Now Officially Concerned

[Guest NeverSayNever]

One suggestion I didn't see as I skimmed the respones is have you tried ignoring her? We ask all our new adopters not to give their new greyhounds very much attention for the first couple of weeks. Work on house rules, manners, and routines, but not to do a lot of petting, cuddling, and loving on them until the greyhound has shown that he or she is comfortable with being home alone.

 

If you tend to be a very emotional and loving owner, you may need to step back and really force yourself to ignore her when you are around the house until she can learn to be more independent. The other half of separation anxiety is the human. So you have to project that confidence in what you are doing.... "hey, Italy, I have to leave now, you can't come with me, you will be safe here, be back soon." But if you feel bad, worry about her the entire time, and hurry home.... you project that and validate that she does in fact have something to be anxious about.

 

You will feel awful about ignoring her, but you want to keep her out of your space, stop her from following you from room to room, and to sometimes stay in a different room. If you are reading in your bedroom, put a gate in the doorway so she has to nap in another room. If you are cooking or eating in the kitchen, make her hang out in the living room. Exercise her all you can, but do not allow her to be under foot. If she asked to be petted, ignore it, and send her on her way.

 

You can work on basic training such as a down stay or a "go to place" command which would be great for you to train and then have her do while you step into another room.... this gives her something else to do and gives you something positive to reward her for. Right now she probably thinks her job is to keep you in sight at all times.... she needs to be redirected. I would not work on eye contact or coming when called right now though. Work on stays only right now or clicker train her to touch a target so you can reward her for moving away from you.

 

Once she starts to show more independence and is able to hang out alone, you can gradually start to add back the love and attention you want to give her.

[seeh2o]

For anyone who used melatonin - did you consult your vet first? Anyone run into issues there?

 

Yes, I've discussed it with my vet and she gave us the thumbs up and supports its use. I've been with her for a number of years, she is a holistic vet, well thought of in the community and I trust her implicitly. She has had greyhounds in her practice and her mother (who is a part of her practice and performs acupuncture) also had greyhounds in the past.

[Guest jaws4evr]

How do you respond to her when you get home from work, whether she's acting up or not? A large part of the worsening of the SA could be due to how you act when you leave, or come home, or both... ours was starting to have a bit of SA when I went back to work (I did the wrong thing and spoiled her with 24 hours of non-alone time when we brought her home, sigh). She would be franticly wriggly and whining and showing a lot of anxiety signs when I got home, pacing and panting before we left, etc.

 

We crate her when we're away, but she's good at crating so that works for us.

 

One of the most most most important parts of the ritual though is a no-touch, talk, or eye-contact. No matter what she's doing before you leave or when you come home, completely ignore her in every aspect. Even if you're "ignoring her", if you stand there and emit anxious "omg she's worried!" energy, that enegery is still passing to your dog and can contribute to her anxiety even if you think you really are "ignoring her".

 

So, come in, kick shoes off, go into your room and change your clothes, put groceries away, do an activity that forces you to completely ignore her. Only when she's quiet, calm, and preferably laying down relaxing voluntarily somewhere, should you acknowledge that she exists.

 

Some else probably explained htis better, and you might even be doing all of these things.... it's early though and I need coffee

[SPDoggie]

Just scanned thru the posts, but thought I would ask...

 

do you know that she continues to whine/bark the whole time you are gone, or is she just doing this when she hears you returning? I ask cause our non-SA dogs whine up-a-storm when they hear us pull in to the driveway or if we have gone outside without them (how dare we?!?)

 

Best of luck... you're getting lots of good ideas

[Guest SuperiorItaly]

Just scanned thru the posts, but thought I would ask...

 

do you know that she continues to whine/bark the whole time you are gone, or is she just doing this when she hears you returning? I ask cause our non-SA dogs whine up-a-storm when they hear us pull in to the driveway or if we have gone outside without them (how dare we?!?)

 

Best of luck... you're getting lots of good ideas

 

Thanks to everyone for the continued opinions with this.

 

SPDoggie - I'm 99.9999999% positive that she eventually settles down and goes to take a nap. Sometimes I'll come in and try to sneak up on her and she's passed out on the couch. I think she can also hear the garage door which is only one level down. So she probably gets excited when she hears it.

 

As for how I come home, it seems there are 2 schools of thought. Earlier in the thread some said to make a big deal out of it and some say to ignore. I tried it for a couple days (I know, not long) and so did my gf. She'll actually swipe her paw at my gf's leg until she gives her some attention

 

I have melatonin and should be getting the calming wafers today or tomorrow. I'm not sure if the 6 week thing will happen because I will be in my office in 3 weeks and she'll gradually get back to the schedule that she was used to for so long.

 

Over the past couple of days, I've tried gently grabbing her snout when I come in when she's been barking and calmly say "sssssshhhhhh" over and over until she settles down a bit.

[Batmom]

Don't forget to reward when she is quiet for a second or three, so she knows what you mean . With luck, she'll start being quiet *before* you shhhhhhh her.

[Sighthounds4me]

I had a Borzoi foster with similar symptoms. We tried several things, including DAP, training, Rescue Remedy, and the like.

 

For him, nothing worked, till we got him on amitriptyline (anxiety med prescribed by the vet - brand name is Elavil - available from the human pharmacy) and LOTS of exercise.

 

At the time, I was unemployed, and it was winter, so I would put him outside with Cooper, and they'd play. He'd get good and tired, so I would leave the house for a couple hours (go shopping, to the library, whatever). When I'd come back, he'd be fine. No destruction, no messes, and no noise. If I absolutely could not allow enough time to wear him out playing, I'd give him 2-3 melatonin tablets, and it would conk him out.

 

He has been in his adoptive home for a few years now, and has been fine. He had been weaned off the meds within a couple months, and has done well!

 

ETA: as far as the comings and goings, I subscribe to the calm school of thought. I figure, I lead by example, so if I am calm when I leave, and when I come home, it tells the dog that's what I want.

 

In addition, if she is excited as you walk in, and you give her attention, you are reinforcing that behavior. You are letting her know that you are happy with it, and that's what you want. Instead, you should wait till she's calm and relaxed, and praise for that.

 

JMHO, of course!

Edited May 10, 2010 by Sighthounds4me

[seeh2o]

I agree, calm and quiet and on ignore going and coming. After they calm down once I'm home, then I interact with them. It would really confuse Carl if I came home and made a big deal of it (I made the mistake of trying it...lots of hell to pay for that one! ).

[Guest jaws4evr]

I think she can also hear the garage door which is only one level down. So she probably gets excited when she hears it.

 

As for how I come home, it seems there are 2 schools of thought. Earlier in the thread some said to make a big deal out of it and some say to ignore. I tried it for a couple days (I know, not long) and so did my gf. She'll actually swipe her paw at my gf's leg until she gives her some attention

 

 

Over the past couple of days, I've tried gently grabbing her snout when I come in when she's been barking and calmly say "sssssshhhhhh" over and over until she settles down a bit.

 

Couple of things... since the dog is pawing at your gf for attention, that is a neon sign that that is what the dog wants... therefor by giving her attention when she's doing behaviors you don't want (fussing when you get home), you're teaching her that in order to get your attention, she must bark/whine/paw/fuss.

 

It also suggests that a consistent (every day for a month, two months, and forever) ignoring her when you come home will be effective, since your attention is such a good motivator for her.

 

Also not to nitpick but if you pet her and tell her "oh shhhh it's okay" when she's fussing, you are directly rewarding the fuss... it's not mean or cruel to ignore her when you get home, as others have said you're just leading by example. If you're calm and acting like everything is totally normal and boring, your very intuitive Hound creature will be very fast to follow your lead in acting the same way.

 

You may see some acceleration of her symptoms as you AND your gf (it's importnat for every pack member to participate 100% of the time) ignore her. She won't understand why it's changed, so the fussing/pawing/barking/whining symptoms may worsen before they get better. (reference: Extinction burst).

 

Give the ignore treatment a good honest try for at least a few weeks, and I'd be extremely surprised if you didn't see a strong improvement.

[Sighthounds4me]

You may see some acceleration of her symptoms as you AND your gf (it's importnat for every pack member to participate 100% of the time) ignore her. She won't understand why it's changed, so the fussing/pawing/barking/whining symptoms may worsen before they get better. (reference: Extinction burst).

 

VERY true! I always liked Patricia McConnell's example of this:

 

If I gave you $20 every time you clapped your hands, you'd clap a lot. If I suddenly stopped, you'd be confused, but you'd keep clapping. You would probably start clapping louder, more often, and right in my face. Soon, you'd realize it's useless, and stop. Then, if I rewarded you for NOT clapping, you'd sit there quietly, waiting for your money.

 

So yes, it might take some time to see improvement, but it will come!