My dog has severe separation anxiety.?

Question

I have a two-year old male Boston Terrier. He is great! He is well trained loves to play fetch all day and is good on a leash and most of the time we can just walk around without one on him and he sticks right with me. However if I leave him in the car for a few minutes and go out of site he goes INSANE! He tore up some of the upholstery in my car once. Also it's the same if I leave him at home. I live in a house with 5 other room mates and I've tried to keep him in a pet crate but he makes too much noise and if I don't pin him up he'll chew stuff up and pees and poops on the floor even if I've let him out before I leave. I'm pretty sure it's separation anxiety because it's just when I go out of his line of site. He's perfectly fine if I put him in the crate and I stay in the room. It wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have room mates but he wines and yelps so loud when I'm gone. Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

Training a dog with SA takes a lot of patience. You may want to buy some dog training books or tapes. Training the dog to sit and stay is the first step. Have him stay, and walk away from him just a few paces. Count to ten and then approach him and reward him for staying. Gradually increase how far away you go, and for how long. If he gets upset or tries to follow you, you need to start over - you have moved too fast for him. Eventually, slip out of his sight for a very brief amount of time and give him lots and lots of praise if he stays without crying. Increase this time period slowly. With persistance and a lot of patience you should be able to train him to be calmer without you in his sight.

He might also feel reassured if you leave a radio or TV on for him while he's gone. Not only will it provide him with sounds he associates with you being home, but it will also block out sounds from outside the house that could be triggering his behavior too.

I wish you a lot of luck!

Answer 2

Put your dog on his leash and have one of your roommates hold the leash then walk away from him a little ways but make sure he can still see you, wait a bit and the come back. Each day increase the distance until one day he can't see you, go out the door or something, wait a short time and then go back to him. Each day wait a little longer before going back to him and eventually you will be able to leave and he will be fine. Just remember to start out small.