Separation Anxiety

[Brondon530]

Hi all! My boyfriend and I adopted Rudy about 3 months ago, and he's always been a wonderful, well behaved dog! This past weekend, we moved into our new (bigger) apartment, and Rudy has since developed what I think is separation anxiety. He is constantly panting, and when we leave, he sometimes howls. He also urinates by the doorway and one time also pooped by the doorway as well. Rudy never acted this way when we first brought him home and never had a problem being left alone for hours. I'm assuming it's the change in environment, but I have no idea what to do. We both work, so we don't have a choice in leaving him alone. I tried giving him free reign of the apartment as well as crating, neither seemed to help (he still urinated in the cage). I also read that a kong toy could help, but he's never been the type to play with toys. Any insight/tips would be appreciated!

[Guest gennygrey]

You may want to start with retraining him, like when you first brought him home to your old place. On your next day off, leave for 5 minutes and then come back, then 10 minutes and come back etc.. Also, you may want to pay particular attention to your new surroundings. For example, when I moved out of my house after my divorce to a townhouse that I am renting, my dog Shadow started pooping, peeing and whining in the house when I left. He did not have accident's for three years at my old place. So I started training over, but I found out that what was causing the problem is that the new neighborhood had a lot of stray cats, and my dog hates cats. So when they would come on the deck he would get worked up and go crazy. I started shutting the blinds and leaving the TV on when I would leave for work. Eventually after a few weeks, his panic behavior stopped and he is the same old dog. Sometimes they need time to adjust and it can really test your patience. However, I think my greyhound has adjusted better than me to my new living arrangements. Best of luck. If you need other suggestions, please PM me. Good Luck and congrats on your new place.

[Guest mcsheltie]

Do you know that you stuff the Kong with food? Frozen yorgurt or peanut butter or canned cheese or... the possibilities are endless! You can mix his kibble with one of those things and stuff the Kong. Change it up each day so it is more interesting. Freeze it so it lasts longer.

[Guest PawPrint]

Do you know that you stuff the Kong with food? Frozen yorgurt or peanut butter or canned cheese or... the possibilities are endless! You can mix his kibble with one of those things and stuff the Kong. Change it up each day so it is more interesting. Freeze it so it lasts longer.

 

Now why didn't I think of that!!! So simple.. DUH MOMENT! hehehehehehe!!

 

Did you crate him before? TRUE crateing gives them a since of security. I am a single mom who also has to work... so Zowie is left to her crate during the work day... BUT I trained her to love the crate as a place of comfort, not just stick her in and go when I left... That would associate the crate to mommy leaving.. (IE bad). Sounds like he's just a bit insecure and needs to know what he had before is still there What worked before?

[Brondon530]

You may want to start with retraining him, like when you first brought him home to your old place. On your next day off, leave for 5 minutes and then come back, then 10 minutes and come back etc.. Also, you may want to pay particular attention to your new surroundings. For example, when I moved out of my house after my divorce to a townhouse that I am renting, my dog Shadow started pooping, peeing and whining in the house when I left. He did not have accident's for three years at my old place. So I started training over, but I found out that what was causing the problem is that the new neighborhood had a lot of stray cats, and my dog hates cats. So when they would come on the deck he would get worked up and go crazy. I started shutting the blinds and leaving the TV on when I would leave for work. Eventually after a few weeks, his panic behavior stopped and he is the same old dog. Sometimes they need time to adjust and it can really test your patience. However, I think my greyhound has adjusted better than me to my new living arrangements. Best of luck. If you need other suggestions, please PM me. Good Luck and congrats on your new place.

 

 

 

Thanks for the help! Our new neighborhood and building has lots of other dogs, so that could contribute to his anxiety (he does NOT like small dogs). When we first got him in June, we used the crate for potty training but it lasted about5 3 days, and he never had an accident. Even when we first got him he didn't display the signs of anxiety like he is now... he never had a problem with us leaving before, so it's been a bit of a shock and concern that he is acting this way. I guess I'm not even sure how to use the crate to train him! I tried using it again yesterday, thinking he wouldn't have an accident in his crate but he peed and pooped again, so that didn't work. Maybe I'll try leaving the TV on. Thanks again for the input!

 

Do you know that you stuff the Kong with food? Frozen yorgurt or peanut butter or canned cheese or... the possibilities are endless! You can mix his kibble with one of those things and stuff the Kong. Change it up each day so it is more interesting. Freeze it so it lasts longer.

 

 

Hi! Thanks for the reply. I have heard that you can put goodies in there, but my concern was that he isn't one to usually play with toys. I think even with the food in there, he still wouldn't. For example, when he's displaying signs of anxiety, he wont eat... even treats!! I figure it's worth a try, though. Thanks for the help!

 

Do you know that you stuff the Kong with food? Frozen yorgurt or peanut butter or canned cheese or... the possibilities are endless! You can mix his kibble with one of those things and stuff the Kong. Change it up each day so it is more interesting. Freeze it so it lasts longer.

 

Now why didn't I think of that!!! So simple.. DUH MOMENT! hehehehehehe!!

 

Did you crate him before? TRUE crateing gives them a since of security. I am a single mom who also has to work... so Zowie is left to her crate during the work day... BUT I trained her to love the crate as a place of comfort, not just stick her in and go when I left... That would associate the crate to mommy leaving.. (IE bad). Sounds like he's just a bit insecure and needs to know what he had before is still there What worked before?

 

 

We crated him for 2 or 3 days when we first got him, but noticed that he got the hang of potty training quickly and didn't have any accidents, so gave him free reign of our last apartment. What is "true crateing?" Yesterday and today, I put him in the crate and he looked so depressed and miserable, so I think he associates it with being bad (although we've never used it to punish him). How can I break that perception of it?

[Guest gennygrey]

I think that your dog is probably stressed with his new situation. Maybe he needs more exposure to the new surroundings. Do you have a way to expose him more to small dogs. If you have a lot of yappy dogs where you live, sometimes by playing sounds of dogs barking in the house and using tactics to distract him when he becomes stressed could work. For example, go online and go to Youtube. Find videos of small dogs barking and turn up the volume. When your dog becomes worked up or stressed, have some treats and distract him while the background noise is in play. That way he can become conditioned to hearing the small dogs bark and it might not upset him. If the crate is causing more stress, quit using it. He may see it as a form of confinement and feels conditioned to it being a negative stimuli. Try exposing him more to the external factors that are working him up and distract them. Let me know if this works out for you. You could also try taking him to a dog park or a doggie daycare to help him to become more socialized with different types of dogs so he becomes more tolerant. Doggie daycares can be costly, but you would only need to do it a few times. Good luck. Let me know how things work out.

[Guest gecko_foot]

We crated him for 2 or 3 days when we first got him, but noticed that he got the hang of potty training quickly and didn't have any accidents, so gave him free reign of our last apartment. What is "true crateing?" Yesterday and today, I put him in the crate and he looked so depressed and miserable, so I think he associates it with being bad (although we've never used it to punish him). How can I break that perception of it?

 

Here's what I do to make the crate more "fun": Tumnus' crate has hanging bowls for food and water, and that's the only place he gets fed. Once he figured out the crate was where his food was (and would always be), he went in to get it without a problem. Both bowls are situated at the front of the crate so that he doesn't have to go in that far. I actually tried putting them in further, and he didn't like it and wouldn't eat...so the bowls went back up front.

 

Like Rudy, Tumnus isn't the type to play with toys, and he ignored the kong when I put it in the crate...only to gnaw on the bars of the crate instead. I tried leaving things he could destroy (but wouldn't eat) in there, thinking he was just bored, but it didn't work. Unfortunately, I can't leave Tumnus free while I'm gone during the day since he will have accidents and howl...nonstop...(none of this happens while in the crate), so he's muzzled while in his crate. I have tried to get him to like the crate using treats, toys, you name it, and he is just one of those guys who is never going to like being there. It's never a punishment for him to be put in the crate, and I never make a big deal out of it. When I get home, I open the crate door and make Tumnus stay in the crate until he relaxes and lays down. Then and only then is he allowed out, and I get a nice, exuberant greyhound greeting that just makes my day.

 

This won't work for every dog, and some people don't like it, but I think you have to cater your method to each individual dog. It takes a lot of patience and effort and sometimes even tough love. I never realized how much a greyhound would try to take advantage of me until I got Tumnus. He'll make a big deal out of something one minute and be fine the next just to see if I'll cave to him. I'm not saying that's what your dog is doing, but I would caution you against doing/not doing something just because you feel sorry for the him. I'm guilty of it, and I know it has set Tumnus' training back tremendously when I baby him.

 

Sorry for such a long-winded response, but I hope this is helpful. Good luck!

[jenn8]

Accidents near the door are usually an indication that a dog wants/needs to go out. Do you see that he is doing his business before you leave him alone? There is also the possibility of medical issue like UTI.

 

The above could be causing the vocalization or he may just need a refresher course in alone training. If you haven't tried this already, I would video or tape record him when you leave to see just how long it lasts and to know exactly what you are dealing with.

 

He has already proven that he can learn to behave himself out of the crate, so he probably just needs some retrainig in his new home and/or a visit to the vet.

 

A crate can be a helpful tool to aid in house training when you have to turn your attention away but the actual training is done by you while you are there.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Jenn

[seeh2o]

Carl had really bad SA, but when I put peanut butter and broken treats in his Kong and froze them it really distracted him and kept him busy. If he doesn't go mad for peanut butter, you might try slathering it and freezing it w/creamed cheese or yogurt.