Guest FatCatSkinnyDog Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 We just got back from the vet and Rajah was given a clean bill of health. Yay for that BUT, now we have to deal with the fact that he has SA. I can only assume it's becauase my schedule went from predictable to I don't know when I'm working from one day to the next. The poor boy must be so confuzzled He will mess on the carpet whether we are gone for 2 hours or 15 minutes. He has a DAP collar now and we will start working on alone training with him. Does anyone have any advice for working with a dog with whom you've already established habits? He's been with us for 4 1/2 years. I will be heading out in a little while to get peroxide and Dawn and Oxiclean to clean the carpets. He will also continue to wear a belly band until he stops with the peeing on the rug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest twhitehouse Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Hmm. The change in schedule could be causing SA. Have you tried recording him while your gone to see what he does? This is really helpful. You can see if he's panting, crying, barking, etc and will help you get to the bottom of it all. Does he ONLY pee, or does he sometimes poop as well? If it's pee, than I still wouldn't rule out a medical issue. Sometimes a UTI can go undetected. Either way, doing some alone training isn't going to hurt. I do recommend reocrding him if you can though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FatCatSkinnyDog Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 He's peeing and pooping. Usually peeing, but not always. They are running some blood tests that we will get back tomorrow. I love our vet - she has two of her own and went to OSU so I trust her. Today when we went out we belly banded him and we left the TV on, which we usually do when we are coming right back. He did fine - no messes and we were gone for almost 4 hours. We didn't make a big deal when we got home Usually that's his play time and we never realized that excessive celebration and stuffie throwing was hurting him. We will be moving his play time to later in the evening or afternoon when we've been home for a while. I have worked over the spots with the peroxide/Dawn/baking soda mix and it got out almost all the stains!!! I also sprayed OxiClean on them to try to cut the odor so he can't find it. We don't have a video camera and we are trying to find someone who might have one we can borrow. I never would have pegged this guy for SA... he's so chill and indifferent!! My poor baby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 4dogscrazy Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Hmm, so sorry this has happened to you guys! I feel your pain, I have a six year old female, Tempe, who has SA pretty bad. We've done all different things, sometimes she is okay in a crate for a while, then she will start to have panic attacks in them. Sometimes she will be okay for a while loose in the house but muzzled. Then after a while she will start messing on the floor. Her cycles are usually a month. Crated for a month okay, then all of a sudden compeletely freak out. She will have an entire month where she is well. She has chewed all the woodwork around my doorway, and the paneling. She has also bent the bars on her crate, and soiled in her crate. After she started having full blown panic attacks, we started her on anti-anxiety medication, about three weeks ago. So far so good, she is not having any side effects from the medicine and seems to be much more animated and engaged over the last couple weeks. She just seems happier all around. I am still watching to see how she will deal with this over her next cycle! She is about due to start again in another week or so. This issue is evolving, and anything will set my girl off. No changing the furniture around or moving her bed, etc. I have tried leaving the tv on, it doesn't seem to matter. I have 3 other dogs, she doesn't give a hoot about them. Interestingly her SA used to focus on just me, but now she is fine as long as someone is home with her. I guess that would be progress? lol Good luck, a good sense of humor will help you along right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FatCatSkinnyDog Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I did a bit of alone training this afternoon. I turned off the TV, grabbed my purse, told Rajah to be a good boy, I'll be right back. I went out, opened the garage, opened and closed the car door and then went around to the front so I could look in to see what he was doing. He never got off the couch! I went back into the garage, closed it and waited a few minutes, listening at the door to see if there was any whining or anything. Nothing! I came back in and he was still onthe couch looking unimpressed with the whole situation. I said hi and went to do the dishes. Shouldn't there be some kind of reaction involved? How long does it take for the DAP collar to kick in? Could that be having some effect? As I have nothing to compare it to, I'm grasping at straws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest twhitehouse Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 (edited) I have no experience with the DAP collar, but I know the diffuser does take a little while to take effect (a few days to a week). Also, when you're doing alone training, when you leave, you actually have to leave. Go drive around the block. You're doing everything else correct. They can often tell that you are still nearby, so their anxiety might not really show. Since you can't record him yet while your gone, you'll have to judge how he's reacting by how he acts when you come back from driving around the block. Has he been panting, drooling, etc. Is he REALLY excited to see you when you come back? If you don't have a camera also, you can try calling your house phone with your cell phone and put it on speaker so you can listen in on him while you're gone. See if he's barking, crying, etc. This will at least give you some clue as to how stressed out he is. Keep up the good work though! It will get better. Edited because I can't see what I type when I respond at work for some reason. Edited February 18, 2010 by twhitehouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FatCatSkinnyDog Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 ahh... I misunderstood the idea of leaving for a few minutes and then coming back in. I have some stuff that the vet gave me that said to start by putting a door between you and then coming back in. Unfortunately, I have to go to work pretty soon so that won't work today. I might also start just going out the front door for a while. We hang out with the neighbors a lot so he's used to us being gone without the cars leaving. I will work more with him tomorrow when I'm off and have more time. I appreciate everyone's insight. I know SA isn't easy at all, but to have it develop in a dog who has been with you for almost 5 years is quite a shock to the household. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Harry702 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I agree that it might be helpful to see how stressed he's actually getting when you're gone. I could definitely see it as a behavioral issues. But SA is major issue. I'm not sure that peeing and pooping when you're gone automatically means that Rajah has full blown SA. Take my advice with a heaping shaker of salt, because I haven't dealt with this first hand. Harry had a behavioral issue with housetraining when left alone, but we worked through it without a tremendous amount of difficulty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Duke Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Hi, new to the forum, two week old greyhound owner. I live in an apartment (upstairs of a two story cape). My landlord is patient but he has had SA as far as crying and barking when I am not home. I just researched the DAP collar not knowing what it was when seeing it spoken of here. Anyone have success with it quieting them when you are not home? He does not have accidents nor chew anything that he shouldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 4dogscrazy Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I have never used a DAP collar, so no advice there. But a two week old newbie is still trying to understand their new life. You could try leaving the tv on, or the radio. I have heard that in their kennels they play country music? Someone with more kennel knowledge can verify that little tidbit. Also, are you crating him when you are not home? Some dogs (two of mine) love their crates and sleep in them with the door open. In fact, the one time I left my young new boy out of his crate he looked so confused and scared that I scrapped the idea of leaving him out uncrated. There is a neat little story on here about how your racing dog views their world. Hopefully someone will remember where there was and post it for you! I am not savvy enough to remember where it was! Good luck and welcome to GT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Duke Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I have never used a DAP collar, so no advice there. But a two week old newbie is still trying to understand their new life. You could try leaving the tv on, or the radio. I have heard that in their kennels they play country music? Someone with more kennel knowledge can verify that little tidbit. Also, are you crating him when you are not home? Some dogs (two of mine) love their crates and sleep in them with the door open. In fact, the one time I left my young new boy out of his crate he looked so confused and scared that I scrapped the idea of leaving him out uncrated. There is a neat little story on here about how your racing dog views their world. Hopefully someone will remember where there was and post it for you! I am not savvy enough to remember where it was! Good luck and welcome to GT! sorry- I am the newbie two week old dog owner, he )the dog) is 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 4dogscrazy Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I got that lol I'm calling him a newbie since I assumed this was his first home. That's what makes him a newbie (and you haha) Was he in a foster home? ps: OP sorry to hijack your thread! Yours is a really tough situation since you don't have a schedule, and these dogs are nutso over routine, as I'm sure you know. Mine start pacing if dinner is 5 minutes late! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest twhitehouse Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 Just wondering how Rajah is doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Downtownhoundz Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Kris, when I first got Kylie and crated her, I put her near a DAP diffuser which did absolutely NOTHING!!!! I wouldn't even bother with that if I were you. I would however, suggest you gate him in the kitchen while you are gone.It doesn't sound like SA, it's just Rajah being Rajah. Remember how he used to do that at your apartment and you'd call me about your frustration? I feel your pain kiddo,maybe a dog walker when you can't be there? Hugs to my boy! Miss him and ya'll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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