Please give me your honest opinion. Are we handling our dog's separation anxiety wrong?

Question

My husband and I adopted a dog from the local animal shelter. He is about 2 years old and has been abandoned twice. He developed separation anxiety almost immediately. We tried crating him, he tore the wire crate apart and got out of the plastic one in 15 minutes! We tried a "safe" room but he destoyed it. My husband has a job where he can take him with him and he does. Is this the wrong thing to do? Will it create more anxiety? We have been able to leave him for short periods of time recently and are slowly working up to longer time periods. This is what we thought was the right way to deal with his separation anxiety but some people have told me otherwise. What do you think?

Answer 1

this is a severe case of seperation anxiety. it sounds like he is a dog capable of destroying an entire house if left to it.
take a saturday, or a day when you both can be at the house all day. leave but only for 3, then 5, then 10, then 15 minutes and so on. when you leave don't comfort him, don't talk to him, just act like you are leaving and walk out the door.
when you walk back in, even if he jumps on you, don't acknowlege him for about 15 seconds.
if he does well, lengthen the amount of time from when you get in and when you praise him (and do praise him). if he destroys things, then go back to 3 minutes or even a shorter amount of time than that.
good luck!
-ems

Answer 2

Get a decent metal bar crate. Socialize as much as you can, go to dog parks if there are any nearby. Soon enough he'll realize that he can venture further and further away without losing you. This confidence carries over at least a bit in the house. My dog grew out of her seperation anxiety for the most part within her first few years, but she still sticks somewhat close. We can leave her have the run of the house, but if she is locked in a room she will destroy the carpet in front of the door.

Answer 3

It sounds like you tried leaving him alone, but it just didn't work at all. I think you are doing the right thing by taking him to work with you for awhile....he has abandonment issues, and right now he needs to learn that he has a family he can trust and he will NOT be abandoned again before he can start staying at home alone. Slowly reintroduce him to the concept of staying home alone, though....it seems like you are already doing that, by slowly working up to longer periods. Just make sure that when he is alone, he has plenty of toys, stuffed kongs, etc to keep him busy.

In addition to your training, he also needs a lot of exercise (jog him, encourage him to run around the backyard, etc.). He needs to go to a vet and get a prescription medicine called Clomicalm or Prozac. I suggest that you start with Clomicalm. Xanax is also used in dogs with severe separation anxiety. Medication combined with training is your best option and the only way to really treat teh problem.

Answer 4

Congrats about your new addition first of all. I think you are doing the right thing. If your dog is having separation anxiety it may because of where he came from. I adopted a dog out of the pound and he just wants to be loved. he will climb in my lab most of the time because he just wants to be touched. I think that you do need to work with him until he gets to where he is comfortable to be alone. I would take it slowly because he as been threw a lot. I wish i could take my dog to work it me but i cant. The main thing is to do what you think is right for him. No one else will know what he feels or acts like expect you and your husband. So just do what your heart tells you and work your new dog threw his problems. =) Good Luck.

Answer 5

i think it's a great start. i think you are doing it correectly short periods, gradually working up to longer periods.
you really don't know what the dog has been through, and sadly he can't tell you. so you have to gain trust. he has to know you are returning. any time in a crate to him may mean forever. think about it it, how would you feel? i've heard otherwise also, but i've worked with animals for a long time. and i know they need to gain your trust. teach them manners, and rules and limitations, but gain their trust!!!! he needs to know you are going to be there for him!. a strict routine would be best.
Do your daily routine in the am, off to work. work on some behavior skills. back home at night. a routine again, bed time. then the same thing again tomorrow. try it. let me know if you get any results.
good luck!

Answer 6

I think it's great as long as your husband will always be able to take the dog with him. If ever your situation changes and the dog has to be alone for hours at a time it's going to be trouble. Been there done that.

If you want to know how we overcame it and are able to leave our dog home alone, shoot me an e-mail. I'll be happy to tell you what worked for us. It was a combination of many things and too much to type here.

~KJ

Answer 7

If your husband CAN take him to work he should. Keep up with the short periods but overstressing the dog can cause regression not progress.
Take it as a victory that he can handle short periods of time with you away. One step at a time.

Answer 8

i've had a couple dogs with the same problem and i think the issue would have resolved way faster if my bf or i could have taken the dogs with us. i think you're doing fine. as long as you're still working on the home alone situation there's nothing wrong with wanting to come home and not spend the next hour putting your house back together.

Answer 9

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The first is simple; you must win your dogs mind. If you don’t achieve this first then you will be struggling the all the way. When I talk about winning your dogs mind what I really mean is that your dog looks to you for all the decisions. Before you do anything else watch one of the amazing video sites that show you the 5 Golden rules to establishing yourself as the pack leader. If you aren’t putting these in place then you are setting yourself up to fail. Just at the crucial point where you really want your dog to listen they will go and do their own thing. For sure your dog may play ball occasionally or even most of the time, you may even have a dog that is obedient 99% of the time, however if you want a dog who always listens to you and does as you ask then you need to win your dogs mind.

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Answer 10

I'd say you're avoiding the problem rather than fixing it. That is no bad thing unless you see your circumstances changing.