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Let's help JudyO with some suggestions for seperation anxiet

1410 Views 7 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  cheesedoodle, 
S
My best tip is to put one of your T-shirts or something that you've worn recently (with your scent) in the crate with Paulie. Also, when he whines/cries, ignore him but when he's quiet, praise him. Stay visible to him but do something else, read, watch TV, your regular family things. If everytime you crate him, you bolt from the room, he'll associate the crate with your leaving.
Also, you may want to leave the TV on for him or the radio when you do leave. Some have found a ticking clock or egg timer to be helpful (reminds him of his mama's heartbeat). Leave the crate door open when he's walking around and every once in awhile, leave a treat in there that he'll go in and get. Also, feeding him in his crate is a good idea. I'm sure others will have more suggestions but that's what we've found helpful with Sadie. :)
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I
Good suggestions! I don't have any more advice to add, but I can say that a friend's dog had the same problem and he grew out of it after a few weeks.

Hang in there!
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L
Dogs also need something to do when they are alone. There's less chance of any anxiety about being alone if they have something on which to focus their attendtion.

Provide quite a few well stuffed Kong toys. The food shouldn't all come out easily, the dog should have to work at it for a while and some of it should never come out. If you're leaving large numbers of Kongs daily, stuff them with part of their meal rations for the day so they aren't overfed or eating too many treats.
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G
I leave Maya a ziggie in her Kong everytime I leave. the ziggie usu gets broken off in the Kong but Maya still trie to get it out. Once I get home if the Ziggie is still in there I get a pen or screwdriver and push the ziggie out and give it to her. I push it out in front of her so she sees me do it. I think she learned to trust more that I'll always be back and help her.
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MaxandMe
with Max i'd put a tiny bit of kibble and his kong in the crate...
but sadly he always HOWLED in his crate till he was 7mos old
soooooooooooooooo he slept with us on our bed at night and we all got sleep

peanut cried for one day that was it.......and we put a blanket over the front of her crate , she was fine BUT her crate was in our bedroom for 2mos and we lugged it down daily. also put towel over front of it and she settled down quickly

Beau, he loved his crate from day 1....we have2 crates and for 1st 3 weeks he slept in bedroom in crate and now sleeps downstair at night in crate. Once again put a small towel over front and he setttles down asap
if NOT he tries to dig out of thecrate and lets out big hrrmpff! hahahaa

I did NOT put clothing i wore in crate as max and peanut peed on them
so with Beau i used the towel from my shower or blanket i use on my lap to cover the front of the crate
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J
Update on crating issue..

Wow, my very own thread, thanks guys..! :D
Okay, here's what's up since I last posted.
Actually we have 2 crates, one upstairs in our bedroom that Paulie does fine in since we are sleeping nearby.
Our second crate is in our family room on the main floor. This is the one I've tried to leave him in when we are out. The last thing I tried in addition to removing the bedding was put a food dish in there. Also,he has been rewarded with treats for going in there, I've been hanging around him and the crate so he gets to see it as not just the place he goes to when I need to leave him. He still wet himself and his food dish. Yuck.
Sooo.. yesterday I left him without the food dish while I was doing things around the house and although he yelped, he remained dry.
Today I figured, why not just use the upstairs crate in our bedroom (duh..!) and wouldn't ya know he whimpered a little and then chilled..!
I am going to put the bedding back into the main floor crate so it's comfy and I'll give him a chance to get used to it. For now I'll just use the bedroom crate for when we go out.
Further, I spoke to my vet a couple days ago who suggested that he may have a urinary tract infection. So I gave her a specimen and it came out positive. So Paulie is now on an antibiotic for 2 weeks.
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C
A few tips that might be rudimentary ...

A Patricia McConnell-style technique would be to try leaving the dog alone for very short periods of time. Go out the door -- say goodbye, have your keys and everything. Close the door. Wait two minutes, and then come back in and give your dog a lot of attention. Do that over and over again, making the period of absence longer and longer.

Eventually, the dog begins to associate you leaving with your return.

Also, I found that my border collie was a lot more anxious in general when she needed more exercise. A very tired dog doesn't have much energy to be anxious! Finding ways to tire the dog out both mentally and physically might help.

Best of luck!
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C
A few tips that might be rudimentary ...

A Patricia McConnell-style technique would be to try leaving the dog alone for very short periods of time. Go out the door -- say goodbye, have your keys and everything. Close the door. Wait two minutes, and then come back in and give your dog a lot of attention. Do that over and over again, making the period of absence longer and longer.

Eventually, the dog begins to associate you leaving with your return.

Also, I found that my border collie was a lot more anxious in general when she needed more exercise. A very tired dog doesn't have much energy to be anxious! Finding ways to tire the dog out both mentally and physically might help.

Best of luck!
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