Jump to content

Not Sa, So What Is It?


Guest NorTex

Recommended Posts

I have a one year old non-grey beagle, Lucy, that whines and will cry when I, or anyone, leave the room or leave her sight in any way. She'll whine for a little while and then she'll eventually start to (i'm not sure how to describe it) yowl loudly.

 

I thought that it was separation anxiety so I began to read up on the topic and also purchased "I'll be home soon". But after reading some of the book it really doesn't seem like this is SA. She isn't usually destructive, it seems like it's just when she's bored. She doesn't seem to get anxious when I'm getting ready to leave. She just cries when I go.

 

Lucy has been doing this since she was a puppy and I believe that she does it because when someone would leave her and she cried someone would come back and coddle her thus enforcing this behavior. That's only a thought so take it with a grain of salt

 

The general situation with Lucy is that when my exbf and I broke up, he got to keep her at his house. Now that he's going active duty military Lucy is mine. I'm living in an apartment and I work 3 8hour days per week and I also will be going to school 4 days a week once the new semester begins. I just want to nip this in the bud now so that I don't get complaints like so many other people have mentioned around here.

 

Some help would be so wonderful. I'm really at a loss right now...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Wasserbuffel

If she's not distressed or showing any other symptoms of SA it might just be a bad habit.

 

Does she cry the whole time or just for a little while when you first leave?

 

If it were me, I would try teaching her a "quiet" command. Others might know better how to do this. I taught Jayne "quiet" because she'll whine and pout if we're at a M&G and she gets bored from standing around. I would interrupt her pouting and say quiet. I would give her a treat when she quieted and after a while I was able to get her to be quiet anytime she was being noisy, even without rewards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Tiptons_Mom

I was having issues with my boy, and I do think that he had a case of SA, but with some alone training it has gotten better. I wanted to know how long he cried/howled once I was gone, so I set up my webcam and used SKYPE to check in on him from my phone. Guess what? He only cried for about 5 mins and then stopped. I used this during the day a few times, just to look in on him and it gives me piece of mind that he is okay while I am gone.

Tipton is what is referred to as a velcro dog, I couldn't leave the room without his following me. When I was home and out of his sight, he would cry and whine for quite a bit longer than 5 mins, I presume because he knew I was there in the house. I took some sage advice from someone on another post and decided to ignore him for a bit. Not just when he was crying but also just when we were around the house. I pretended that he was not even there (heart breaking) for about three days (not including potty breaks and feeding time) but even then, I did not make a big deal of him at all. I think this helped him to realize that he was okay without me right next to him.

This was very hard, but I just kept in mind that we have many years of love ahead of us, and this was a good way to get started together. Happy to report that this has helped more than I could have really imagined. I can actually the room and he does not feel the need to follow me and this has greatly decreased the whining (still some if I am out of sight for too long).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest karilynn

I wanted to know how long he cried/howled once I was gone, so I set up my webcam and used SKYPE to check in on him from my phone.

 

That is literally the coolest idea EVER. How did you do that? 2 different Skype accounts? And how do you get your computer to automatically pick up when you call from your phone?

 

Brilliant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wanted to know how long he cried/howled once I was gone, so I set up my webcam and used SKYPE to check in on him from my phone.

 

That is literally the coolest idea EVER. How did you do that? 2 different Skype accounts? And how do you get your computer to automatically pick up when you call from your phone?

 

Brilliant.

 

I'd also like to know a little more about how you did this. Sounds like a great way to see if this is a long winded issue

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...