Separation Anxiety??

Seb_bixby

Hi all,
Could use a little advice about my four month old male pup. He really is a great dog and is doing really, really well with everything. Really taken to training, can sit, lie down, leave it, shake, high five:D. Great recall. Will go to the toilet on command inside and out and doesn't go any where but puppy pad inside unless he is being bold! :rolleyes:
He rarely barks when someone is with him and doesn't bark at night or when I go back to bed in the morning till about 10. (I get up at 7 to bring him out and go back to bed as does he.)
However, if I leave the room or have to go out for anything when it's not sleep time for him, he will bark or whine till someone comes back to him. I ignore him before I leave the room and when I come back in to try not make a big deal of me leaving and always wait till there is a break in the barking to come back in. I'm not currently working so am around most of the day. I leave on purpose now to let him know that I will not be around all the time and to try to make him more independant for when I do go back to work. He gets lots of exercise and mental stimulation throughout the day.
I'm afraid he has separation anxiety and was just wondering if anyone had any other tips or anything that I could do over the next while to stop this. Worried it's going to become a real problem for the neighbours and the dog. Any advise would be great. Thanks:)

jen84

Sorry I'm not really any help but wow thats a well trained 4 month old! My 1 year olds still leaving me "presents" now n then ! You sound like a great owner & a very smart little doggie! Teach him to roll over too, I just got mine doing it finally & its so cute!

I remember on 'its me or the dog' she got a kong toy for a dog with seperation anxiety. So the owner gave it to him whenever she was leaving and it kinda distracted the dog and kept it occupied. Haven't tried them myself but might be worth a try! Probably try and get the pup used to not always being with you even when you're in the house, so hard especially when they so little & cute:( Hate the way ya kinda have to be cruel to be kind with them! He is probably just getting used to lots of company & attention so you're right to try and nip it in the bud for the future!

DamagedTrax

have you considered crate training? my rescue suffered awfull seperation anxiety and was destructive at first. but since she's been crate trained she's a different dog and i can leave her alone safely.

Seb_bixby

Thanks Jen 84.:) I spend time training him so I suppose it's a case of what's been put in paying off!! He is a smart wee thing. I swear he knows what I'm saying sometimes! lol Caught on to everything very quick and retained it so far. When we hit puberty will be another test though! lol Working on roll over now so hopefully he will have it soon and nearly has fetch down! I'm like a proud mother! lol Used the hide and seek game for the recall which I have to say is the most fun ever. I have him a kong and it keeps him busy for a while but as soon as he is done with it the barking starts! Might try get one of those games you can hide the treats in and they have to pull things out to get them. Will defo up the leaving him by himself for longer and more often to try and stop it.

He is crate trained damagedtrax and happy to go in there. He's not destructive (so far) and doesn't leave any presents(!) will always go on the puppy pad, it's really just the barking. I found him lying in the crate on his bed, barking his little head off the last day! :rolleyes: Only happens during the day too not at night at all.

jen84

Aw poor little babys just spoilt n misses his mammy Ha yeah everytime mine escapes out the front door I have to play chasing with her to get her back, it is good craic tho. Best of luck with the little genius anyway

LucyBliss

However, if I leave the room or have to go out for anything when it's not sleep time for him, he will bark or whine till someone comes back to him. I ignore him before I leave the room and when I come back in to try not make a big deal of me leaving and always wait till there is a break in the barking to come back in.

Do you have a 'goodbye' routine when you're leaving? I used to tell mine to go into the crate, praise them wholesale when they went in and then spend about five minutes rubbing them from their head down their back and saying "good boy, Jack/well done, Jack/bedtime Jack."

They're getting praised for going into the crate so they associate it as a good thing and then they're getting settled with the rubs and the little talk. I started off at five minutes and now when I'm going out, I just have to say bedtime, they hop onto their beds (they don't need the crate anymore now they're nearly four), I tell them all well done and how good they are and I leave. No fuss, nothing. Actually, they're at the point where they know when I'm leaving the house before I say anything and they settle themselves accordingly. When they were pups, they weren't too impressed with me going out because, like you, I was home a lot and as far as they were concerned, that was how it should be. None of this going out lark without them!

He's used to you being around so fair play to you for working with him now to make sure he understands you can't be around all the time. If he has a kong toy or a treat in the crate with him too when you're gone, that might help in the long run. The more you do it, the more he'll come around.

Best of luck, OP!

Andrew Flexing

Seperation anxiety can be more common in certain breeds of dog. Try be more specific and 'google' his breed and SA and see if there are any forums on this with regards to the breed and you might find more info there.

Hope its just an age thing and he'll get used to it.

My awful ex-neighbour got a lovely lab pup some years back and it cried for 6 weeks solid as they ignored it the moment they got it (I was trying to study for finals at the time-nothing worse than a crying dog to break your heart and disrupt the study). So stick with what you are doing I think incrimentally increase the seperation and he'll get used to it.
But try look for forums on that breed.

tk123

Andrew Flexing wrote: »

Hope its just an age thing and he'll get used to it.

Don't count on the puppy growing out of it - I've learnt this the hard way. So much so that I don't know where to begin now!! He's fine around the house cos there's always somebody there so happy to sleep in a different room etc but at the weekend I had to leave him in the car for a few hours and he got really stressed out. I ended up leaving the training thing we were at early (each dog had a turn and was to be crated outside in the cars so as not to bother the other dogs during their turn) out of frustration/guilt because he was so stressed and it's my fault - could I have done something different, given him this that or the other etc etc:(:(:(

Andrew Flexing

tk123 wrote: »

I had to leave him in the car for a few hours and he got really stressed out.

I think that would be a usual response? If I was left in a car for a few hours I'd be streesed too.

tk123

Andrew Flexing wrote: »

I think that would be a usual response? If I was left in a car for a few hours I'd be streesed too.

There were other dogs there as asleep or just chilling out in the cars.

Andrew Flexing

tk123 wrote: »

There were other dogs there as asleep or just chilling out in the cars.

Ah ok! What type is he/she? and the sleepy dogs too?

Seb_bixby

Lucybliss - have no real routine really as it happens even when I go for a minute or two down the hall!
He's a cross breed. Jack russell/bichon freise so could be the companion side of the bichon coming out in him maybe.

Started it today leaving a little bit at a time and he seems to be very unsettled even when I am here. Think it's the change in the routine that is throwing him because he's like his owner and a total creature of habit! :rolleyes: it is Might have to start a new routine with him. any tips on the best way to do this?? Baptism of fire or slowly slowly??

Toulouse

Slowly slowly is best.

Have a read here of the Separation document in the Behaviour section http://petcentral.yolasite.com/printables.php

LucyBliss

Seb_bixby wrote: »

Lucybliss - have no real routine really as it happens even when I go for a minute or two down the hall!
He's a cross breed. Jack russell/bichon freise so could be the companion side of the bichon coming out in him maybe.

Started it today leaving a little bit at a time and he seems to be very unsettled even when I am here. Think it's the change in the routine that is throwing him because he's like his owner and a total creature of habit! :rolleyes: it is Might have to start a new routine with him. any tips on the best way to do this?? Baptism of fire or slowly slowly??

Oh right. So it's not even when you're leaving the house? You can't leave the room without him not liking it.
How is he with the 'stay' command? I usually have to say 'stay' and then 'wait' with my three when I put a biscuit in front of them and I walk a few steps away.
You could try it where he could see you walking away and if he stays put for a few seconds, you come back and let him have the biscuit in front of him. It might take a while but you could build it into you leaving the room and him waiting more for you to come back to get his biscuit, rather than him focusing entirely on you. When I was teaching my three to stay and I'd leave the room, I had to start by walking out of sight but with one leg raised that they could see. So I was gone but I wasn't, if that makes sense.

Seb_bixby

That sounds good Lucybliss. We are working on stay and he will stay quite happily until I get out of sight then he has to follow! lol So lots more work is needed on that.
Was sitting down earlier to read the link you had posted Toulouse and more OH arrived home from work having drilled through his finger! :eek::eek::eek: So we had to take a trip to casualty so he could get it seen too and needless to say Puppy couldn't come. He was still barking when I arrived back over 4 hours later and had worked himself into a right state. Baptism of fire it defo was. God love him. Again no "Presents" anywhere. Pees on the pads and nothing chewed or anything. Just barking. Poor guy.
Oh and the OH is ok too after getting the hole glued and what not! Going to have one hell of a scar though!

tk123

OP our guy is not so bad around the house. He had to have operations that needed crate confinement afterwards so before the first one I started feeding him his meals in kongs and building up the time he was in the crate alone - I couldn't believe it when I had a shower and no barking lol! Another thing that settled him A LOT in the house was going to daycare a few days a week. He was exhausted from it and would spend the next couple of days resting so we were able to get on with things without him wanting to be glued to us.

Seb_bixby

Ya TK123 will really work on getting him used to being by himself. He gets one meal a day in either his kong or the treatball he has and loves them! I love the idea of doggy daycare but I don't think that anywhere in Sligo town actually does it. I can't find anything about it at all. Would be great if anyone knew of anywhere that did it in the town. I think he would love it as he loves his walks with other doggie friends.