Separation Anxiety in Dog

Nthing leaving on a TV or a radio, an article of clothing that you've worn that smells like you and a kong stuffed with food (I use peanut butter) and frozen to be given to the dog before you leave. It sounds as though you're doing a lot of the right things, but have you spent any time desensitizing her? Like I would walk out the door and come back one minute later and not make any fuss or anything when I leave or return. Then I would up it to two minutes, then five, etc. A little bit of this every day. Also, I think basic obedience training can work wonders for a lot of behavior problems. I think it gives the dog some structure and confidence. Have you worked on a good, solid, sit-stay-come? I would also do a little bit of this each day. Animal behaviorist Sophia Yin has a great http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/the-learn-to-earn-program (called Learn to Earn) to teach impulse control, but basically it comes down to a very strong sit-stay-come. I have also read somewhere that dogs with separation anxiety shouldn't be crated, though I can't find it right now. Do you have a room that is relatively indestructible that she could be shut in? Like the bathroom (babyproofed) maybe? Lastly, I would probably pay for a behaviorist or trainer to come over to show you how to best deal with this. They can be expensive, but you could probably do one or two sessions to get ideas from an expert on what you need to do and then implement what you've learned without having to buy further sessions. The cost would very likely be worth it in the longer run. Here are a few links which may help: http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimals/pdfs/dogs/separationanxiety.pdf (PDF, from Best Friends Animal Society) http://www.healthypet.com/PetCare/DogCareArticle.aspx?title=Dogs_and_Separation_Anxiety from the American Animal Hospital Association The http://fearfuldogs.com/ website has a lot of information on helping fearful dogs as well as a http://fearfuldogs.com/medications-for-fearful-shy-anxious-dogs/ if you decide to go that route. Good luck! You sound like a great dog owner. Your pup is lucky to have you.

Oh man, I really feel for you. Anxiety separation with a dog can be so intense and difficult to deal with. But there is hope! Anti-anxiety drugs: can be amazing. Our biggest guy is on a low dose now. He sustained a really nasty soft tissue injury going up the stairs and subsequently gained a stair phobia (which we determined after numerous vet appointments and radiographs to rule out physiological problems). We did positive reinforcement with him out the whazoo but we couldn’t get him to do the stairs (problem: we have lots of them in our house). With the addition of the meds we’ve conquered the stair phobia and he’s also just much more relaxed and confident. He’s the same great dog, just less “OH NO OH NO IS SOMETHING BAD HAPPENING? SHOULD I BE CONCERNED? DO YOU NEED HELP?! CAN I HELP? IS THIS AN EMERGENCY?” Cues: dogs are so big on these! Muta is right on about it ramping up the anxiety level pre-departure. Something really simple you could do is grab your keys and purse, then sit on the couch and just chill. Tiny time increments: yes! But start even smaller then 15 minutes. Start with five minutes. And only re-enter when she isn’t barking. Even if she stops for a half second, use that half second to bust in with a treat. Some fantastic resources: http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00314.htm is an excellent and readable summary article that talks about the stuff mentioned above (meds and cues) written by a DVM who is a diplomate of the http://www.dacvb.org/resources/for-the-public/ I recommend http://drsophiayin.com/resources like it’s my job (it isn’t), but she’s brilliant, and she's helped me change my dogs' lives. Seconding Patricia McConnell. Excellent, excellent, excellent stuff over there. Karen Pryor is also awesome. I’ve had tremendous success with clicker training. http://www.clickertraining.com/node/3291 to another excellent overview on managing seperation anxiety. You can do this! It might take time and perseverance but you can do it. I know you feel like you are at your wit's end, but there is a lot more that you can try. Baby-proofing is great, but it doesn't deal with the behavioral aspects of your dog's behavior. FWIW, I've never had any real sustained success with things like Rescue Remedy. I think they can be helpful in certain situations but they are NOT a substitution for a behavior modification program (in my experience).

What about a http://www.thundershirt.com/?gclid=CIbn_cHIpq8CFbEDQAod2kEdYA?

Also, I built up to that time in small increments, leaving her alone for 15 minutes, then 30, etc.

Rather than trying the crate, can you try her in a series of rooms? Like one highly dog proofed room, she comes back, if it's okay, she gets a little meatball or something. That works okay, maybe try figuring out how to proof another larger space, until the ritual of you returning alleviates the anxiety? We didn't have this particular problem with our dog, but we had other challenges, and the best remedy we had was a series of small scale positive reinforcements and time. It was called Music Dog's Love For While You're Away. Sensory cues are great -- you leave, this comes on, she hangs out, you return after fifteen minutes, she gets a little meatball, etc. etc. Mindless repetition of events is its own sort of soothing. She's just not sure she'll come back, and she doesn't know what to do with herself when you're not around. She'll get the hang of it, she just needs to figure it out. Which will take a lot of time. But not an infinite amount of time.

One last thing. I read that it was a good idea to mix up the cues you give when you're getting ready to leave–like putting on a coat, getting your keys, picking up a bag. These can ramp up the dog's anticipation and anxiety. So perform these cues, then don't go out, so the association isn't so strong. I did this, but don't know how much it actually contributed to her improvement. Oh yeah, and as fshgrl says, letting her spend a lot of quality time with other good people, especially out of the house, helped too.

How did crate training go? Did you build up to it over weeks/months? Did you build up by doing extremely short amounts of time (30 seconds) leading up to 10 mins, then 15 mins, etc.? I would restrict food, then feed it all in a frozen kong. See my previous answers for full explanations. I'd also talk to your vet. Medication can be super helpful in nutcase rescue dogs (I say this with absolute fondness, I love my nutcases, but seriously, they can be so frustrating sometimes.) The medication is only useful if you combine it with training -- re-starting crate training from the beginning, and doing other separation anxiety training. Sophia Yin developed this little machine called the Manners Minder. It can be used for a million different things - targeting, training, distracting, door manners, etc. Lots of folks have figured out how to use it for separation anxiety training. There's an entire listserv devoted to it too. I haven't used it for that, but it was a really really useful device because *something other than me* could reward the dog. But all of this takes time and a serious commitment to training far beyond only training for the separation anxiety. Can you tell us a bit more about your training skills and history with her?

I have a friend who use anti-anxiety drugs on a dog who had major separation anxiety. It calmed him down enough to learn that their going away was not the end of the world. He was on it for about a month, I believe. If you go that route, be sure to use that time to establish good, healthy patterns for you and your dog. Look at it as a training aide, not as the remedy.

My dog used to have separation anxiety pretty bad–she broke out of her crate once and would cry constantly while I was gone. I started playing talk radio at low volume and giving her a well-loved long-lasting treat that she didn't get any other time except when I'm gone (raw marrow bones). She's now fine for up to 3-4 hours at a time, which is the maximum I leave her alone.