Separation Anxiety - help needed

[Calebsmum]

Hi There,

I’be recently adopted a greyhound, his name is Caleb and this forum has been a life saver! I am, however, having issues with being able to leave him, without him getting panicked or destroying the house. I adopted Caleb nearly 5 months ago now. 

Caleb is 3 and bit years old, will be 4 in May this year. He is so relaxed, doesn’t bark, very low prey drive but is my shadow when I am in the house. As I have gotten him during the pandemic, I have always been at home. When I leave he tends to do one of two things, stands and pants(trying to look out the window) or starts chewing at the door frame. 

Since getting him, I have been leaving him for small amounts of time, slowly making it longer each day, but he will simply stand panting for the whole time I am away. I don’t make a fuss before I leave, or when I get back, for a few minutes. Recently I have moved back home and so even though I have left the house, my siblings have been at home and so he isn’t on his own. The one time we all left the house, he tried to chew through the door frame.

I will be going back to work in September and so need to try and get him used to me leaving him before then. I am very worried about him becoming destructive as it’s dangerous for him and so although he hasn’t been crate trained with me since getting him, do you think it would be ok to try and start doing this now? Or do you think it’s too late to bring this in? 
 

Any advice will be gratefully received! 
 

Thanks so much,

Tash & Caleb. 

[HeyRunDog]

There are going to be plenty of people and dogs in your situation because of the Covid lockdowns and together with moving back to your parents it's  a lot of life changes for Caleb to get used to.

The book that gets most recommendations on here is "I'll Be Home Soon: How to Prevent and Treat Separation Anxiety" by Patricia McConnell. It is available from Amazon and I would start doing alone training now.

Good luck with Caleb and restarting work.

[Calebsmum]

Thank you so much for this advice @HeyRunDog! I shall look into this book now!

if you have any further advice,’please do let me know. It’s so helpful! 
 

best wishes,

tash. 

[Michelin]

Hi Tash,

I thought I would add that we have been working on this hard with our dude Mich too. Admittedly with limited success so far but I get the sense Mich is particularly anxious. We found Patricia's short book to not be enough detail for us and also read a book called Be Right Back by Julie Naismith and another by Marlena de Martini Price (although this last one is really for trainers it's still helpful). Julie Naismith also has a Facebook group which is helpful. Mich is currently on fluoxetine too which has helped him previously (although it's not at all been a lifesaver).

Good luck!! Hope you have better luck than us 😅

 

[Toffeesdad]

Our boy likes country music so we leave it on while we’re out, a Kong keeps him occupied for the first 15-20 minutes while we leave. Our boy paced and panted, Roo’d and was pitiful while adjusting.  We also used an old iPad to monitor while we were out. Setting up a schedule that he will recognize and find comfort/security in is what you should aim for.

[MurphysMum]

We had the same issue when we first got murphy. He destroyed my blinds and door frames and quite a few beds. The crate turned out to be our best option until he settled. It was safer for him too. Get a good crate though as he did manage to escape his first one. Take the time to train him to it so he'll like down in it by himself.  We used it at night as well to allow him to settle into it. Within a few weeks he was much better in the crate and we could leave him safely for longer and longer periods. After about 2 months he was out of the crate and we've never gone back. Not something I ever wanted to do but really made a big difference. 

[Calebsmum]

Thank you @Michelin, @Toffeesdadand @MurphysMumFor your advice.

I shall try each of them to see if they help. He is very close to our other dog in the house and we found that if we leave him alone with her, he is better. Still whines and paces but not too destructive.

I really can’t thank you all enough. Fingers crossed these work and will update you when we have worked through it.

They are such a loving and kind breed, and so I for one love reading all the wonderful things people are doing for their adopted greyhounds ! 
 

[Longboi88]

My boy did the exact same. I would come home to step in puddles of drool where he stood by the door panting. 

I followed Patricia McDonnell's book to the letter and we made significant progress. I can leave him comfortably now, I dont think he is particularly happy about it but certainly not the stress or anxiety he once felt.

One of the hardest things for me was thinking I wasnt getting anywhere and it was never going to work...but it did. It was a LOT of repetitions of leaving him with a kong toy for short increments to get him there. So it can be done! I think it took about a month to the point where I was ok with leaving him. The training is not linear either, you may take ages to go from 1 minute to 2 minutes but 10mins to 30 mins could be an easy step.

I got a cheap petcam off amazon for £15, I can log on to the app on my phone and check on him. Most of the time he is sleeping on the sofa of course!

 

Good luck

Edited April 25, 2021 by Longboi88

[HeyRunDog]

7 hours ago, Longboi88 said:

I got a cheap petcam off amazon for £15, I can log on to the app on my phone and check on him. Most of the time he is sleeping on the sofa of course!

That is a good idea. I got one to keep an eye on Grace after the second lockdown and as you say like yours most of the time she's asleep on the sofa.

The advantage of having a webcam if you are alone training is that you can properly go out of sight and earshot of your greyhound and still keep an eye on them. You might find the pacing doesn't last long after you've gone and starts up again as soon as they sense you are coming back. When I get home Grace is looking through the window, pacing around and whining giving the impression she's been upset all day, yet looking at the webcam app 30 seconds before hand she's fast asleep on the sofa.