Dog scratching at walls real bad while away

tbayers

SO we have an Old English Sheepdog that is a year old since last week. From the start she had separation anxiety issues and we seemed to get over them but still showed the odd signs while we were at work and she was left on her own for 4-5 hours tops. It has come back with a vengeance lately. Latest one she was on her own for 3 hours in the evening recently and she literally clawed her way through a wall beside one of the rads. She had two big walks that day and she was left with a kong that was frozen in the freezer when we left but obviously didnt keep her busy for long. We have the kitchen cordoned off so to speak, she has an area of about 8ft by 12ft. She stays there when we are not in and at night time.
Has anybody got any tips? Is crating her at this age too late now? She is excellent at nighttime and rarely budges. It seems to be a day time issue. We are at a loss at what to do...

cjf

Hey - have there been any fireworks around your area? Our guy is similar re the separation anxiety but has really improved however last week we were out for a couple of hours in the evening and came home to a little DIY job on one of the walls and strongly suspect fireworks may have triggered it.

On the crate I don’t think it’s ever too late to introduce - have always crate trained adult foster dogs. Even if they don’t need to be crated always found it no harm for them to be comfy with the idea - in case of any overnight vet trips or travelling etc.

andreac

I would be very wary crate training a dog with such anxiety issues. I would highly suggest getting a behaviourist in to see what you can do to help her. If you lock a dog like this in a crate they could do serious damage to themselves if they start to panic etc.

Im sure someone can suggest a trainer in your area if you let us know where you are.

listermint

Unusual spot to scratch I would have thought.

Usually it's doors or door frames.

Have you mice or rats.

tk123

OP save yourself the stress and just get a behaviourist in to help. If you post your location somebody will be able to recommend one or even just check apdt.ie

My boy has sep. anxiety and has injured himself when he was confined and freaking out so it's not something I'd recommend. Like yourself kongs and a long walk are not a magical cure (like some people think!) and you may end up having to start training her again and building up the time she's comfortable with. You can also try some calming remedies - some suit some dogs better than others Dorwest valerian drops work better for Bailey than the pills, also Calmex works better for him than Zykelene etc etc so it can be trial and error.

One tip would be to record what's happening when you leave so you'll be able to show it to the behaviourist.

tbayers

tk123 wrote: »

OP save yourself the stress and just get a behaviourist in to help.  If you post your location somebody will be able to recommend one or even just check apdt.ie

My boy has sep. anxiety and has injured himself when he was confined and freaking out so it's not something I'd recommend.  Like yourself kongs and a long walk are not a magical cure (like some people think!) and you may end up having to start training her again and building up the time she's comfortable with.  You can also try some calming remedies - some suit some dogs better than others Dorwest valerian drops work better for Bailey than the pills, also Calmex works better for him than Zykelene etc etc so it can be trial and error.

One tip would be to record what's happening when you leave so you'll be able to show it to the behaviourist.

Thanks for that, I am in Waterford, looking at that site it doesn't seem like there is any behavioral therapists nearby? She is on her own for 4 hours today for first time in a while have left more toys, stuff to do etc so hopefully she will get better. She is well able to relax when we are about thats for sure.  Thinking of leaving her out the back but as someone pointed out to me she could get even more worked up out there.

ace_irl

Hi Op,

My dog suffered a bit with separation anxiety, my girl doesn't like to be on her own and that's what causes her to become upset. It seams a bit simple, but leaving a radio and Tv on really helped her. The voices really calmed her down and she didn't feel lonely.

We've had her several years now and she still loves to listen to the Tv when she's by herself and we never had any more problems with her.

DBB

tbayers wrote: »

Thanks for that, I am in Waterford, looking at that site it doesn't seem like there is any behavioral therapists nearby?

Lyndsey Power is based in Waterford, she's good, well worth a shout...
http://apdt.ie/index.php/find-a-trainer/dog-trainers-in-waterford/

Not a million miles away in south Wexford is Jo Malherbe, who's also very good and worth calling if Lyndsey isn't about.
http://apdt.ie/index.php/find-a-trainer/dog-trainers-in-wexford/

I fostered a dog a few years ago who used to get quite distressed when left alone (even though she had other dogs for company... Most dogs with separation anxiety usually don't improve when provided with canine company), and inspired by tk123, I set up my laptop on Skype so that I could call her from my smart phone when I went out, I could watch her, talk to her, and reassure her. The laptop was set up to auto-answer Skype calls
It worked an absolute treat, though my colleagues clearly thought I was demented
I was eventually able to phase out the calls as she became more assured being on her own. I also used Zylkene and left her with lots of stuff to chew on.

+1 for Lyndsey!

tbayers

I am sure Lyndsey  and Jo are great training wise but are they behavior specialists? We have had a trainer in  when she was younger and she is great at the usual commands like staying, sitting , fetch etc. Fact she is a great dog when we are there in the vicinity. Yet when we leave everything seems to up in smoke. In relation to the medication im skeptical that her bubbly personality will remain if she goes on this. There seems to be a few posters on here tha have there dogs on medication. Any change when your dog is with you? Have anybody tried the plug in sprays and collars that release certain chemicals?
She was on her own for two 4 hour periods yesterday and no issue. Plenty of mental and physical stimulation before and after breaks etc. Left today for 4 hours and yup you guessed it more marks on the wall elsewhere beside door frame (previous incident has been repaired). Not too bad but enough to cause a bit of concern. 
Was thinking of leaving her out the back now. We just have the shed and at least she can run around to her hearts content. Obviously will get a kennel etc but I am under the impression she will still get anxious and just masking up the issue at hand. Apologies if posts are long and that but really at wits end worrying about her and house while away.

DBB

Lyndsey and Jo both have good behavioural qualifications from training organisations that are externally validated... Lyndsey's is from COAPE, Jo's is from AniEd. I would be happy to engage either of them for a case of separation anxiety.
I don't think anyone has mentioned medication in the thread. Myself and a couple of others talked about Zylkene, which is not a medication but a nutraceutical, meaning that it utilises nutritional interactions with behaviour. Zylkene utilises the milk protein casein which is the protein which helps baby mammals feel chilled out after feeding. There's also Calmex, which utilises meat proteins tryptophan and theanine, the ones that make people chilled out after a meaty meal. I've never heard of any negative behavioural side effects, but I know one dog whose digestive system reacted badly to Zylkene. There is good research behind both, a little more research behind Calmex, that indicates their use to lower anxiety. The worst I've found they can do is nothing. In some trials, Calmex was found to be as effective as psychoactive medication to reduce anxiety.
Medications are available for anxiety, but they must never be used unless with a concurrent behaviour modification program... They are certainly not for use to allow an owner leave a dog with separation anxiety alone for longer than the dog can cope with. They often do cause some side effects... Drowsiness, restlessness, sometimes even grumpiness, but these tend to be transitory.
Leaving her out in the garden might put a bandage over the wound in that she won't be able to damage the house's interior, however it won't address the issue of her feeling so distressed about being left. Generally, owners of dogs with bad separation anxiety are best advised to set things up so that during treatment, the dog is never asked to stay alone for longer than she has demonstrated she can cope with. That often means finding someone to mind the dog in the early days, weeks, possibly months of treatment. This is one of the reasons why separation anxiety is one of the most difficult behavioural problems to treat, because it requires a substantial amount of organisation, and often money, to address effectively.

tbayers

DBB wrote: »

Lyndsey and Jo both have good behavioural qualifications from training organisations that are externally validated... Lyndsey's is from COAPE, Jo's is from AniEd. I would be happy to engage either of them for a case of separation anxiety.
I don't think anyone has mentioned medication in the thread. Myself and a couple of others talked about Zylkene, which is not a medication but a nutraceutical, meaning that it utilises nutritional interactions with behaviour. Zylkene utilises the milk protein casein which is the protein which helps baby mammals feel chilled out after feeding. There's also Calmex, which utilises meat proteins tryptophan and theanine, the ones that make people chilled out after a meaty meal. I've never heard of any negative behavioural side effects, but I know one dog whose digestive system reacted badly to Zylkene. There is good research behind both, a little more research behind Calmex, that indicates their use to lower anxiety. The worst I've found they can do is nothing. In some trials, Calmex was found to be as effective as psychoactive medication to reduce anxiety.
Medications are available for anxiety, but they must never be used unless with a concurrent behaviour modification program... They are certainly not for use to allow an owner leave a dog with separation anxiety alone for longer than the dog can cope with. They often do cause some side effects... Drowsiness, restlessness, sometimes even grumpiness, but these tend to be transitory.
Leaving her out in the garden might put a bandage over the wound in that she won't be able to damage the house's interior, however it won't address the issue of her feeling so distressed about being left. Generally, owners of dogs with bad separation anxiety are best advised to set things up so that during treatment, the dog is never asked to stay alone for longer than she has demonstrated she can cope with. That often means finding someone to mind the dog in the early days, weeks, possibly months of treatment. This is one of the reasons why separation anxiety is one of the most difficult behavioural problems to treat, because it requires a substantial amount of organisation, and often money, to address effectively.

Thats a great reply thanks very much. I wasn't aware of that in relation to Lyndsey. My partner works locally and gets home for lunch breaks and I do shift work so it works out that the dog is only on its own a maximum of 5 days a month. If my partner cant get home for lunch we always have someone call over, walk her etc.So we are very lucky that way and maybe unlucky in the fact that she constantly has someone around her most of he time. Will definitely take on board above

DBB

You need to be aware that for the vast majority of dogs who suffer from separation anxiety, the anxiety is in full flow within one hour of being left alone. In fact, in reality most dogs who hate being left alone can only tolerate minutes, sometimes moments of solitude.
So, despite having walkers in or people home at lunch, this is of little consolation to a dog when she starts feeling anxious within minutes of people leaving. Successful treatment works by building the minutes up and up until the dog learns, over weeks, to cope with very gradually increasing periods of solitude.