Guest kkaiser104 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I'm starting to see some beginning symptoms of separation anxiety in Teddi. Mostly, when I leave he barks and barks and cries for 5-10 minutes, then stops for a few, and then repeats the whole thing. He stays in his crate when I leave--I still don't trust him 100% in the house (it's only been 13 days). If I leave when my roommates are home and they offer to watch him out of his crate, he paces, barks, whines, and then goes back to sleep after about 10 minutes. My adoption group suggested using some high reward treats for him. I'm going to try to pick up some bully sticks tonight--I know he loves them! Any other good suggestions? He has an everlasting treat ball but he uses it mostly in play and out of his crate. I'm looking for something that will get him past the initial anxiety/barking/whining stage and also make me leaving fun. I've been trying some alone training, but it really doesn't seem to be working. I don't pay attention to him until he stops barking and falls asleep, and then give lots of love, but every time we do it again I have to repeat the entire procedure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vjgrey Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I'd recommend not leaving him alone with a bully stick or other chew. They're great, but they should be given with supervision only, since they can be choking hazards. You can freeze peanut butter, bananas, yogurt, pumpkin, little pieces of meat, etc... in a Kong, and that should take him a while to get through. Quote Valerie w/ Cash (CashforClunkers) & Lucy (Racing School Dropout)Missing our gorgeous Miss Diamond (Shorty's Diamond), sweet boy Gabe (Zared) and Holly (ByGollyItsHolly), who never made it home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vers Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Vjjgrey on both points. You really don't want to leave a dog alone with anything that's a potential choking hazard; things like bullysticks are much more suited for supervised chew time. A stuffed kong is a great way to go. Avoid blocking the little hole at the small end of the kong when you fill it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kkaiser104 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I'll try freezing a kong for him tonight and use it tomorrow during his alone time. Thanks for the suggestion! I keep forgetting that you can stuff kongs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 (edited) Stuff the kong with fat free cream cheese and freeze it overnight-they love um! Edited cause stupid auto correct just kept changing kong to king!! Edited July 10, 2012 by tbhounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_daerr Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 It really depends on the individual dog. I like Dentley's knuckle bones (you can get them at PetSmart) and CET dental chews. Some people don't feel comfortable giving rawhide or bones unsupervised. I've never had a problem. Kongs are good too, but I find them to be a lot of work and my dogs never finish them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest team_tonio Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I might be a day late and a dollar short... but try something really tasty when doing alone training... I used rotisserie chicken. Delish! It was verrrry time consuming but so worth it. Id leave and enter the house up to 20 times a day increasing the length of time I was gone. Just a few seconds to 15 min to halfhour. Try ignoring him for a few minutes when you return.. That helped us too. Once he realized I was always coming back he was a happy boy with his kong Good luck to you and teddi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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