Separation anxiety in Dogs

[Strix 11]

Ah, Sooz - that means sitting on knees is going to have to stop! Whilst humans regard it as a 'nurture' position, therefore perceive the dog in a subordinate roll, there is no equivalent position for a dog family, so sitting on knees is an elevation in the pack

 

I managed to pretty much cure King of his separation anxiety in the 8 days we had him, but we had to be cruel to be kind. But he got squeally if he didn't have physical contact with you. Every time he kicked off making a noise he was 'excluded' and as soon as he was quiet he was 'returned to the pack'. In practice this meant that we had a baby gate fitted such that the door could still close - so standing by the door opening and closing it rather than lugging the dog in and out

 

The same principle was applied using a cage and a blanket

 

Poppy is no where near as much of a problem in this respect, so she won't need such drastic measures

 

Can you post some specifics about what kicks her off when you've had her a couple of days?

[Adz 10]

I second what Strix has said we have used the baby gate, crate and blanket/mat on the floor as well as little contact, time out and no sofa or bed unless invited on.

In 3 weeks Ruby now goes through the night in a crate downstairs on her own, can cope without us in the room, does not follow me everywhere can be left for up to 4 hours without messing in her dog crate while we are out.

When she first came it was terrible literally you could not shut a door behind without her weeing or poohing straight away and the same with the crate soiling as soon as she was put in it. she now gets in the crate by choice and even takes her toys in it for a nap. I think that now she knows she can be without us and cope things have improved. We also get ready to go out and then sit quietly ignoring the dogs for 20 mins we then get up and leave without saying anything. Apparantly by waiting 20 mins you are with them during the destructive period when they become distressed. You being there by passes it they know you are going but are calm by the time you leave. since doing this we have had no mess. We also don't greet our dogs when we come in we wait until they are quiet and about 10 mins later we call them to us for a fuss again this seems to help, us coming home is not a big deal just a part of everyday life.

 

Oh and we have a dap and my mum swears by them for her dogs, one of them sits in front of it when he is feeling stressed and it definately seems to help him

[sooz22 10]

Ok Poppys first night was a disaster....we put her in her cage and shut the cage in the hall and shut our bedroom door.

 

All night all we had was constant whining ascending to yapping and then descending to whimpering. i think i got about two hours sleep, she never stopped.

 

Last night and the night before we placed her in her cage (she knows 'bed') with a tshirt of Phils and my Tracksuit bottoms. We left the bedroom door open but the cage still n the hall with the door open. she came to check n us about foru times but was sent back to bed each time. No whimpering at all and she came in the room at about 8 and was alowed to stay until we got up.

 

However leaving her home alone is a different matter....she whimpers and whines and howls.....

[Greenlady 10]

I can recommened a book called "The Dog Lisenter" by Jan Fennel.

She is really good and her techniques are clear and easy to understand. she also explains what the dog is thinking and how it sees the environment around it.

[Lotti 10]

Aw sooz...

 

She's a lovely dog Takara was a bit frightened of her though

 

freebie - yes, in some dogs that is the case but Poppy is pretty subordinate from what I saw of her the other day and as she doesn't know sooz and Phill all that well I'd be surprised if she felt responsible for them already...

[sooz22 10]

Well some people have commented on how attatched she is to us already...she is very responsive to our commands and dosnt stray far from us at all.

 

Apart from the whining she is an absolute gem, so well behaved, great with every other living thing and ultra affectionate. We are going to try leaving her for small periods of time. Should she be in the crate for these? It has also been sugested that we leave her a stuffed toy?

[sooz22 10]

heres my gorgeous girl

 

[Lotti 10]

sooz - what do you mean by a stuffed toy? A stuffed kong is a good idea, if she's anything like Takara a stuffed cuddly will be very skinny when you get back and there will be wadding everywhere!

 

I would put her in a crate - just because if it's only a short period of time, she'll learn to just sleep when you're out anyway and you don't want to get back to a chewed wall or find she's damaged herself somehow whilst worrying. If you leave her a stuffed kong, then if she doesn't go to sleep, she can work at that instead of worrying about where you are

[Lotti 10]

heres my gorgeous girl

 

 

Aw bless!

I didn't get to see much of her when we came because dad was handling Eddy and I worry when he handles him near another dog so end up watching Eddy most of the time (hence I missed Takara getting stressy )

 

I'll have to bring T round again and try to introduce her a bit better this time!

[Strix 11]

I'm glad she's settling in Sooz

 

I suspect what we achieved in trying to stop King screeching whenever he didn't have your undivided attention was actually allowing him to be his own dog, and enabling him to have more confidence in himself. Basically he was largely 'ignored' for the majority of the time, unless we were specifically playing with him

 

The techniques described by Adz are in theory similar to those we've used. I know you're dying to show Poppy how much you love her, but a bit of cold turkey will work wonders with her

 

Allow her to be in the space you are in, you don't have to cage her, but ignore her. Once in a while call her over for a fuss or a play (so it's on your terms) and then go back to ignoring her again. It'll actually be harder on you guys than it will be on her, but it should give her the chance to break the craving for your contact

 

Try placing a blanket over the sides and back of the cage too - to turn it into more of a den. When you go out, cover the cage completely. Firstly it will make her feel more secure, secondly it will make it dark and encourage her to sleep, and thirdly it will help to deaden the sound if she chooses to spend her time telling the neighbours she's been abandoned

 

Make sure no bits of blanket are trailing through the bars - as Lotti mentioned, destruction is a possibility for an unhappy dog (it's only very small pups that can be left with a stuffed toy - and preferably under some sort of supervision)

[sooz22 10]

Ok will gove it a try tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

[Strix 11]

Give it a couple or three days - it's tough for them to get the hang of it