Help Please!!Separation anxiety??

[TBone]

I am confused....my 5 month old rotty was potty trained for months!!..Never a problem!!
He even goes in once certain part of the yard, he is trained so well...

He is very attatched to me, of course he is wonderful with my family. Loves my kids, plays with them, and even takes commands from my 7 years old daughter.

All of a sudden, whenever I leave without him, and go outside to work on the car...etc....
Hey gets crazy, and runs around the house, knocking everyone over, and then....craps on the floor...He even jumped on my daughters bed, and did his business!!...He has never done this at all!

I am lost...I always took him with me when I left, but lately it has been tough. i guess he got in the routine of leaving with me, and I figured I better get him used to staying home when I go....But he don't like it, and is showing me?

My wife is freaking out, and I need to try and fix this...Does anyone have any advise on this matter?...Is he doing this out of anger, because he is not getting to go with me when I run out for some erronds?

[Ilovemypuppy]

Please do a search here on separation anxiety....you may find that is what's going on.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Also, do you have a crate for this pup? Crating him would be a good idea when you can't keep an eye on him. I know that when Julius was your pup's age, he wasn't ready to be unsupervised in the house. He was still munching on inappropriate things & wasn't 100% reliable re: potty training.

Your pup isn't "mad" at you. You just need to make sure that there is adequate supervision in the house while you're gone. It sounds like there are still people in the house when you leave

Hey gets crazy, and runs around the house, knocking everyone over

, but if they cannot supervise him, he needs to be in a crate until he can be supervised by someone.

Also, you might want to invest in some baby-gates (only about $10 each at Wal-Mart.) This can cut down on his roaming area. We used these all the time when Julius was a pup. So if I was going to stay in the kitchen, I would baby-gate us in so that I could keep an eye on Julius. They were very easy to put up & could be carried from room to room.

[TBone]

I did crate him months ago. But he housebroke, so I stopped. He never did this before, I am betting your right, some type of seperation anxiety.

I put a baby gate up in the kitchen, I ran out and bought one lastnight. I have been practicing since yesterday. I go out for a bit, and come back. Might sound strange, but my wife said he was getting used to it. The first few times, she said he did act crazy, and I kept leaving....and he seemed to slow down.
this was my fault, for always taking him everytime I left. Even if I ran out for snuff, he went. He got so used to it, that he freaked out when I didn't take him.
I hope it is the end of it. If not, I for sure will fix it. I posted out of being upset, guess mainly was venting. He has been wonderful, and trained easy, it was shocking!
Thanks for the advise!!

[Ilovemypuppy]

Make your leaving and coming back VERY low key..no big deal..so he doesn't pick up on any anxiety you may have about this. Give him something GREAT to occupy him when you leave....like a KONG stuffed with all kinds of great things to eat.

If you make leaving and coming back low key, he'll soon learn that yes..you leave..but...you come back too . Remember..be very matter of fact.. I just say. "Be right back" and off I go. Do not look back...say bye bye with confidence and he'll learn to trust and be confident too.


Dogs can read us like a book and they pick up on body language and tone of voice.

Let us know how it goes :o)

[Sharon Marples]

Get him back to going into the crate. This should be a normal part of his life. Separation anxiety is very hard on a dog and it will take lots of time and patience to help him gain the confidence he needs to get over it. At the time you are working with him on this, do not baby or coddle him. Put him in the crate and give him a bone or whatever, say "Good Boy" and leave him. Don't baby talk or hang around. I would also start putting him in his crate to sleep at night, you can have it in your room.

Start with short sessions (5 minutes or so) and then when you come back, if he is raising cain in the crate, do not let him out until he quiets down. And don't make a big deal out of it when you do let him out of the crate. Just open the dog and walk away, saying nothing. If he jumps and gets all excited, just ignore him and go about your normal duties. Gradually go to longer and longer lengths of time and pretty soon you should be able to work him through it, but it may take several months to do so.

[Stevehugo]

your pup is 5 mo, he is not trained yet. You need the other members of the family to work on ob with him.

[brunie's mom]

I agree with Sharon. Get him back using the crate. You have not even gone through teething yet...there will be so many dangerous things for him to get into and chew.

He must learn to spend time by himself. Crate him up even if you are home. Start with short times and work up to an hour or two...just hanging out in his crate chewing a Kong or a bone.

If you do not do this and have him with you all of the time, you are setting him up for serious seperation anxiety. Many dog are often dumped in shelters for this.

I work from home, and my pup while growing up could have been with me 24 hours a day....but I knew this was not healthy for him. I often crated him up while cleaning the house, cooking or just wanting a few hours to myself. He could see and hear me around....but I did not look at him or talk to him...just pretended he was not around.

Have you got your pup into training classes yet? This is another good way of bonding with your dog.

Gina

[TBone]

Okay, things are going better!!...I started leaving....more and more without him.....As said here....I don't make a big deal of it. I just casually leave.

I honestly haven't crated him though, he still sleeps next to the bed,,in his own bed, or in front of my daughters door, for some reason?

He is seeming to do fine now. I guess me taking him constantly when I left, set a pattern, and he thought he was supposed to go with me, whenever I leave.

my wife noticed now, when I am gone, he is getting a bit wierd with the door though. If anyone comes near the porch, he starts growling and barking. But still listens to her, when she tells him to Sit!....He stays, but won't take his eyes off the door.

Neither of us leave often, since we work from home on the internet. So he gets quite a bit of attention. We start next week at the local college, for training classes. I already have him trained in...sit/stay/laydown/etc....even with hand signals....But I am mainly doing it for socialization...

thanks for the support here. This was in no doubt, my fault, for always taking him, and making himfeel, he must leave with me when I go.....

I am slowing getting trained on how to raise a dog...LOL

I even noticed I am learning hand signals that other people do to me while I am driving down the road.....

[sannwood]

I had a chow chow that began exhibiting this behavior at 9 years old out of the blue after my husband had a 6 month layoff and returned to work. I took him to a behavioralist and it saved his life. He chewed out the side of my house through air conditioning wires, drywall and wooden clapboard - some of them will jump out windows to follow their owners! NIP THIS IN THE BUD NOW. . .it'll take a lot of effort on your part - but here's how:

Stop feeding the dog in his bowl. From now on - all meals are given to the dog by you from the hand. You must figure out what signal is tipping the dog off to your leaving (i.e. keys jingling, grabbing your bag before you leave, etc.)

Start by leaving the house and hiding outside the door. If you can, get eveyone else out, too. Once you see or hear him exhibiting the anxiety - enter the house, when the dog calms - feed the dog a few kibbles from your hand and praise the dog. Don't do this while the dog is exhibiting the anxieyt - otherwise he'll think he's being rewarded for it - do it after the dog has calmed. Do this again and again. Leaving for very short periods and entering when the dog begins to exhibit anxiety.

Gradually, work the time periods to longer periods. Entering the house at times when the dog exhibits the behavior. Praise the dog after calming and give kibble.

During the evening. . .the dog will work for food from your hand. Make the dog sit. Give kibble when he obeys. Walk backwards away from the dog telling him/her to stay. When they obey - give kibble. Gradually work your way farther from the dog each time. Have someone leash him and hold him if necessary. Do this every day gradually diffusing the anxiety associated with you leaving. Don't give kibble if he displays anxiety. Only reward when calmed and sitting.

Next, jingle your keys or grab the door knob. If the dog stays - give kibble. If not - have someone restrain the dog on leash while you do this. If he doesn't obey - no kibble.

The hardest part here: If your dog doesn't obey the commands - no kibble. And NO FOOD IN THE BOWL. Once your dog is hungry enough - he'll begin to listen. This may take a day or two and that may mean - no food for a day or two. It sounds tough - but tough love is what is needed here. MANY MANY dogs are put to sleep because of this problem - and it is treatable. It just takes time and patience. It saved my dogs life.

The basic "jist" of this is to diffuse and confuse the dog. The anxiety will slowly disappear once the dog begins to realize that you may be returning after a few moments. That way, when you leave for longer periods of time, the dog doesn't panic - thinking you may return shortly. IT WORKS. The dog must not associate certain behavior such as keys jingling with your leaving. Jingle yours keys while your watching TV. If the dog lies still and doesn't respond - give kibble.

But in your case, leaving and reappearing after only short periods of time may be all that is needed here - if there aren't signals triggering to the dog that your leaving. I had to walk around jinglling my keys and carrying my purse in the house all the time. But it does work. Get control now or this dog will DESTROY your home, chew through walls, etc. and you may be forced to make a horrible decision.

Much patience to you and good luck!!!!!

[Jepato]

The first day I got my puppy, I tried to put him in a crate for the night, and I wanted to potty train him that way, but he cried the WHOLE night with out stopping. The next night he cried even louder so I started to let him sleep in my room. He was always good with me he even goes to work with me and he is an angel, but every time I leave him alone all he does is cry and cry. I don't think I'll ever be able to leave him alone for too long!!!