who is already over a year.

II have done all the "dog whisperer" excercise ect and have had german shepards in the past and have a lab now. Never had a dog this bad and react this seriously

Answer 1

Try giving him something with your scent on it to curl up with in his pen, like a worn shirt or something. That always worked with my dog.

Answer 2

If it is true seperation anxiety, a crate will only make things worse. And I would go to a behavorist. If it is not then here are a few tips. Try mixing up your cues. Such as taking your keys and placing and carry them around when you are cooking dinner. Put on your coat and watch TV. Dogs do not know if you will be gone for 10 seconds or 10 hours. Leave here alone for 1 minute interveals. Do not make it a big deal when you leave or come home. If you make it a big deal, she will think it is a big deal. Wait for her to calm done before you give her attention. Make sure she has stuff to do while your away. A kong is the best toy I have discovered. You can put food in it, and it ill be a nice challege for her to get it out. Leave the TV and radio on to a nice monotone station (NO animal planet, that will only cause stress) The food network is normally good. Try also rotating her toys. Dogs will get bored if they are always get the same toys. Just trick them, and hide their toys and rotate their toys. Lastly, a tired dog is a good dog. Do you have a trend mill? Excercise her for 20-30 min before you leave for the day. She'll sleep while your gone.

Answer 3

Any drugs you give him will wear off in 4 hours. If you are gone longer than that, it's pointless.
There are doggie daycare places you can take your dogs. Like child day care, you drop them off in the morning, and pick them up after work. During the day, the dogs play or you can pay for extras like training, and grooming.
Have a neighbor (or their trusted kid) come in and take him out a few times in the day.
Can you leave him with a "stay at home" family member?
Seperation Anxiety is difficult. There are books and trainers you might try.
Also, get a book about rehabiltiating rescue dogs, it's not as straightforward as you may think.
If the crate makes him nuts, dog proof a bathroom. Beware: determined dogs can chew through drywall. If you think he will cause damage, maybe a crate is the best solution for him.
If you go the bathroom (or garage, or guest room or whatever) route, get lots of interactive toys. The toys that dispense food when they play with them. Toys they can chew up and eat. Kong toys that you can fill with food. Get plenty of them and rotate them for interest. Leave him with a few of them so the food lasts all day. Also, adjust his food portions accordingly.
Don't make a big deal of leaving and returning.

Ignore all anxious behavior!

That's probably the most important thing you can do for him. If you pay any attention to him, you are reinforcing the behavior and making him worse.

Praise and pay attention to him ONLY when he is quiet and sitting or lying down.

That's important too. If you catch him doing something right and praise him, he will have a better idea of what you want from him.
Please consider obedience training. It gives dogs confidence in themselves and teaches you how to train him without driving you nuts and making his problems worse.
Good Luck

Answer 4

This is coming from a person who has a dog that is the KING of seperation anxiety. For the longest time, my family and I wouldn't go anywhere without him. If we went to a place that didn't allow dogs, we would take shifts watching him. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? I suggest these techniques that we used (they will worked for us over time): First of all, make sure your dog gets pleanty of exercise. Take him for walks and play with him to make sure he is getting a lot of his energy out. Secondly, it sounds like your dog is just as bad as mine was and has a high chance of hurting himself if he is left in a crate, so ditch that. I also hate the idea of pets being in cages. Anyway, try leaving the television on or the radio. Hearing voices might calm your dog a little. I would also suggest putting his toys that he chews the most near the places in your home that he is chewing. If he sees his toy, he might chew that instead. Finally, this is a bit of a hard one emotionally, but it worked wonders for my dog: When you are about to leave, ignore your dog completely. Don't say goodbye to him or even look at him. When you come back and you see that he is pacing the house all excited and panting, do the same thing. Do not talk to him and try to avoid looking at him. Once he has calmed down, go up and give a lot of attention to him. This helps him realize that in order to get your attention, he must be calm. It took a while for my dog to realize this, but he did in time. Now he is to the point to where I can give him all of the hugs and attention I want before and after leaving the house, because he is already used to staying at home alone. Good luck. I know how hard it is to deal with this.

Answer 5

Find a vet that specializes in behavior. In the mean time, I would get a buster cube for him while he is in the crate. A buster cube works, by you putting small treats or dog food in it and the dog needs to move it around in order to get a treat out of it. It gives him something to play with and keep his attention. He might need to be put on some meds, even Prozac. The behaviorists are having luck with meds now a days with dogs. There is also a med called Clomicalm, it is used with dogs with anxiety problems. Look here on it. http://www.allivet.com/Dog_Calming_s/90.htm?OVRAW=anxiety%20dog%20collar&OVKEY=anxiety%20dog&OVMTC=advanced There are also pherimone dog collars that can be used with this problem.

Answer 6

You can buy pet videos so he's not alone or play videos of yourself. The radio helps.

My dog used to chew up everything and take a bit SH#t under the dining room table everytime I left. Sometimes, he'd piss on whoever came in the house with me when I returned.

I left the television on and it made a difference. The crapping under the table was minimal afterwards but I did have to have him move to a farm once the kids were born.

Answer 7

one question.. why is he in a metal crate?

You should try and get him use to being away from you, leave him in spurts of a time by himself, telling him you'll be right back, leave for a few mintues and then return, so he recognises the fact that you are returning to him.

At night, if he sleeps alone, wrap up a clock in a cloth and put it beside him, the ticking clock will remind him of his mother's heart beat and calm him down.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

Dog Whisperer situation. Call or buy a book. Learn what you are doing wrong. The poor dog is only responded to what he or she has learned in the past. Good luck, sounds like that dog has a good owner!!! God bless you!

Answer 10

my best idea is to exersize him for 1/2 hour 2x a day every single day no matter what never skip a playdate. so that he can count it and you tire him out . before work and after work. soon when he "gets" it will happen every day he will rest while created. and there is a herb that is safe for calming. called vallerian root. at wal-mart and k-mart. dose by weight. we use it on dogs and horses when showing. dose 1/2 hour before needed. and do the playdate! get him oso tired before the crate.also after the play when he is calm feed before work so as to make him want to rest and digest.