Rescue Rott Behavior Issues Help

[CyrusMom]

Hello all, glad I found this forum, lots of great info.

I just adopted a 19 month old Rescue, he's a great boy with mostly good behavior and follows commands except that I am having a few issues that I need help with.

Seperation Anxiety, he is right next to my feet at all times, if I am out of his site he goes into an anxious state, even taking a shower is a problem, if I put him in his crate he howls and throws himself against the sides of the crate, bites the wires, a real temper tantrum, I don't let him out until he is calm which takes quite a while. His crate is covered. He sleeps well at night in the crate, I leave the door open and close my bedroom door and he willingly goes into the crate and sleeps all night in the crate with the crate door open. I have tried to find posts on the forum concerning his high anxiety and crate temper tantrums. I have had him for a week and that's still an adjustment period I'm sure, but need some advice on how to deal with his anxiety and temper tantrums.

Lacking knowledge of play - Since the day I brought him home, he has no concept of a toy, he doesn't understand what a ball is and to chase it when I throw it, I keep working with him, but he's much more concerned with staying at my feet, he will take no chew toy, he tries to chew on all wood surfaces in the house, he buries treats in the rugs. How do I introduce him to chew toys and exercise with toys? When we are outside and I am trying to introduce him to play, all he wants is to jump on me which I don't allow.

We are working on the jumping and pushy I want attention now issues, and I do like the idea of standing on his leash - but I have to train him to not chew on the leash in the house...... otherwise he's learning to stay off of me - slowly :-)

Cyrus is great on walks, heels, sits when I stop, follows command, ignores loose dogs and people as well as loud noises (doesn't startle) we've worked everyday, I take him over to the skate park where there are objects for him to jump and climb. The issues above appear to be our problems at this time.

Thanks, and sorry for such a long post.
Steph

[Denise L.]

Well I am not an expert but since I have a rescued rott named Cyrus I feel I MUST offer something!

When I adopted my Cyrus he had a few issues, nothing huge: counter surfing, jumping on folks, etc. Cyrus also isn't big on toys. He will get all excited when he first sees a ball or toy but he loses interest in a minute or two. He loves tug however. That and hide and seek are his favorite games. Knock on wood, he never chewed anything in the house (just kleenex, he LOVES kleenex!) has no interst in chewie toys but he adores raw, frozen marrow bones and bully sticks.

I had him signed up for training immediately. We started training 5 days after his arrival. It really didn't take long to break him of his counter surfing habit...actually that went away even before we started class. The jumping took a little longer.

Besides the obvious reasons to go to training classes, I found it really went a long way in our bonding experience and really gave him a sense of me as leader. His behavior issues pretty much straightened out holistically the more we worked together ie, I didn't have to focus on ONE behavior as training just brought everything together for us.

That being said, even though I loved him at first sight, we didn't REALLY bond as team until about 6 months to a year.


Congrats on YOUR Cyrus from me and my Cyrus

[spidey]

Please stop thinking of this as a "temper tantrum". If he indeed has separation anxiety, it is an anxiety issue related to his associating being in his crate with you going away, it is not a temper tantrum. "Temper tantrum" implies that he is doing this on purpose, if he is anxious, he cannot help it and it will not help you deal with this properly if you continue thinking of this as something other than what it is, an anxiety problem. Have you actually gone through appropriate crate training with him? Most dogs do not instantly accept being crated, especially if they are being crated and then left alone. You need to train the dog to accept crating - if your dog has both separation anxiety AND you have not crate trained him, then these two things are feeding each other and making him very anxious indeed.

There are quite a few threads here about crate training separation anxiety if you do a search, I'd also suggest that you pick up a copy of "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell, which is a great book about how to deal with separation anxiety, and Ian Dunbar's "Before & After You Get Your Puppy" has a crate training section which is suited to dogs of all ages.

[Ayoka]

Much of My original post seems out of place given the post before it.

But your dog goes into the kennel at sometimes and is spereated from you at night without a fuss I would tend to think maybe it's not the kind of seperation anxiety that I've heard of that has dogs jumping out of glass windows (breaking them-not open ones.) and wearing their teeth down on metal. Maybe there's degrees of seperation anxiety?

I got a rescue at 9 Months and we had much of the same thing a few minutes of noise (which seemed an eternity at first) and then he'd settle down. Since I had 3 roomates at the tim and one of them worked shift work she'd often be sleeping when I left for work so It was important to keep Bear as quiet as possible. What worked for us was a Peanut Butter or sweet potato filled Kong frozen over night. It seemed to keep him occupied for those fist few minutes when he seemed to throw his fits. I think it also made getting into the crate every morning a fun thing!

I'm sure that there is something that your pooch likes even if he doesn't "play" per se. I don't know many dogs that can resist Peanut butter but you can stuff just about anything into a kong if you cut it up small enough-cheerios, cheese, blended veggies, whole veggies, meat scraps.

PS-A friend of mine gave me the "I'll be home soon" book it was helpful to me in that it helped me realise that my dog was not really suffering from the medication requiring type of Seperation anxiety...

[spoiledbabies3]

1st...Congrats on your new boy! 2nd...The book is a great idea! My Moses was a basket case when I rescued him. He had a really bad case of separation anxiety...it all went back to him being beat...and to top it off, he despised the crate...he was beat through the wire crate. After many months, he adjusted to the crate very well...I make crates a "good" thing, i.e., he gets his treats in them, he eats in them, and he gets alone time (without little sister bugging him)...so now, he LOVES the crate. One of the things I did that seemed to help him is I slept in an "old t-shirt" at night and then when I would leave for work I would put the t-shirt in the crate with him. Now be prepared because the 1st few times he absolutely shredded the shirt...however, within a week or so he was sleeping "with" the t-shirt...it seemed to calm and comfort him while I was away. Moses and I have been in classes consistently...even repeating some of them...and it has helped him gain the confidence he needed. Good luck on your boy and keep us posted on his progress!

[CyrusMom]

Ayoka, thank you for your response. Cyrus refuses the Kong, even packed with peanut butter, tried that, he is basically refusing everything, he won't eat treats, he buries them, when we are training he refuses treats. He only wants to be at my feet, nothing else matters, almost a fixation on me (?). By the way, Cyrus was starved and chained for his first year of life, from what I have read, dogs don't hold onto trauma, so could it be reflective of his anxiety?

I will get the book "I'll be home soon" Thanks all for the advice there.

Spidey, I use the term temper tantrum, because that is what it looks like, he rolls on his back and kicks his feet against the sides of the crate. He was 6 months in the Rescue org, they had assured me he was crate trained and they required I have a crate, he appears to be, but he doesn't want to be left alone. I went to the store, when I left he was howling and when I returned he was howling, I wouldn't allow him out of the crate until he calmed down which took about 25 minutes, personally I don't want him thinking the crate is a bad place to be, so am unsure as how to get him to accept the crate when I leave, as I had said above, he doesn't mind sleeping in it all night and does not leave the crate until I get out of bed. Thanks for your response. Is there a 101 on crate training in the forum instead of wading, I tried a search and came up with so many I don't have time to read.

Denise, I have been waiting for a call back from the Trainer, I live in a rural area and there is only one person here who works with large breeds. I plan on going thru training and it is a condition of adoption, we do work on what he's learned at Obedience training while in the Rescue Org daily. I will try the marrow bones and bully sticks if I can find them. He appears to refuse the items to chew that he's been given. I offer it, he takes it, then ignores it completely, then he will lay on the floor and try to chew the bottom of the kitchen cabinets or the corners of wood surfaces in the house.

Will getting him to chew on acceptable items help with his anxiety? How do I get him to understand what a chew is???? When he trys to chew the wood, I tell him No firmly and then show him the chew..... am I doing this wrong? I have owned large dogs all my life and never had issues like this, so am a bit stymied about how to approach the problem. (But the dogs were raised from pups).

[Ayoka]

If he was in foster care before you got him, I'd try and get in contact with the family/person that had him as a foster.

They may have dealt with similar issues and have some suggestions on how you can make the transition easier.

[newbrunswick]

Maggie did the same thing with her hoove. I gave it to her, she took it, sniffed it, then put it on the floor. After a while, I went over, picked it up, gave it to my gf who made all these silly noises (like she was enjoying herself), I "took" it from my gf, and gave it to Maggie. She then took the hoove, laid down and started chewing on it. She hasn't looked back, and is now on her second hoove.

Don't know what to say about separation anxiety though.

Clare

[dogsbydoug]

Best advice I can give about separation anxiety is to tire out the dog before leaving him. Also, make your departures and coming home VERY VERY VERY low key and quiet. Ignore the dog for a few minutes when you first come home, check your mail, change your clothes, then quietly open the crate, put a leash on him and take him outside. Once he's done his business, greet him quietly.

If you are leaving a radio or TV on for the dog, vary the time you turn it on before leaving the dog. Give the dog something very yummy to chew on when crating him, something he only gets when crated, close the crate door and walk away - say nothing to the dog.

I also used time released Melatonin, given about 30 minutes before leaving.

[brunie's mom]

Start feeding the dog in the crate. This is the quickest way to get the dog to love the crate. Only give treats and goodies while going into the crate.

Have you tried sliced chicken weiners or small pieces of cooked chicken or roast beef as treats? Most dogs cannot resist.

I agree with the other's....start by leaving in the crate for very short times while you are at home. Make the dog understand that even if you are home he can be in the crate.
You might try moving the crate into the living or family room or kitchen. Somewhere where there is more action.

More exercise is also a good idea. Get him so tired before you leave him, he has no time to fuss...he will just want to sleep.

Get in touch with the rescue, they should be able to help you with ideas.

Since this rescue dog has been in your home such a short time...you must realize that it's going to take some time for him to fit in and settle.
My rescue China drove me nuts for the first 3-4 months...she was glued to me...everytime I moved she was stepping on my heels.

You just have to get them to understand that you can leave them and that you will be back. Do the same rituals and say the say thing everytime you leave.

Gina