Separation Anxiety

[Guest JulieMango]

Curious to know how many have gone through this and when it started. We adopted Bess on Saturday and so far she has been as good as gold.

[Guest crzy4grys]

Ozzy wasn't to bad , only one time he made confetti out of some magazines, but has settled down now.

Frankie has SA if I go to the bathroom and shut the door, leave her in the car to goto store etc,: some days better then others. Even with Ozzy there she can be bad sometimes.

[Guest allensmom]

We got Allen a little over 2 months ago. We haven't had one bit of trouble with SA. He's settled into our home just fine.

[Guest bella9883]

max has severe SA.... hes on clomicalm now along with a dap, stuffed kong, rescue remedy, and some of his favorite treats, marrow bones..... its a constant struggle to keep him calm in the crate....

[Guest Mommydog]

I've never had any problems with my current two. But Rafferty my first lurcher was terrible. The amount of damage he caused in the area of the door was unbelieveable. It was only ever in this area, obviously he was trying to follow me whenever I went out. I tried everything I could think of, but eventually had to crate him when I went out, he even managed to mangle the wire door of the crate. Fortunately back then I was only working part-time, and so never had to leave him for too long. It got so bad that at one point I even considered sending him back to the shelter, but decided I could'nt. It took about 18 months before he finally settled down and he could be left OK out of the crate. He then turned into the best I'll ever have, sadly he went to the bridge three years ago this Xmas.

[Guest sbd1849]

Jet doesn't tear things up, or hurt herself, but I am mighty tired of finding poop (and pee) in the living and dining rooms. We're back to crating every time we leave her along.

[Guest Am_04]

Toby isn't a Greyound (he's a Lurcher) so I didn't vote, he has severe seperation anxiety and has had it ever since we brought him home.

[Guest Gideon]

Wait until she is more settled in and see how she does.

 

Duke was fine the first couple of days too. Then things got rough for a while but we're happy we toughed it out. Really happy.

[Guest ejw]

I voted no, my dog has never been alone. Jamaica has always had Scooter forr company, and Tansi has always had Jamaica and Scooter. Not sure about Tansi, but I think if Jamaica had been an only dog I might have had problems.

[Greytlady94]

Either separation anxiety is not that prevalent, or we have been unusually fortunate. Over the past 10+ years we have adopted seven greys and fostered dozens of others, and I can honestly say that I have never had a greyhound in my home with what I would consider separation anxiety. Sure, we have had things chewed, we have had potty accidents, but nothing out of the ordinary. And when you think about it, to take an adult dog who has never been in a home before, and all of a sudden he is plucked out of his kennel and put in a home where there are so many strange things that he can not possibly know what to make of, it is a miracle that they cope so magnificently well. I think sometimes people new to Greytalk may see the posts under "Training and Behavior" and think that lots of greyhounds have separation anxiety, when in reality, it is only a few of them, because the majority that don't have these problems don't get discussed in this forum.

[Guest ProudGreyMom]

I have one with and one without. Jake's SA really got bad after about a month or so.

[Guest Rhodasmom]

We got Rhoda in August and so far-no problems. I did crate her up until a month ago or so (more for my peace of mind than anything she had done). She's been fine out of her crate as well.

[Guest itscath]

I had one dog that suffered horribly. Leave the house for 5 minutes and she made a mess.

 

The absolute strangest thing solved it.

 

The dog door ...

 

After I got a dog door I didnt have any more problems. dont know how or why but it worked for her.

[gazehund]

Nope. All four of mine are very well adjusted, including my first greyhound. He was a single dog for the first 18 months here before we added greyhound # 2. Never had a problem. Now three greyhounds later, still don't have any problems.

[Guest lillysmum]

Lilly (grey) and Ruby (non grey) both have SA.

 

After trial and error, we've found the answers for our girls.

 

They include using a DAP diffuser, plenty of activities (kongs, treat balls, etc), background 'company' TV and radio, no dramatic comings and goings, and lots of love and patience (esp patience!).

 

[Forevermybabies]

I voted yes, because Angel did. But Festus and Sunscreen Man did not. Angel was cured when we brought Festus home.

[Guest sdelliott]

Neal is fine, unless we both leave at the same time. Then we know for a fact he bays in a very low yet mournful manner. I know that if we are gone for awhile, he takes some comfort in having one of my sweatshirts to sleep on. We also leave the tv on for him and make sure he has things to occupy him.......................other than the garbage can.

[Guest 4baddogs]

Zoe was the QUEEN of seperation anxiety. We adopted her to keep Jesse company (Jesse had her own SA issues.....) and never in a million years did I think it could get as bad as Zoe. After 6 months of my crying every time I came home, we put her on Clomicalm for about 8 onths and it was a lifesaver for all of us. She still gets that panic-stricken look on her face when we leave, but she's ok.

 

edited to add - Zoe destroyed things and cried like crazy. She never pooped or peed in the house.

Edited June 15, 2004 by 4baddogs

[Guest greyadvocate]

Bandit was the biggest baby when we first brought him home. He would whine for at least an hour after I left, even with DH trying to console him the whole time.

It got better with time, and completely disappeared when we chipped, Sweetie Pie was the answer to his anxiety and lonliness....

I still don't leave them home unless I absolutely have to though...like that pesky work thing....lol

[Guest JulieMango]

FWIW, I would not consider whining when I leave to be SA. To me, SA means a dog goes nuts when you leave - destroys furniture, rugs, door frames, or poops or pees in the house. Stella chewed the windowsill, dining room chairs, the coffee table, and shredded magazines, newspapers, books, and her bed. So far (knock on wood) Bess has no SA symptoms at all. She whines a bit when we're home for no apparent reason, but that's no big deal.

[Guest flavor]

Flash always barks and lately pees when we are gone, as well as constantly running looking for us. We are back to crate now and hope it works out better, as other than the barking and peeing he is well behaved. We just hope it gets better, as one day we may have to leave him when we go on vacation, and hope he is cured of it by then, as we have only had him a month and a half. I do stay home all day, the accidents happen when I have to go somewhere without him

[Guest how888]

Howie came to us after being in a destructive and abusive enviroment and he never got over it. He chewed everything but we were patient and tried our best. He ended up chewing our new carpet,shoes,toys and all so we took him everywhere. He then chewed the steering wheel when we ran into the store for a min. We still loved and adored him. Nike came from the track to the prison program and right to us. He can be left alone at all times, loves his kennel or just sits in the l.room or window. No problem whatsoever.I'd give anything to see Howie chew something again, I miss him so much.

[jamngrey]

I voted no all 3 of mine adjusted fine...well it did take 1 day of awaytraining to work with snowman cause he would howl when I left but one day later all is fab

[Guest ozzysmom]

I voted yes, but I'm the one that suffers with SA when I have to leave my pooch!

[Guest Kirsten]

We've never had any problems with Link our Grey but we have terrible problems with Holly our non-grey. We've had her since she was 4 months and her SA manifests itself in destructive behaviour. She is much much better than she was but it has taken a year to get to this stage. Our new dog Jet seems fine so far....