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Meet Leo: An outstanding dog that I adopted awhile back and he's been great. He has some issues though, he's extremely attached (velcro) to me. There are other threads on this issue but I wanted to post my own and get some hints on how to solve this problem. He has severe separation anxiety and if I were to leave him out of his cage while I'm gone, I come home to a destroyed house (I learned that lesson the first day I got him). So, he finally is use to his crate and when I put on my work boots he actually goes inside his cage on his own and lays down.. He use to hate the cage. He also drools excessively while in the car, I've read some tips and I'm trying to work with him, but I'm not consistent with it.. He's gotten better, but still drools a bit - So I don't like going anywhere with him, it's frustrating to be honest. I've tried pills, thundershirt, and Valerian root but he still gets anxiety. Maybe his previous owner did this to him some how.
Anyways, here is a video I just took - He's napping on my floor and I move to another room and behind a wall..
The following isn't as big a concern as the separation anxiety behavior. I have always trained my dogs throughout the years to stay close to us. Unless they fall asleep, they stay close to us. We had a foster dog with the type of anxiety that you describe and what worked best was the Thunder Shirt and classical music. Sounds really stupid, but the CD, "Through a Dogs Ear" helped a lot with anxiety. I do keep in touch with the new owner and he doesn't need the Thunder Shirt anymore but they have to leave the TV on or play that music to help calm him down when they are away. Does your dog get along with other dogs? Do you have a friend that would let you pet sit for a weekend to see the reaction? I wonder if he was a bonded pair and was separated. The Thundershirt is hit or miss, and it doesn't work for most of our fosters.
How long have you had Leo? Have you taught him the "stay" command? That could be a good game, treating him for keeping a stay for a few seconds, and then increasing the times gradually. I'm working on this with our two velcro pups right now. Last night I was actually able to get up, go to the bathroom and come back to bed without having an entourage! Yes, it was 2am, but I had treats ready for them for keeping put.
I also repeat this when I leave the room for just a minute: "I'll be right back. STAY. I'll be RIGHT BACK." I've done this with previous dogs, and it does sink in. Even our little 5-month old pup is getting that now because he has heard it often enough.
But there is a difference between normal wanting to be around you and real separation anxiety. You may have the latter, and for that, there are good coaches, behaviorists, professionals on this forum, and great books. Nicholas Dodd's "The Dog Who Loved Too Much" is an outstanding book about separation anxiety.
I'll say this though...even when it's tempting for me to get annoyed at the feeling of a cold nose grazing my leg as I walk through the house -- I welcome our dogs into my arms every time they come near me. I am teaching them a gentle "go away" command for when we're eating or watching a movie, but they always get some affection before I disengage them. I never want them to be reluctant to come to me.
Leo is a real beauty and is very lucky to have you.
Leo is my first ever dog that I owned, well, I "owned" one as an early teen but I wasn't living on my own and had full responsibility of the dog. I always said that I would adopt if I ever were to get a dog and I'm really thankful I did. I don't regret adopting him at all, he's a great companion and is always happy to see me. As far as the separation anxiety goes, it shows full force if I leave him alone in the house.. He goes wild. However, if he's in his cage, he's a perfect little angel and sleeps while I'm gone. I think he feels safe and secure when he's in there.
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Originally Posted by abbara
I think he is in love! (maybe afraid of being dumped again)
Thanks for adopting him.
Hope someone here can give you advise.
I think this might be the case also, he's either really attached to me or he feels that when I leave that I'm leaving forever (like his previous owner did). My mother says not to change anything, it's just him being madly in love with me. Remember, this is my first dog and I'm honestly not use to having a companion around so this might be perfectly normal and I'm thinking it's not.
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Originally Posted by Alley01
Does your dog get along with other dogs? Do you have a friend that would let you pet sit for a weekend to see the reaction? I wonder if he was a bonded pair and was separated. The Thundershirt is hit or miss, and it doesn't work for most of our fosters.
Leo is extremely great with other dogs, he's very friendly and loves both dogs and people. I'm really thankful for that, but it can be annoying when I'm trying to teach him how to properly walk on a leash and he suddenly pulls because he sees another dog. I have a neighbor that would be willing to pet sit for me, but I'm kind of weird about that, but I fully understand where you were going. I don't know if this piece of information helps or not, but when I adopted him, you could see his ribs, clearly. He was skinny, and supposedly he was a stray but they had all the info on him telling me that there was a previous owner. I didn't ask if he was dropped off or found, I had a huge check list in my head going through the adoption process.
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"Through a Dogs Ear" helped a lot with anxiety.
I'll check this out, and I already own the thundershirt.
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Originally Posted by TinaMcG
How long have you had Leo? Have you taught him the "stay" command?
My adoption papers are on my fridge but I'm too lazy right now to get them haha. I've had him for around 4 or 5 months now. He doesn't know the stay command but when I tried it a few times with him, after several practice sessions, he stayed and came when told. However, I wasn't consistent with it and it was very spaced out training sessions so he doesn't understand it yet. He knows the sit command though, he knew that when I first got him.
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Nicholas Dodd's "The Dog Who Loved Too Much" is an outstanding book about separation anxiety.
I'll check this out, thanks!
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But there is a difference between normal wanting to be around you and real separation anxiety.
I'm trying to figure this out also. At night time, he can sleep in my bed while I'm in the other room playing games. This happens every so often, but usually I need to be up very late for that to happen or he needs to be very tired. He always wants to go where I go.
I'll work with him and read a lot of materials before I do anything. Before I got him, I was use to having my own breathing room, so this is a change for me and maybe I'm the one that needs to let it go. I'm so very thankful to have him and our bond is growing stronger so maybe it'll just work itself out.
I think training basic commands will be really important. That really helps the two of you to communicate. The most ikmportant thing I learned about our dogs is that they LOVE when we understand what they are trying to say to us. They love being able to communicate and be understood. We humans focus too much on THEM understanding US. It needs to work both ways. So Leo might still be suffering from insecurities that will fade in time with good communication with you, with training to boost his confidence, and with maturity. I see behavior changes in our girl Karma since we got her 7 months ago when she was 7 months old. She is maturing, getting closer to me, growing into a confident and beautiful dog.
Rescues always come with baggage, and most of the time we don't know what it is. It's early yet. Your patience and love is key.
One thing I didn't think of was something my mother just asked (and then mentioned) was if I restrained him while in the car (aka: car harness) and the answer from me was that I just let him roam in back of the car (I have a cover for the back seat). He does move A LOT while in the car, and that probably raises his anxiety through the roof - I cannot crate him in my car, it's too small, so a harness would do. What is everyone's opinions on these harnesses?
She replied
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That might be part of his car issue...too much freedom. Sounds like he's good when he's controlled (as in the crate), I'm thinking maybe controlling him in the car might help as well. Poor guy...you never know what he's been through.
It sounds to me that Leo feels calmer in a controlled environment (such as being good when in his cage). I would imagine the same would be true in the car. Get a harness to limit his freedom (and anxiety) in the car as well. I think he is following you because you are his one and only...he's insecure. You're actually lucky....Leo would learn commands in no time because he is tuned in to you. I have a dog that absolutely ignores me and it's exhausting.
I think training basic commands will be really important. That really helps the two of you to communicate. The most ikmportant thing I learned about our dogs is that they LOVE when we understand what they are trying to say to us. They love being able to communicate and be understood. We humans focus too much on THEM understanding US. It needs to work both ways. So Leo might still be suffering from insecurities that will fade in time with good communication with you, with training to boost his confidence, and with maturity. I see behavior changes in our girl Karma since we got her 7 months ago when she was 7 months old. She is maturing, getting closer to me, growing into a confident and beautiful dog.
Rescues always come with baggage, and most of the time we don't know what it is. It's early yet. Your patience and love is key.
Thank you very much for this post, he often seems confused on what I want from him, and I'm often confused what he wants! Although he does put his paw on me and gives me puppy eyes when he wants attention. I didn't include his age, but he's a year and a few months old so he's still a puppy.
It sounds to me that Leo feels calmer in a controlled environment (such as being good when in his cage). I would imagine the same would be true in the car. Get a harness to limit his freedom (and anxiety) in the car as well. I think he is following you because you are his one and only...he's insecure. You're actually lucky....Leo would learn commands in no time because he is tuned in to you. I have a dog that absolutely ignores me and it's exhausting.
It took him awhile to like his cage, but he really was "forced" to use it. So maybe the harness in the car will be the same way. As in forced, I mean that he had to be in there when I left for work. He resisted for awhile but then he just accepted that he had to be in there, and now he just goes in on his own, or randomly. He is insecure, I see it all the time and I hope with age that he gets over it. He's secure with other dogs though and never has a second thought about greeting them. Maybe too many bad experiences with noises, car rides, etc just made him who he is today - but I'm sure that can be reversed.
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