What Are The Alternatives To Alone Training?

[Guest radioni]

But...everything I am reading indicates that this dog Does.Not.Want.To.Be.Crated.

 

Yeah, I agree with you 100%. But I also do not want to leave her uncrated for an extended period until I'm sure she's not going to panic and hurt herself. I am going to start alone training with her out of the crate though and try to be very careful about moving very slowly with it.

[NeylasMom]

So I didn't realize the door destruction was shut in a bedroom. That won't fly with a lot of dogs who don't have SA, so yes, absolutely try her loose in the house. Its completely possible that will solve the problem since the crate is also in the bedroom. You can shut her OUT of rooms you don't want her in (but leave her access to her favorite spots if possible.

 

Also, you absolutely need some sort if webcam to monitor her. It's a necessity for working with SA dogs. I have Foscams that I watch through an app on my phone, but until you move a cheap, easy solution is to use a basic webcam - possibly already on your laptop or buy a cheap wired one for $10 - along with a free service like Ustream. Put the camera somewhere where you can see the front door, and as much of the main areas she'd be likely to walk through or hang in, then connect and watch what she does once you close the door behind you. The nice thing about the Foscams and other similar webcams like that are they typically are wide angle and have night vision, but you can get by with the other for now. Just make sure to leave a lamp or two on if it will get dark before you return.

Edited June 30, 2018 by NeylasMom

[Guest radioni]

Okay, I'll try leaving her out loose in the house--I think that has a real chance to work. Without the stressor of the crate maybe she'll be able respond to the alone training in the same way that she responded to the counter conditioning I did with her other fears, which was very effective. Thank you all again for your help--it has been so, so appreciated. I'll be sure to update.

Edited July 3, 2018 by radioni

[BatterseaBrindl]

[Guest Low_Budget_Dave]

We have never had a greyhound, but we have had a keeshond with separation anxiety. One of the things we did was to move the crate out of the bedroom, and get her used to sleeping in a different room. This let her "practice" being separate and get used to the fact that nothing really bad would happen while we were out of sight. I wouldn't say that it worked perfectly, but it worked better than having the crate in the bedroom.

[Plateialumitar]

Apologies if this has been covered somewhere else in the thread, but thought I'd mention that you might want to try changing to a different food to reduce her energy (anxiety feeds off spare energy). It won't be a silver bullet, but can really help reduce destructive energy. Our 2.5 year old boy has been really close to the poster child for a relaxed confident grey, but nevertheless there were times early on when he'd suddenly decide to take something that wasn't his and munch it to pieces. He was noticeably hyper on certain kibbles, sometimes being on the go and throwing toys around until 11pm. I'm not sure if it was the protein content or protein type specifically, but regardless the one we've found he's best on is Pooch and Mutt Calm and Relaxed, which surprisingly does exactly what it says on the tin. Won't stop him whining when he knows it's coming up to time for walkies of course, but it has made him sleep later in the mornings and zonk out earlier in the evenings. I think the brand and product I'm feeding is quite possibly UK only, so depending on where you are, you might have to shop around to see what's available and experiment.

Thankfully our boy has never gone for furniture or the door frame, but we do leave him with cardboard now in addition to his long just incase he fancies a chew on something while we're gone.

[Guest radioni]

Hi all,

 

Since it's been a month, I wanted to share an update. We made it to Oregon (yay!) and the trip was fairly uneventful. Maira didn't mind at all as we packed up the house, and it turns out she's a great travel companion. She LOVED camping and riding in the car. The only little hiccup was when fish were jumping in the lake we were camped next to and she decided this was a sign of the upcoming apocalypse.

 

Once we got to Oregon we started up alone training again and I used many of the suggestions you all provided. We didn't even bother setting up her crate and have been working with her on having free range of the house. I think that the suggestion that she is crate averse was spot on and trying to do the alone training with the crate wasn't doing us any favors. We also have it so we can watch her while she is alone and that has been an important part of our progress. And finally, I think the other giant factor has been the trazodone. After having to experiment a little to find the sweet spot I think we've got her at the right dosage and it has made all the difference in the world.

 

The first week went pretty smoothly and we were able to progress up to ten minutes alone in about five days--which felt like lightning speed compared to all the trouble we were having before. We got stuck at the ten minute mark for several days, but then had a break through and progressed up to twenty minutes pretty quickly. Last night we made it to 30 minutes for the first time ever and I almost cried I was so happy. I think she easily could have gone longer, but I didn't want to push her too fast and accidentally undo all the good work we've been doing. I am thrilled and very hopeful that she'll be ready to do four hours alone when I have to start work in three weeks.

 

Thank you again for all your help. When I first created this post I honestly felt like the situation was hopeless. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Batmom]

 

You're clearly dedicated to her wellbeing. Hope her progress continues!

[BatterseaBrindl]

[Alyse]

I'm glad this story is headed towards a happy ending!

 

Posting this in case someone in the future reads this for their own pup, I know a hound that was afraid of her crate too until the owner found that if they draped a blanket over the crate and made it a cave, then she was totally fine! Maybe something about the bars bothered her, but once it was a cave she gladly went into her crate.

[Tullamore]

For colitis, try Tylan powder (tylocine).

 

 

Regarding meds: The point isn't to take the place of alone training. It's to make an anxious dog more receptive to alone training. If your vet doesn't understand that, time for a new vet.

 

 

Regarding training: I think you've broken down your leaving behaviors into little slices / individual actions already. One of the things you can do to help your dog is to work on those actions one at a time, without going through the whole sequence. For example, if the first thing you do is pick up your keys, then whenever you can you want to spend 20 minutes to an hour picking up your keys, putting them down, waiting 3-4 minutes, picking up your keys, putting them down …. You get the idea. Next step is opening the front door? Great! Spend a different 20 minutes opening the front door, stepping out, stepping back in, closing the door, wait 3-4 minutes, do it again.

 

When you get to the point where you either pick up keys or open the door and the dog doesn't bat an eyelash, then you're ready to put the two together in a sequence. Pick up keys, open door, step out, step back in, close door, wait 3-4 minutes, do it all again several times in a row. The idea is to do this stuff until the dog is completely bored with it. "She keeps picking up her keys but doesn't go anywhere. Huh. Meaningless. Think I'll have a nap." This is where meds can really help, with an anxious dog. They can help take the edge off that anxiety so the dog can learn.

 

You don't have to totally ignore the dog during the 3-4 minutes in between actions or before/after you perform an action. You don't want to fawn over her, but it's fine to talk to her, give her a quick pat, etc.; just keep it relaxed and low key.

 

Working on these things doesn't mean you can never leave before the dog is trained. People have to go out sometimes. Do as much training as you can when you are home to do it. Most dogs will get the idea anyways.

 

 

 

Hugs and best luck.

Batmom, Another new grey owner here, having similar issues to @radioni. A quick question: when you're doing the keys and door steps, should the dog be in the crate or not? Ours begins to cry/howl as soon as he hears the door open (if he's in the crate.) TIA.

[Tullamore]

Hi all,

 

Since it's been a month, I wanted to share an update. We made it to Oregon (yay!) and the trip was fairly uneventful. Maira didn't mind at all as we packed up the house, and it turns out she's a great travel companion. She LOVED camping and riding in the car. The only little hiccup was when fish were jumping in the lake we were camped next to and she decided this was a sign of the upcoming apocalypse.

 

Once we got to Oregon we started up alone training again and I used many of the suggestions you all provided. We didn't even bother setting up her crate and have been working with her on having free range of the house. I think that the suggestion that she is crate averse was spot on and trying to do the alone training with the crate wasn't doing us any favors. We also have it so we can watch her while she is alone and that has been an important part of our progress. And finally, I think the other giant factor has been the trazodone. After having to experiment a little to find the sweet spot I think we've got her at the right dosage and it has made all the difference in the world.

 

The first week went pretty smoothly and we were able to progress up to ten minutes alone in about five days--which felt like lightning speed compared to all the trouble we were having before. We got stuck at the ten minute mark for several days, but then had a break through and progressed up to twenty minutes pretty quickly. Last night we made it to 30 minutes for the first time ever and I almost cried I was so happy. I think she easily could have gone longer, but I didn't want to push her too fast and accidentally undo all the good work we've been doing. I am thrilled and very hopeful that she'll be ready to do four hours alone when I have to start work in three weeks.

 

Thank you again for all your help. When I first created this post I honestly felt like the situation was hopeless. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Wow! You've given me hope. Thank you!

[Markdog12]

I would suggest some online dog training courses/videos, this way the dog stays with you and not a stranger and you'll get to know him/her better.