Separation Anxiety

[Guest halle]

My greyhound will not let me out of her sight. The few minutes she is not sleeping, she needs to know where I am. When I come home from work, I do not make a fuss over her since that is one of the things my vet told me to try. I cannot go outside to garden for more than 5 minutes or else she cries and tries to see where I am. I do not know what to do.

 

Christa

[Busderpuddle]

Is she new to your home ? Mine did this for about a week or 2. Thought I would never go potty alone again.

[jamngrey]

How long have you had her? Have you done "away training". You can do a search about it on this site. I find it a required training for all greys. You may only have to do it a few days or a few weeks or a few months. Good luck

[Guest Nekos_Mommy]

Something that has really helped me is first increasing his independence and comfort being independent before starting alone training. I met with Veterinarian and Canine behavior specialist Dr. Giovanna Rosenlicht to discuss my dog's issues.

 

The first step was to either have his bed, or crate (we used a bed because crates seemed to increase his anxiety) become his safe zone. Teach him to lay down on his bed and "relax" into a comfortable position. (I use down to mean patiently laying in the squat-like down position that greyhounds have, and relax to mean sprawled out on the pillow as if they were sleeping.) Because this is something greyhounds do naturally it shouldn't take too long to teach (clicker training helps a great deal!)

 

Next, train him the word "stay" At first you may have to stand still as well, and just reward him as long as he doesn't move. You can gradually increase the amount of movement you are doing around him from one step away, to two, to three, and start turning your back to the dog as if youre actually walking away. It may take a few weeks, but eventually you can start walking around a corner or out of the room and having the dog stay put. Gradually you can spend more and more time in other rooms, coming out and giving him love and attention if the dog is still on his bed/in his crate and not following you around.

 

This training method has worked wonders for the issue of following us around the house. We are still working on the howling while we are gone, although since we have started this he is howling less loudly (keep in mind we have only been doing this 2 weeks).

 

Try only giving your dog attention if they are laying down on their bed/in the crate. If the dog wont stop following you, wander aimlessly around the house until the dog is bored. Then, if the dog goes and lies down in its safe zone, make a big deal about him being there with treats and pets.

 

My last advice is to get them to hear the cues of you leaving (Door opening, keys, coats, shoes) as often as possible when you arent actually leaving. It'll help lessen the instant anxiety response.

 

I'll post more as I get more "homework" assignments from Dr. Rosenlicht and find out what is successful!