[Seperation Anxiety: How Long Did You Wait Before Trying Medication?]

1 minute ago, greysmom said:

Taco is no longer an active member here, but I believe he and his dog managed to deal with his SA effectively.

An anti anxiety drug is just a tool.  Why do you have an objection to using it??     It doesn't have any moral connections, and your dog certainly won't know.  Would you not use an antibiotic if he had an infection?  Mental health is mental health whether it's human or canine. 

It's also not a miracle.  You have to continue to do the work of active alone training while the rx does the work of changing his brain.  Some dogs respond well in a short amount of time, some take longer, some take a few tries with different drugs, and for some it's simply not a brain chemistry issue and they cannot be solo dogs.

One - if you're not committed to doing the work and seeing this training through, returning the dog is an option.  Any good adoption group should take back a dog when the fit isn't right for all parties involved.  If he's being actively destructive, even after months of alone training, that qualifies, IMO.

Two - If you haven't had any direction in doing the alone training (and even if you have), I would suggest getting the book "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell.  She's a well respected dog behaviorist and this booklet lays out information on separation anxiety and step-by-step instructions in working through SA.  You can also ask your group or your vet for recommendations for certified animal behaviorists who use only positive reinforcement in your area.

Three - if you do a search here for threads on separation anxiety and alone training you will find a MILLION!!!  It's probably the most common behavior we deal with in this forum.  Stick with the more recent ones for up-to-date information as things do change over time.

Good luck!!

Thanks! I guess I was just more worried about medications changing his personality. He is an amazing dog, and this seems to be his only concern. We’ve been working really hard with the alone training, and at the end of the day we are willing to do whatever it takes to help him - if it comes to finding a companion who he gets along well with, then so be it. The destructive behavior stopped when we stopped confining him, but now he’s just very vocal and pees when he gets upset.  I just didn’t want to jump to medicating him too soon before exhausting all other options - but we are starting the Trazodone this week and will continue to work with him on the alone training.

[Seperation Anxiety: How Long Did You Wait Before Trying Medication?]

I’m curious to know how your grey is doing now and what the solution ended up being? We are experiencing the same thing with our two-year-old grey who we adopted in December. I was initially very against medications and spent the entirety of the first two months doing alone training, but he did not improve at all. He broke out of a wire crate and chewed through two baby gates, so we’ve now resorted to leaving him to the whole house. He does well for the first 15 minutes while he licks his Kong, but once the Kong is empty, he starts to freak out again - panting, pacing, whining, barking, and soiling the house. He does occasionally get to spend the day with my parent’s two dogs, and can be left alone for up to 4 hours with them with no problem. I am in the same scenario you were in at the start where I can’t get another dog because of space (apartment) and money constraints. The vet has just given us trazodone, but I was wondering if you ended up having to regularly medicate yours?