Is This Normal, Or Is This Sa?

[Guest Fluffy]

So I set up a nannycam to record Badger when I left him alone. I put him in his crate with a cookie and took myself off for a short trip to McDonalds. I was gone for about 25 minutes. When I got back and watched the video, this is what I saw:

 

Minutes 1-2: standing up, quiet talking to himself

Minutes 2-8: Howling and screaming to wake the dead

Minutes 8-10: lays down, quiet

Minutes 10-12: More screaming, pawing halfheartedly at the crate door as to to say "get me outta here!"

Minutes 12-20: quiet, napping

Minute 20-21: clock chimes, waking him up. A loud moan, followed with some quiet grumbling

Minutes 21-25: napping silently

I come home at minute 25, he sits up and starts bitching and moaning to make me let him out (which i don't do until he is quiet for the better part of a minute - yeah, I've read the book(s)!).

 

Now, since I was only going out for a short time and I wanted a clear sound recording of him, he had neither his usual Kong or his usual TV accompaniment, so I imagine this reaction is as bad as he gets. We're at my parents' house today, so since it's a place he's not totally familiar with, I crated him, but when i go to work I generally leave him uncrated in my apartment (we worked up to that with a few weeks of increasing my work hours while he was crated, then resetting and increasing them again with him uncrated). He has never destroyed or even disturbed anything in my apartment when left alone - everything is always pristine when I come home, and he's always snoozing quietly. His biggest freakouts are generally when I'm there in the morning getting ready to leave - he knows that when I do things like put my phone in my pocket, or pick up my work bag, that means I am leaving imminently and he barks and barks and tries to put himself between me and the front door.

 

So...is this in the range of normal doggy "aw mom, do you HAFTA go?" bitching? Or is this the dreaded Separation Anxiety? I am a renter, and I am very lucky in that my current landlord, who lives upstairs, is a dog person and understands that hey, dogs, especially new dogs, make noise and there's not much people can do about that, but I am mildly worried that future places I live might not be so understanding. So I'm looking for a twofold reality-check here.

 

Question 1: Is Badger suffering separation anxiety at a level that I should worry and start up some alone training, etc?

Question 2: In apartment buildings that allow dogs, is it generally accepted to have a dog who may cry and be loud for a max of about 10 minutes at a time, once or twice a day? Or is this likely to win me some very angry neighbors?

[Guest LindsaySF]

I'm no help on question 2, having never lived in an apartment. As for question 1, it sounds like SA but a fairly minor case. Definitely keep working on alone training though so he doesn't get worse.

 

Regarding the Kong and TV, I would still give him the Kong and leave the TV on, even if you are going to be gone for 5 minutes. Whenever I leave the dogs I go through the same preparations for my departure, even if I'm only leaving for a few minutes. The dog doesn't know how long you are going to be gone, so anything that will keep them calm as you leave is helpful.

[Guest bigbrindlebunny]

I live in an apartment. We had the SAME thing (howling, crying, whining, barking) going on throughout the day. It would come in waves. It turned out not to be SA at all. He'd cheerfully step over our cold, dead bodies to get his Peanut Butter Kong. It was Greyhound speak for "Get me the Hell out of this Crate!"

 

Through using an exercise pen or baby gate, set up a safe area for him instead of the crate and try the experiment again.

 

We went through weeks and weeks and weeks of alone training and all kinds of charting to find his triggers, to discover he hated the crate. OK, we're not bright and he was our first dog.

 

 

 

[Guest gecko_foot]

So I set up a nannycam to record Badger when I left him alone. I put him in his crate with a cookie and took myself off for a short trip to McDonalds. I was gone for about 25 minutes. When I got back and watched the video, this is what I saw:

 

Minutes 1-2: standing up, quiet talking to himself

Minutes 2-8: Howling and screaming to wake the dead

Minutes 8-10: lays down, quiet

Minutes 10-12: More screaming, pawing halfheartedly at the crate door as to to say "get me outta here!"

Minutes 12-20: quiet, napping

Minute 20-21: clock chimes, waking him up. A loud moan, followed with some quiet grumbling

Minutes 21-25: napping silently

I come home at minute 25, he sits up and starts bitching and moaning to make me let him out (which i don't do until he is quiet for the better part of a minute - yeah, I've read the book(s)!).

 

Now, since I was only going out for a short time and I wanted a clear sound recording of him, he had neither his usual Kong or his usual TV accompaniment, so I imagine this reaction is as bad as he gets. We're at my parents' house today, so since it's a place he's not totally familiar with, I crated him, but when i go to work I generally leave him uncrated in my apartment (we worked up to that with a few weeks of increasing my work hours while he was crated, then resetting and increasing them again with him uncrated). He has never destroyed or even disturbed anything in my apartment when left alone - everything is always pristine when I come home, and he's always snoozing quietly. His biggest freakouts are generally when I'm there in the morning getting ready to leave - he knows that when I do things like put my phone in my pocket, or pick up my work bag, that means I am leaving imminently and he barks and barks and tries to put himself between me and the front door.

 

So...is this in the range of normal doggy "aw mom, do you HAFTA go?" bitching? Or is this the dreaded Separation Anxiety? I am a renter, and I am very lucky in that my current landlord, who lives upstairs, is a dog person and understands that hey, dogs, especially new dogs, make noise and there's not much people can do about that, but I am mildly worried that future places I live might not be so understanding. So I'm looking for a twofold reality-check here.

 

Question 1: Is Badger suffering separation anxiety at a level that I should worry and start up some alone training, etc?

Question 2: In apartment buildings that allow dogs, is it generally accepted to have a dog who may cry and be loud for a max of about 10 minutes at a time, once or twice a day? Or is this likely to win me some very angry neighbors?

 

I live in a very dog friendly apartment complex, and there are always dogs that bark when you pass by the window. As to how well your neighbors tolerate it, it really depends on the neighbors. That being said, each person has his/her limit, and I would step up the alone training regardless of whether or not you plan to use the crate.

 

Have you tried leaving your dog muzzled (basket muzzle) outside of the crate while you're gone? Put up anything you don't want him to get into - they can still eat things with the muzzle on - and make sure any rooms with chemicals are off limits. I'm not trying to sound patronizing about it, but I tend to forget to do things if I don't mention them. If he is quiet and non-destructive for several days, there's your answer.

 

My boy will howl and make a mess if left out of the crate but just whines while inside. He is crated for a maximum of 10 hours per day (usually it's no more than 6) and does just fine. I've spent a lot of time making sure he was comfortable in the crate - including alone training. He doesn't have much of an issue with it anymore, but it's been a long (patient) road.

 

Hope this helps!!

[cleptogrey]

if you are on good terms with your neighbors just explain that your dog is learning to settle into a new living situation. unless he is terribly miserable in the crate the howling should subside. i remember crate training dogs in the past. my scottie worked his way down from howling at night for nearly 2 hrs to nothing with-in a week.

 

try feeding him in the crate, give him dog biskets in it, make it a comfortable place: blankets, water bowl hanging.try give him raw marrow bones and toys in itwhen you are home w/ the door closed and then reward him verbally for being quiet, "good quiet". if you have a dog bed, put it away so he will use the crate or even put the bed in the crate.make sure the crate is in the living room or at the center of your home. try this, see if you can condition him to thinking of the crate as a positive place. then see if there is a difference.

 

at my house there usually is a line of dogs waiting to get into the crates! i have found 2 dogs in there who have raced in trying to get the "comfy"spot". when i travel and visit friends or family there never is an issue when we all go out. i just open the door to the crate and we never worry about our pups at someone else's home. there are benifits to using a crate.