Separation Anxiety

[Jiffer]

Icarus developed SA after about a week or so. Since getting him Atlas, he's had no problems. A companion was his cure!

Atlas is so laid back and relaxed that he rarely lifts his head when I'm coming in and out of the apt for laundry.

[Guest mleg2001]

I have had 3 greys plus I also fostered 3, none suffered from SA

[Guest JulieMango]

Just an update here (I started this poll right after we got our grey): We've had Bess for two and a half months and no SA whatsoever! She is the most laid back dog in the world. Half the time she doesn't even get up from her bed when I come home! She does insist on two walks each and every day, but that's good for everyone, right? We love her!

[Bluesky]

I voted yes from the moment we got them. Vern we had first and he whined and barked for about a month or so and then calmed down.

Cali we just got in May and she barked and howled for about 3 weeks and settled in.

I guess we were lucky. It could have been worse. Thank goodness for understanding neighbours.

[Guest Lacy]

I had the advantage of being able to transition him slowly.

 

I do know a fellow locally who's girl can't be left alone for more than 5 minutes without having a meltdown ... on the upside she has a cast iron stomach ... we have no separation issues - but a very delicate stomach!

[Guest mleg2001]

I noticed the percentage for those that claim their dogs have SA is extremely high. In actuality the real percentage would be less than 5%. A new greyhound fresh off the track may exhibit fear of being alone initially but it usually is only temporarily until they get accustomed to their surroundings and routine and what to expect day to day, but that is not true SA. Being lonely and maybe crying a bit when the owner leaves can be normal but that does not necessarily mean SA, a dog that has SA is extremely terrified and stressed and will pant, pace and drool heavily as they see you get ready to leave.

SA could be best described as a phobia, an unreasonal extreme fear of being alone. A person could be afraid of a spider and seeing one may give thm the willies, but there behaviour is not as extreme as a person who has arachniphobia(sp?)

 

I think we have to remember most people have never had experiences with a dog that has had true SA, so when their dog presents a behaviour that may be common in a dog with SA they assume then their dog has it.

 

Many dogs will get bored when no one is around, and when they do they create their own amusement to entertain themselves and it could invovle chewing or shredding stuff, the more intellingent and active the dog is the more trouble they can find. And most potty accidents are a result of not being fully house trained, once they realize they can go with no one correcting them some will get it into their head that it is okay to go inside the house as long as no one is home, but they are home than it is not a good time to go, when they start thinking with that kind of logic the only real solution to limit their space dramatically and as they start holding slowly and gradually increase their roaming territory.

Edited August 25, 2004 by mleg2001

[Guest sjarp]

Gabe had it bad, chewing destroying doors etc, Adam had it some, but with a DAP, kongs, patience, time and love, they are both fine, no issues at all now.

[Andromeda]

Everything went well the first two weeks in my house until 3 days ago when my husband walked into a crime scene. My normally totally mellow sweetheart has destroyed his kennel and got out and cut hs paw in the process and left blood all over the carpets. The next day since we didn't have a kennel he stayed in the front of the house and we came home to every mini blind in the living room destroyed and shredded, the wood on my front door all scratched up, my door knob chewed up and again this time he cut his mouth so we had blood all over the carpet again. He has an appointment this weekend to the vet for possible clonicalm and we went out and spent another $200 on a stronger reinforced kennel b/c we both have to go to work again today. So wish me luck. Also my dog has a smorgasbord of toys from, stuffies, squeaky toys, balls, nylabones, kong toys filled with food and even one of those smoked dinosaur bone looking things and he wants nothing to do with any of them in his kennel. I also leave the radio on for him.

Edited September 10, 2004 by Andromeda

[Guest GreyStaatsmann]

That first night, I said"KENNEL UP" she froze like a statue.

I coaxed her in the kennel, gave treats which she never ate,

out go the lights, 20 min. later whimper whimper whine.

Spouse opens her crate, he's laying on the floor with her

( now she's got him wrap round her little dew-claw)

 

I tell you folks, I married a man who would never embarrass himself with 'babytalking' much less he always had said',A dog doesent belong in the house!"

 

Now he's babytalking in this high pitched voice that did'nt exist 8years ago.

 

Back to the S.A issue,at first she would not eat her food the entire time she's crated-then she'd scarf her food down as soon as I came home( she also had stress-diarrhea in crate)she now has free roam of the house that we made in small steps at a time. And now I can be gone 9 hours- no problem.

[seeh2o]

My answer, within 1 month of coming home, may be misleading. My angel of a neighbor welcomed Carl into her home for the first month while I was at work during the day. Then Carl inspired her to get a dog (she had been without a dog for several years) and naturally needed quality time with her new dog. That's when Carl's separation anxiety came into full bloom and bloom it did! After a lot of hard work and better living through chemistry (though fortunately the chemistry part is now over) Carl is (most of the time) a good dog at home while I'm at work.

[MerlinsMum]

I feel your pain. Glad Carl has made such improvements. Merlin has had SA since we brought him home a year and a half ago. We had to crate him while we were in an apartment, even though we were told he didn't like the crate. He learned to accept it, and it seemed to me that as long as he didn't SEE us leaving, he was ok. Now we've moved to a house, I am just pet-gating him in the living room and kitchen. I took a week off work to do alone training with him non-stop all week, and we got to 2.5 hours on his own with no destruction, etc. This week we've had a regression, and he did some damage yesterday. Not sure whether I should crate him again for a bit or not, some people think I should, I am not discounting it. I just want to try without for a bit longer (or until he targets my new coffee table ) I give him a long (45 mins) walk in the morning and I leave music on for him.

 

I used to leave a Kong for him at lunchtime. From today I am going to leave a Kong for him every time i leave him, in the morning and at lunchtime (I go home to let him out in the middle of the day, and to break up his day). Fingers crossed.

[Guest MySkye]

2 years and 8 months, many tears, lots of money, numerous vet visits and tons of reading and patience and my Inferno finally settled into our home. He ate 3 kennels (I guess I didn't get it when he ate the first one-dumb me), our dishwasher, 8 door jams and our countertops, pulled up our laminate flooring, would throw himself against the baby gates until he escaped, don't even ask about bodily functions or loss there of during the course of a normal day, countless vacation weeks/sick days to spend working with Inferno. Kongs, DAP, Rescue Remedy, Medication, Music, TV, Radio didn't mean SQUAT to him. He wouldn't look us in the eye and would GSOD if you touched him anywhere. I came home to a house that I had to spend nearly an hour cleaning and scrubbing all while not losing my patience or allowing Inferno to even "sense" that I was upset or angry with him almost daily. Whether it was a 5 minute trek out to the barn or an 8 hour work day, he was completely stressed out. I worried constantly he would kill himself while I was at work. I had every trainer, specialist and dog therapist available to my vet, come take a peek in on Fernie. His blood work was evaluated and re-evaluated by numerous "greyhound savvy" folks and all negative. I had a perfectly healthy but miserable hound. I wrote to vets in other countries, traveled up and down most of the East Coast attending numerous seminars or lectures to help understand his behavoir. I have reems and reems of suggestions, cures, courses and paths to take to help my boy, enough to fill two three ring binders. We fed raw, we fed no grain, we fed wet food, we fed dry food, I MADE his food, nothing would touch his agony. In the end I still have no idea what caused him to turn the corner. I am completely convinced that Inferno just had to make peace with himself, his past and his current surroundings. In his own time and in his own way.

 

My DH and I have no idea of his background, his tats offer no insight as to his past and he came to us via "private adoption" for lack of a better term. I even traveled to the track in Kansas, hoping to find answers as the "rumor" was he might have come from there. Dead end. The demons within Inferno were real and very deep and tramatic for this poor boy. It almost tore our family apart, day after day after day. I remember the first time he looked up at me, very briefly, and I held his gaze and he held mine and I knew that "Inferno" was in there and that this "other dog" was not his real personality. I vowed never to give up on Inferno and never to give him up.

 

He doesn't travel with me to any other place but Dewey. He is not a M&G dog, he gets gun shy and skittish around lots of folks and noise and acitivty. At home he is completely safe and completely loved. Somewhere I have a video of me actually vacuuming Inferno and he gets blow dried everyday in the winter when I dry my hair. This is more than a "cute and funny" coming from a dog that we couldn't touch for over 2 years. It was a miracle.

 

I never, ever posted that Inferno had SA, because I never truly knew if that is what it was, or if something else lurked behind those beautiful brown eyes. It was mostly sad. I would sit and read post after post with tears in my eyes praying for some relief, some insight, some "white light" to be sent to me that I could do right, do better by this beautiful dog. I felt isolated and alone and a complete failure. My work suffered, my friendships suffered, my home life, my marriage were on the brink of a complete melt down. I was exhausted mentally and physically. In the end Inferno cured himself. MY DH and I made a promise that we would not give him up. He would end up in a shelter or worse I feared for sure for not many would have the patience that we did.

 

He is my boy, my only male greyhound in the "estrogen ocean" that makes up my pack. He has my heart and I hope that he knows every morning when I leave for work and yell "Fernie, you're in charge" that he understands I am always coming back to him. He has been stress free for over 3 years now.

 

I hope those that suffer with dogs from SA find the relief they so rightly deserve. It is agonizing.

 

Warmly,

[Dawnnziggy]

Dawn did typical "I'm mad at you!" things when we would leave her home alone. She loves chewing up tissues. But when we got Ziggy, we found out what SA really was. He went nuts when we would leave. He would not crate easily. I came home to be greeted by him. Somehow he tore the crate apart to get out!!!!! He has ruined several endstands, my computer table, and untold rolls of toilet paper. Once we came home to snow. It looked like it had snowed. Ziggy jumped right up on the sofa. "I didn't do it, really I didn't!"

 

He is much better now. He still gets the toilet paper. We no longer have toilet paper on the roll! We have been taught to keep it in the cupboard.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is that it does get better.

[MerlinsMum]

2 years and 8 months, many tears, lots of money, numerous vet visits and tons of reading and patience and my Inferno finally settled into our home. He ate 3 kennels (I guess I didn't get it when he ate the first one-dumb me), our dishwasher, 8 door jams and our countertops, pulled up our laminate flooring, would throw himself against the baby gates until he escaped, don't even ask about bodily functions or loss there of during the course of a normal day, countless vacation weeks/sick days to spend working with Inferno. Kongs, DAP, Rescue Remedy, Medication, Music, TV, Radio didn't mean SQUAT to him. He wouldn't look us in the eye and would GSOD if you touched him anywhere. I came home to a house that I had to spend nearly an hour cleaning and scrubbing all while not losing my patience or allowing Inferno to even "sense" that I was upset or angry with him almost daily. Whether it was a 5 minute trek out to the barn or an 8 hour work day, he was completely stressed out. I worried constantly he would kill himself while I was at work. I had every trainer, specialist and dog therapist available to my vet, come take a peek in on Fernie. His blood work was evaluated and re-evaluated by numerous "greyhound savvy" folks and all negative. I had a perfectly healthy but miserable hound. I wrote to vets in other countries, traveled up and down most of the East Coast attending numerous seminars or lectures to help understand his behavoir. I have reems and reems of suggestions, cures, courses and paths to take to help my boy, enough to fill two three ring binders. We fed raw, we fed no grain, we fed wet food, we fed dry food, I MADE his food, nothing would touch his agony. In the end I still have no idea what caused him to turn the corner. I am completely convinced that Inferno just had to make peace with himself, his past and his current surroundings. In his own time and in his own way.

 

My DH and I have no idea of his background, his tats offer no insight as to his past and he came to us via "private adoption" for lack of a better term. I even traveled to the track in Kansas, hoping to find answers as the "rumor" was he might have come from there. Dead end. The demons within Inferno were real and very deep and tramatic for this poor boy. It almost tore our family apart, day after day after day. I remember the first time he looked up at me, very briefly, and I held his gaze and he held mine and I knew that "Inferno" was in there and that this "other dog" was not his real personality. I vowed never to give up on Inferno and never to give him up.

 

He doesn't travel with me to any other place but Dewey. He is not a M&G dog, he gets gun shy and skittish around lots of folks and noise and acitivty. At home he is completely safe and completely loved. Somewhere I have a video of me actually vacuuming Inferno and he gets blow dried everyday in the winter when I dry my hair. This is more than a "cute and funny" coming from a dog that we couldn't touch for over 2 years. It was a miracle.

 

I never, ever posted that Inferno had SA, because I never truly knew if that is what it was, or if something else lurked behind those beautiful brown eyes. It was mostly sad. I would sit and read post after post with tears in my eyes praying for some relief, some insight, some "white light" to be sent to me that I could do right, do better by this beautiful dog. I felt isolated and alone and a complete failure. My work suffered, my friendships suffered, my home life, my marriage were on the brink of a complete melt down. I was exhausted mentally and physically. In the end Inferno cured himself. MY DH and I made a promise that we would not give him up. He would end up in a shelter or worse I feared for sure for not many would have the patience that we did.

 

He is my boy, my only male greyhound in the "estrogen ocean" that makes up my pack. He has my heart and I hope that he knows every morning when I leave for work and yell "Fernie, you're in charge" that he understands I am always coming back to him. He has been stress free for over 3 years now.

 

I hope those that suffer with dogs from SA find the relief they so rightly deserve. It is agonizing.

 

Warmly,

 

Your story (and Inferno's) gives me so much hope. You are my hero. I have so much respect for people like you. Having a dog with SA (not as bad as Inferno's was) I know how agonizing (as you put it) it is. I knew that if we took Merlin back, he would bounce forever (he was already a bounce when we adopted him). When you go through such heartbreak and stress with your dog, somehow it makes the small, almost imperceptible little improvements mean SO much... doesn't it?

 

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this with us.

[Guest AaronsMom]

Didn't vote, because we had medium SA for about 4-5 weeks. Now it is virtually over (he's been with us 3-1/2 months.)

 

Getting rid of the crate (which he hated) helped, and gradually working up to longer periods of time away has helped. Never any destruction, but whining and howling and occasional pee problems for awhile. His big test was last weekend, we left for 7 hours at 6pm, came home close to 1am with a normally happy dog, no problems. He loves kongs, new age music, and I always wear him out before long separations.

[nettles]

There is an excellent article in the latest issue of Whole Dog Journal.

 

Rich

[RobinM]

Beau was 1st and was fine. he would have been fine as a one and only but was happier with #2, Chloe.

Chloe and #3 Teddy ABSOLUTELY COULD NOT be an only dog, no way no how.

 

Teddy, still carries on when I leave even if there are the other dogs here and there is someone in the house, like my house keeper or my 28 year old DD when she comes to visit. She can not beleive how he will cry if I run out for a few minutes.

[Guest Morgaynn]

Okay so I know this is a really old thread. Nike up until recently hadn't been left home alone for any real length of time- typically no more than two hours. With the promotion, my hours have SIGNIFICANTLY increased (this promotion came out of no where, so no preptime). Now, Nike is being left home for about 6 hours on any given night rather than the two she's used to.. Since the promotion we've had several in-crate accidents, even after a good 30-45minute walk 10 minutes prior to leaving for work. Dh and I are going to try babygating her into the kitchen and see if it helps any. I have heard (from the neighbors), that typically she will whine and howl and carry on for about an hour after DH and I leave before she settles down until one of us comes home.

 

Dh and I haven't built the trust to let her have run of the house when we aren't here. She's already chewed the corner off the bottom stair, and with the accidents in her crate, I'm not ready to trust her out of it. But at least my kitchen floor is easier to clean than washing a dog bed everyday.

 

Nike has only been here a month, and she hasn't quite settled in IMO, and with the recent change in my work, she now has something else to adjust to. I'm not sure how to work through some of her other various issues, and at this point, and yes this is selfish, I hope DH hurries up and gets me preggers so I can stay home ALL The TIME. I like many people HATE to work.. but the sooner I get pregnant the sooner I can finally get a sewing machine, try my hand at coats n snoods and work from home.

[Guest twhitehouse]

I voted for yes, since the day we brought her home. We've had Lexi for a little more than 2 months now and she's made great progress with her SA. When we first got her she chewed a table, destroyed some blinds and barked and cried for hours. So we started crating her and also did some alone training with her. Now we still crate her, but she will start barking maybe 5 minutes after we leave instead of immediately. She also will usually settle down after an hour or 2, whereas before she would carry on the entire time.

 

I think the biggest thing that has helped is having her just settle in and be more comfortable with us and with herself in a new place. When we got her she was only a week off the track and had never been in a home around people before so I have to give her credit...She's doing awesome. Plus she's the sweetest girl ever and we love her even when she does chew our table.

[Guest annemurph]

We just adopted a little girl in August with very bad SA (vomiting in the crate). I worked with her over the first few months to desensitize her to getting in crate by feeding her by the crate, then in the crate (all with me in the room) then in the crate with door closed for a minute (with me in the room) then in the crate with the door closed the whole time she ate, then sleeping in the crate with the door open, then sleeping with the door shut (I think you get the picture!). VERY slowly she got used to the crate (and did some damage until that happened!) but now she crates during the day with our other boy kept in the room with her. She always gets snacks and toys when she crates and was also on Clomicalm for several months as well as rescue remedy. I took her to an animal behaviorist and this was what she suggested. It was a lot of work but worth it in the end.

[Guest kydie]

I had 3 other rescues when the grey came, so he was never alone, and I work from home, when I leave, they are all fine, as they have each other

[moofie]

Hector had some mild SA after a week that lasted a month or so and he had doggy company while we were out. I'd say he's worse when we're actually home but not in the same room or in the garden and i'm still working on that. Sometimes he doesn't care if we leave the room or will take himself off to his bed upstairs for a nap.

[KF_in_Georgia]

I've had three greyhounds. Only Jacey had any SA, and she had it from the get-go. (At the adoption kennel, she was a dedicated barker, and that's a symptom I should have been suspicious of.) Anyway, a month of valium and three months of clomicalm, and she was over it. That was three years ago.

 

By the way, the recommended solution for a grey with SA is "get another dog." Jacey had another dog in the house, and it wasn't any help. She wanted a person around--which probably is why she barked at the adoption kennel any time a person walked in.

 

ETA: At present, Jacey is no longer being crated, and she's handling her new-found freedom well.

Edited July 5, 2009 by KF_in_Georgia

[Guest Kate]

Hippie has had her crate since the first week we had her - she trashed my house and dug up my carpets in half an hour!

I bought the crate and the minute it came into the house she moved her stuffies in and when we go out - she goes in!

 

I have tried to move the crate outside so that the door is open and she has the freedom of the garden but she howls and destroys anything she can get her paws on.

 

She only likes her crate to be in the kitchen - nowhere else (and we have tried) - it takes up most of the kitchen but its much better than seeing Hippie so distressed!

[Guest Capslock]

My Otis was a two-time bounce due to SA, so I knew it was coming when I adopted him. He was frantic if I left, and would chew his crate till his mouth bled. It was heartbreaking! It would even take him 15 minutes or so to calm down even after we got home - he'd just run around the house with a crazed look on his face.

 

The first breakthrough was getting rid of the crate (I realize this is unusual). That brought the anxiety down from a 10 to a 6 the first time. From there, he just got steadily better. I didn't do much of anything, other than making sure when I left I just walked out the door - no dramatic goodbyes or last hugs and kisses. Same when I got home - I'd put my keys and jacket away and then only after they calm down a bit do I greet them. I'd say Otis' SA lasted less than a year before it was largely gone, but he would sometimes bark while I was gone. That ended after about another year. He's 12 now and has spent the majority of his life with no SA problems at all.

Edited July 26, 2009 by Capslock