My Chihuahua mix puppy has seperation anxiety...?

Question

Even when I leave him alone for even short periods of time. How can I break him of this?

He isn't usually destructive. He used to chew everything small enough to fit in his mouth, though. Mostly he will just urinate on the floor. Even though I always take him out before I leave. But he is usually sitting between two pillows on my couch when I come home. Its probably my fault, I keep him with me almost all of the time and I am very affectionate. He even sleeps in my bed at night.

Answer 1

continue treating him like he is normal and let him grow a little before diagnosing him with a fake disease, he is still a puppy

Answer 2

First of all there is no such thing as a Miniature doberman, and second of all you should NEVER get two puppies from the same litter, especially two boys. Unless you are a very experience dog owner, but even then it can be difficult. I would seriously consider returning one of the puppies, or you are going to have a lot of dominance issues and pack leadership problems. The puppy is biting your hand because it is playing with you and establishing a pack order. When he does this again, yelp really loud and then ignore the puppy. When he's biting his brother, he is also doing the same. There isn't anything you can do because they need to distinguish who is the more dominant out of the two. If you keep the two dogs then be prepared to put in double the effort. Attend training classes as soon as you can. Train both dogs separately and make sure they bond more with you then with one another. Give them separate sleeping areas and make them spend time alone, if you want this to work.

Answer 3

If they are being destructive I would confine to one room then every so often during the day, leave the house for 10 or 15 minutes. I'm not sure dogs know time so any amount of time feels the same and then come back.

Answer 4

Try leaving him for even shorter periods of time, and resist the temptation to coddle him. Saying "It's okaaaaaayyyy...." over and over does not help - and will in fact increase his anxiety.
Do you have doors in your house? You can start practicing leaving with these. When he's following you around, deliberately go through a door without him and shut it. Immediately open the door (hopefully before he's had a chance to object) but keep things very low-key. Your demeanor should reflect that you coming and going is no big deal.
As with any behavior, you want to build it in small steps, and never allow the dog to get worried enough that he'll start with anxiety behaviors. You don't mention in your post what he does - is he destructive? Does he cause harm to himself? Does he vocalize a lot?
Using D.A.P. (dog appeasing pheromone) can help. A Google search will help with this.
And, joining a moderated positive dog-training group like Start Puppy Training will help you a lot. All questions will be answered there - and there are a lot of great trainers who post to that list.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/spt/

Answer 5

If you get the National Geographic Channel, check out the show called "The Dog Whisperer". It's host, and expert dog trainer, is Caeser Milan. He does amazing things with dogs that most others consider "untrainable". He also is able to re-train dogs with very aggressive personalities. He might have a website linked to the National Geographic site and perhaps you could sent him an email. His ideas are forward thinking and really get to the root of the problem quickly. Mostly, he trains humans who are largely responsible for their dog's "problems".

Answer 6

Serriously. Watch the dog whisperer or better yet order his book.
You need to re-train your dog to not pee in the house, etc. Too much detail to put in this answer, but there is a way to do it. It takees time and commitment. I've done it many times. Crate your dog when your not home. Take it out to pee, and poop, if it doesnt go. Put it back in crate for half hour, and do it again. It will eventualy go.
Dont leave dog un-crated when your not home. Begin to let dog out of crate with supervision.
Dog needs to burn off steam. Have time set aside to play with dog physically every day. Have chew items that you give to dog to chew. Take them away, and give them back so it's always special. Lots more to tell, but, Dog whisperer guides are realy good. Good luck

Answer 7

Get a kennel and put the dog into the kennel when you go away. Stop petting him before you leave. If you make a big scene telling him, I'll miss you, give me a kiss, etc. the separation anxiety will just get worse. Make his kennel very comfortable with something of yours that smells like you. See if that doesn't help.

Answer 8

I used to have this problem with my dog and my vet told me that I needed to ignore him for the hour before I leave. Because they can start to sense when you are getting ready and then you go over and cuddle and kiss them to say good bye and they get sad. I started distracting him with bones and toys that he really liked and then would sneak out. It took a while, but now he won't even get out of bed when I am leaving. I would also visit www.DogChannel.com they have really good articles and advise about separtation anxiety.

Answer 9

Anti-anxiety pills can help for the short term. What will work well for the long term is to establish a safe comfortable place for him to be when you are gone. In a crate would probably be best. Eventually, you will be able to leave him in the crate with the door open and the anxiety will continue to decrease with time and his experiencing your reliable return.

Answer 10

put aside a seperate time to play and do stuff with your puppy EVERYDAY! Tell him that urinating on the floor is bad but don't hit him. That never works. When he doesn't pee on the floor tell him he's a good dog and reward him.

Answer 11

Chihuahuas have a bit of a problem not peeing when they see you ... Their bladders are small and they are soooo excited, they really can't help it.

I'd say put a puppy pee pad down by the door!

My Chi's were very well house trained but sometimes they just couldn't help it so I had to put a pee pad by the door.