How do I deal with my severe anxiety ridden dog?

Question

I've had her for 2 years, before that she was with an owner who kept her locked up for 15 hours a day. I DO NOT. When I do leave the house she howls and urinates. I do not want to drug her and bones don't help. I hate crating her. Today I'm going to leave her out and see what happens. I'll probably end up picking up pee, but at this point I want to give her the benefit of the doubt. Any humane suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I just got back...She didn't do ANYTHING. I'm so proud of her. I'm hoping that it will last. Maybe being in her crate has trained her???? Thank you so much for your input.

Answer 1

You should look into seeking professional help to properly diagnose if this is a case of separation anxiety. Crating sometimes isn't the answer depending on the severity of the behavior. Some dogs can cause themselves a lot of harm being in a crate trying to escape.

Video tape her while you are away. That's the only real way we will know for sure what is going on with behavior when you are gone.

http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/applied-ethology/behaviourproblems/anxiety.html

http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00314.htm

http://www.vetinfo.com/dsepanx.html#Separation%20Anxiety%20and%20crate%20distruction


Trainers:
www.ccpdt.com
www.iaabc.org
www.sfspca.org

Books:
I'll Be Home Soon - Patricia McConnell (DVD)

Good luck

Answer 2

A good crate actually is humane. I didn't believe it until it was the only way to stop my shelter dog (4 month old) from crying at night.

It becomes their den. You can make it even better by having a favorite chew toy in there. One that randomly dispenses treats can really keep a dog occupied for a while.

Yours seems to have some separation anxiety. Test her with tiny separations, maybe just on the other side of a glass door for a few minutes. Gradually lengthen the time you are out of her sight.

In the meantime, lots of exercise right before you leave might help. A tired dog is less apt to be stressed about your departure. Don't make leaving a big deal, just go, without even a special pat on the head.

Good luck, I'm glad she's found an owner who cares.

Answer 3

You may hate crating her, but she'll love it. She actually NEEDS it to comfort herself when she's worked up when you're away. And taking her everywhere with you will only help to increase her anxiety.

I think the best thing you can do is to make sure you're crating her for short periods when you're home too. That way she won't automatically associate the crate with uh oh mom's leaving. Feed her in her crate to help associate the crate with positive things. Find a special treat (we use dried liver) that she ONLY gets when she goes into her crate.

Most of all, DO NOT GIVE IN TO THE WHINING. She has to learn to get beyond her anxiety, and by spending a majority of time in the crate for a while (2 weeks is what it took for us) she will face her demons so to speak and learn to cope.

She should be sleeping in the crate at night too.

http://www.leerburg.com can give you loads of advice and help dealing with seperation anxiety in dogs.

Answer 4

I agree 100% with the above poster - crating is the best solution for this. Severe anxiety cases often end up with the dog destroying the house while they work out their emotions, so I hoe your couch isn't shredded....Try to work things out in your life so that you and your dog can have many, many short "trial runs" of her being in the crate with you leaving just for a minute at first. If she gets upset immediately, you will need to take a step backwards and slowly build the value for her to be in her crate - have her in there when you and she are just hanging out, and keep reinforcing her for being in there quietly. I always save my dog's favorite treats for this situation - liver, chicken, cheese, - actually, that yucky cheese-in-a-can can also help you to keep her quiet because you need to squirt it into her mouth. That'll keep her busy and quiet, and then you can continue to reward that.
It's great that you're asking questions. You might try joining the Yahoo group Start Puppy Training and see if you can get some other, humane, suggestions to help.

Answer 5

Crating is actually the safest and best method to use with a dog with severe separation anxiety.

I suggest getting a kong and filling it with plain yogurt, bits of hot dog, etc and then freeze it over night in a plastic container. When you leave, put the kong in the crate with her and she will have something to keep her occupied for quite a while when you are gone. http://www.libertydogtraining.com/products2.htm

You can also leave a radio or tv playing low in the back ground to give her some noise to distract her.

Good luck!

http://www.libertydogtraining.com

Answer 6

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