STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

Help with dog separation anxiety! (Sorry so long)

Kelly · Hermes

Thankfully my dog hasn't ever had that problem, but I have a lot of books on dog care and there are a couple suggestions I've heard over and over

#1, don't make a big deal about leaving or coming home. Get your dog in whatever situation she'll be in while you're gone (crate, bathroom, whatever) about 20 minutes before you actually leave. Totally ignore her the entire time, including when you leave. Then when you come home, leave her in the crate/bathroom for about 10 minutes while you ignore her, then let her out but keep ignoring her beyond that for another 10 min or so. She'll stop thinking of your coming and going as some kind of big event.

#2, make sure she's getting enough exercise and mental stimulation when you're with her, so she doesn't have as much energy to channel into misbehaving

#3, she's learned by now that getting in the crate or going in the bathroom means you're leaving. So, when you are home, make a habit of putting her in the crate or the bathroom a couple times a day, and leaving her in there for 20-30 minutes while you're home. She'll start to think it's no big deal, because her being put in the crate won't usually mean you're leaving.

In the meantime, you could try a bark collar if that's her main problem. Personally I don't like the ones that shock the dog, but there are plenty that just spray something with a bad taste/smell.

http://www.amazon.com/Premier-Spray-Sense-Anti-Bark-Collar/dp/B0002D31QU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1232244446&sr=8-2

-- Edited by ttara123 at 21:09, 2009-01-17

wetbandit42 · Marc Jacobs

Thanks ttara!

I usually put her in the bathroom right before I leave. I'll try putting her in there sooner and maybe she'll become more accustomed to it. I'll try giving her a treat everytime she goes in there too so she comes to associate it with being happy.

You're right on the exercise. A tired dog has les energy to be stressed. I have to get her some boots though because her feet freeze up or her paws hurt her from the salt they use around my apartment. She definitely needs a lot more exercise than she's been getting.

I think part of the problem might also be leadership issues. She does not care when I say "No!" to her, no matter how I say it. She just carries on doing whatever she wants. I think that's the Bichon in her; they're harder to train. I need to make sure she knows that I'm the alpha, not her.

Thanks again! I might try that Citronella collar. My roommate suggested a shock collar, but I personally feel they're cruel and inhumane. Speaking of citronella collars, there was a vet on Rachel Ray who suggested using them. Thanks for the reminder!

relrel · Marc Jacobs

A couple of things...

1. What kind of dog is she, mixed with a Bichon? How old is she? Some breeds are just going to bark more than others because that's what their breed does. Puppies will bark and cry more simply because they are puppies. The barking may just be something she's going to have to grow out of. And if you don't pay much attention to the barking when you're around (if she does) she won't ever learn that barking equals attention. Bichon's tend to have more separation anxiety issues than other dogs, so I'm betting there's tons of info out there somewhere on the web. I agree with TTara...ignoring her even while you're there is really super important. She'll learn that she can't demand your attention at all times (which is totally a dominance issue) and she'll learn to adjust to just being by herself.

2. Are you crating her? Or just putting her in the bathroom with the crate open? That's a really bad idea, especially with a puppy. There's lot of things in a bathroom to eat that could be really bad for her. Even in a bedroom, there's gonna be something laying around that she could eat (socks, underwear, electrical cords). Puppies really should be crated when their owners are out. Crating is also a really easy tool to help with potty training because it helps them learn to hold their pee and poop in. Bichon's are really notorious for being hard to potty train.

3. My EB is absolutely fine with me or my boyfriend leaving first thing in the morning. He knows that we leave during the day and we'll be back at the end of the day. It helps that he's usually fast asleep on the couch by the time we leave in the morning so he has no idea that we're leaving. However...if I happen to need to leave in the evening (after I've come home and walked and fed him) it's a lot trickier to leave. He doesn't bark (but that's only because EB's don't bark) but he also realizes that if I put on my jacket that I'm leaving and will try to sneak out of the house as soon as I open the door a little teeny tiny bit. Going down the stairs, I can also hear him literally throwing himself at the door trying to get out because he doesn't want to be left alone. He's fast asleep on the couch though when I come home. What I'm saying here, is that the separation anxiety she may be feeling may only last a few minutes because she falls asleep or gets distracted- and that's not really that big of a deal. He's much, much better though since September which is when we got him.

4. Have you started training her yet? Puppies will catch onto small things like sit and stay really fast (again, depending on the breed) and it's an excellent tool both for getting her to realize who the boss is and for tiring her out. Mental stimulation is just as important as physical stimulation. I know that the days when I have time to spend even just 15 minutes on some training exercises my dog is much more tired than on those days when he just has his regular walks. You could even do some training on the walks in the morning- really simple things like sit. My EB and I do "sit" at each street crossing we get to. Sometimes, I just randomly ask him to sit as well-- in the park, on the street, even on the stairs up to our apartment.

Anyway...I just wanted to say lastly that she's a puppy and they are super hard work. We got our EB at two years old (a rescue) and there were days in the beginning where I would just sit down and cry because he was such a beast and I never thought I would get to any point where I could just enjoy him. I honestly don't know if I could ever go through the puppy stage with a dog, the potty training and the crying would just drive me batty. Good luck, though!