My dog hates being alone?

Question

Problem with black lab?
I have a 16 month old black lab / greyhound dog that i got from a rescue shelter 4 months ago. She is an inside dog. She is good about going outside to pee during the day and she has no problem going through the night without having to go to the bathroom.

The problem is that if she has to go into her crate for any period of time (when she is home alone), she gets so stressed out that she pees in her crate. I have tried leaving a radio on in the room when she is left in her crate, but that does no good.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

You could confine her to one room using a baby gate rather than crate her to see if that helps, but it may not solve the problem -- which sounds like separation anxiety. OR it could be simple attention-seeking behavior.

A trainer can help you better than anyone online, but here's a suggestion.

You have to convince the dog that you are ALWAYS coming back. So make it a part of your daily routine to re-introduce her to the idea of being home alone. Start today by just randomly at odd times, putting her in her crate, putting your coat on and going outside for two minutes. Only two minutes! Come back in and without much fanfare, maybe a very calm "good girl," let her out of her crate. Do this several times a day for the next day or two. On the third day, increase the time you go outside to five minutes. On the fifth, increase it to 10. And so on.

An intensive regimen of very short-term comings and goings, done without much fanfare either when you leave or come back will help desensitize your dog to it. The first few times she might howl or cry or whatever it is she normally does when you leave, but don't even address those behaviors. Just calmly keep coming and going. If you make it into a "no big deal" thing, she'll start to believe it's no big deal, too!

Good luck.

EDIT: Once she starts being "good" in her crate (no howling or crying) with your short-term comings and goings, maybe reward her with a Kong toy, smeared with some yummy low-fat peanut butter or some other treat when she goes into her crate. This will also give her something to do in there!

Answer 2

something that has helped me was puttin something of mines in the crate (such as an old slipper or a old shirt) so she can smell my senses. that has helped alot even at night with helping him go to sleep. they say that once the dog smells your senses that it calms them. try it out.