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I read several of the other threads on dogs with separation anxiety and found them very interesting... now that I've sort of figured out my new dog, I thought I'd post about her.
I got my poodle-mixish dog by accident when I drove by an animal shelter at night and saw her cowering in a cat carrier left outside the Nightdrop Boxes. Couldn't leave her there and the police never came when I called, so I ended up taking her home "for the night". Discovering a lot of bald spots (as well as being so terrified she wouldn't even stand on her legs), I thought they'd diagnose her with mange and that'd be the end of her, so I hid her in my apartment and tried to get her into a rescue.
She did get accepted but it quickly went downhill for her. In the week I had her before she left she had learned to walk on a leash (after intially collapsing on her belly and refusing to move when a leash was on her), pee a bit more often (she'd hold it for 36 hours or so in the beginning). So while I thought she'd made a lot of progress, when she got to the rescue she began howling 24/7, having accidents all over the place, trying to escape from the fenced yard (I guess she thought she'd try running down the freeway for 200 miles to go back?), etc. As I told them I'd take her back if anything went wrong, they asked me if I was still up for it (not because they wouldn't handle it if they had to, but because she seemed to "miss me"). And since I was in the middle of buying a house, I thought, "Why not?". Plus I missed her too
Anyway, when she came back she was a nutcase. Almost immediately she'd bark and whine and make horrible noises if I left her sight, I couldn't even take a shower without leaving the curtain open a little for her to see. Accidents non-stop all over the place, after not ever wanting to pee at all! Previously she liked the crate I had for her... now she hated it. Total velcro dog. I'd take her to dog parks which she thought were great places to follow me around at the ankle and ignore the other dogs. She was really a basketcase.
Anyway, I looked everywhere I could for info about separation anxiety- here, all over the internet, books, etc, my dog rescue friends (I do cat rescue, so had some overlap with the dog people). I got lost of good info, but she was still pretty much panicked most of the time, unless I could be sitting down right with her. So I went ahead and took her to the vet to try the doggy version of Prozac called "Reconcile". I knew it would take awhile to work if it'd work at all. And that I'd still need to be doing the behavior stuff and being calm and nondramatic and whatnot with her.
Shortly after starting on it, we moved and she loved her new house. She started to go out in the backyard without me for very short periods of time (as well as lots of walks and playing outside with me). After a few weeks I thought she was over the hump, had settled into her new routine, and didn't need the Reconcile anymore, so I tapered her off. And she was fine....for awhile. She was staying in a crate while I was at work which was working fine. But then, periodically, I'd come home to find she'd busted out. I fixed the crate so she couldn't. And then things started getting really bad. She'd started screaming again when I'd leave her in the crate for work in the morning... I'd come home to find none of her food or treats touched, the crate torn open, her elbows abraded from fighting her way out, diarrhea in the crate when I switched to a wire one she couldn't get out of, etc. She started having accidents all over the floor again, multiple times an hour and especially when I was out of the room for a moment. And she lost all interest in toys, chewing, and even most of the time, food.
It occurred to me that as the Reconcile is slow to build up in the body, maybe it takes awhile to wear off too, and this was the delayed reaction. I put her back on, continued with the other things except for the crate - while she still uses it happily when I'm home and it's open, I now leave her in my bed in the closed bedroom when I'm out. Somehow, that seems to do the trick for her... she doesn't destroy anything, pee, or any of that. She's still a maniac about greeting me when I come home (which I'm still trying to ignore) but all in all we've got a pretty good rhythm going now.
So... just thought I'd mention that for her, the evil "drug solution" really did play a part in helping her. It probably wouldn't for every dog, and it certainly shouldn't be done alone as a "quick fix" without also working on the other stuff, but it does beat having a dog who is making herself bleed and having diarrhea in her panic of me leaving for work. She's a pretty happy girl now, likes to do "naughty things" like try to eat pencils, get into the compost bin, and chase the cats now and then.
I did like the "I'll be Home Soon" book... it was a very compassionate way of looking at the separation anxiety issue while still addressing what needs to be done to help fix it.
I don't know if she was dumped because of the separation anxiety or developed it because of being dumped, but she's ok now and will be with me for the rest of her life no matter how "bad" she acts, so it's time for her to just RELAX now!
kudos to you for your post and your very kind heart. We adopted a Whippet just over two years ago with severe separation anxiety similar to your guy. Fortunately I can take him I work with me. I still had my old greyhound kennel which is indestructable. I leave him in there when I need to leave him at home - no way to get out. In the first 18 months he would salivate to the point of virtual dehydration - a small stream would flow from the crate but now he is way better. I tried somevdrugs at first to no avail
Not the one younmentioned. But time and lots of tlc have worked wonders but he is still
My little Velcro dog. Good luck with your little guy.
I read several of the other threads on dogs with separation anxiety and found them very interesting... now that I've sort of figured out my new dog, I thought I'd post about her.
I got my poodle-mixish dog by accident when I drove by an animal shelter at night and saw her cowering in a cat carrier left outside the Nightdrop Boxes. Couldn't leave her there and the police never came when I called, so I ended up taking her home "for the night". Discovering a lot of bald spots (as well as being so terrified she wouldn't even stand on her legs), I thought they'd diagnose her with mange and that'd be the end of her, so I hid her in my apartment and tried to get her into a rescue.
She did get accepted but it quickly went downhill for her. In the week I had her before she left she had learned to walk on a leash (after intially collapsing on her belly and refusing to move when a leash was on her), pee a bit more often (she'd hold it for 36 hours or so in the beginning). So while I thought she'd made a lot of progress, when she got to the rescue she began howling 24/7, having accidents all over the place, trying to escape from the fenced yard (I guess she thought she'd try running down the freeway for 200 miles to go back?), etc. As I told them I'd take her back if anything went wrong, they asked me if I was still up for it (not because they wouldn't handle it if they had to, but because she seemed to "miss me"). And since I was in the middle of buying a house, I thought, "Why not?". Plus I missed her too
Anyway, when she came back she was a nutcase. Almost immediately she'd bark and whine and make horrible noises if I left her sight, I couldn't even take a shower without leaving the curtain open a little for her to see. Accidents non-stop all over the place, after not ever wanting to pee at all! Previously she liked the crate I had for her... now she hated it. Total velcro dog. I'd take her to dog parks which she thought were great places to follow me around at the ankle and ignore the other dogs. She was really a basketcase.
Anyway, I looked everywhere I could for info about separation anxiety- here, all over the internet, books, etc, my dog rescue friends (I do cat rescue, so had some overlap with the dog people). I got lost of good info, but she was still pretty much panicked most of the time, unless I could be sitting down right with her. So I went ahead and took her to the vet to try the doggy version of Prozac called "Reconcile". I knew it would take awhile to work if it'd work at all. And that I'd still need to be doing the behavior stuff and being calm and nondramatic and whatnot with her.
Shortly after starting on it, we moved and she loved her new house. She started to go out in the backyard without me for very short periods of time (as well as lots of walks and playing outside with me). After a few weeks I thought she was over the hump, had settled into her new routine, and didn't need the Reconcile anymore, so I tapered her off. And she was fine....for awhile. She was staying in a crate while I was at work which was working fine. But then, periodically, I'd come home to find she'd busted out. I fixed the crate so she couldn't. And then things started getting really bad. She'd started screaming again when I'd leave her in the crate for work in the morning... I'd come home to find none of her food or treats touched, the crate torn open, her elbows abraded from fighting her way out, diarrhea in the crate when I switched to a wire one she couldn't get out of, etc. She started having accidents all over the floor again, multiple times an hour and especially when I was out of the room for a moment. And she lost all interest in toys, chewing, and even most of the time, food.
It occurred to me that as the Reconcile is slow to build up in the body, maybe it takes awhile to wear off too, and this was the delayed reaction. I put her back on, continued with the other things except for the crate - while she still uses it happily when I'm home and it's open, I now leave her in my bed in the closed bedroom when I'm out. Somehow, that seems to do the trick for her... she doesn't destroy anything, pee, or any of that. She's still a maniac about greeting me when I come home (which I'm still trying to ignore) but all in all we've got a pretty good rhythm going now.
So... just thought I'd mention that for her, the evil "drug solution" really did play a part in helping her. It probably wouldn't for every dog, and it certainly shouldn't be done alone as a "quick fix" without also working on the other stuff, but it does beat having a dog who is making herself bleed and having diarrhea in her panic of me leaving for work. She's a pretty happy girl now, likes to do "naughty things" like try to eat pencils, get into the compost bin, and chase the cats now and then.
I did like the "I'll be Home Soon" book... it was a very compassionate way of looking at the separation anxiety issue while still addressing what needs to be done to help fix it.
I don't know if she was dumped because of the separation anxiety or developed it because of being dumped, but she's ok now and will be with me for the rest of her life no matter how "bad" she acts, so it's time for her to just RELAX now!
It sounds to me like your new dog may have been abused.... maybe because of having Separation Anxiety.... maybe the latter was because of the former...
I adopted a puppy from the Humane Society who has serious Separation Anxiety.
I also got the book. I love Patricia McConnell.
My puppy is now about 8 months old and we don't do crates, at all. He doesn't like to be in any enclosure. I'm beginning to suspect claustrophobia...
He's really a sweet puppy except for this issue and like you, I'm going to be his forever home.
Thank you for caring about the life of an animal. Your new friend is very fortunate. I do believe that she'll get better with patience and time.
Mine is.
Last edited by World Citizen; 10-04-2008 at 06:36 PM..
Congrats..you are a wonderful person with alot of patience and a true animal lover. I think when you first found her she attached to you right away. Some dogs adapt easily and others do not. She felt secure and safe with you. You rescued her! She got used to you and your home very quick. Probably when she went to the rescue she took a few steps backwards, and yes it probably was because she was missing you. Dogs have feelings too and they do know what they want and where they want to be. I am so glad she found you! Great happy ending story! Good luck!
It sounds to me like your new dog may have been abused.... maybe because of having Separation Anxiety.... maybe the latter was because of the former...
Thank you for caring about the life of an animal. Your new friend is very fortunate. I do believe that she'll get better with patience and time.
I'm the lucky one - although I would have liked a dog, I would have dragged my feet forever about it if she hadn't been sprung on me... worrying if I had the time, worrying if my cats would adjust, worrying if I would get sick of the walking every day. But then she was just there and I'll have to make the time, and too bad if I get sick of walking (I'm not, it's great). Plus, having moved to this remote little town it is just so great to have a companion to explore with. I'm still a "cat lady", but it's quite different having a dog and being able to take her around town, up into the mountains, etc. And most of this exploring I wouldn't be doing if I didn't have the motivation to introduce Nelly to swimming in a lake, stepping in snow, etc. So it's working out well.
And like Patricia McConnell mentioned in the book, there are advantages to the "velcro dog" too. She's loyal to me, she never wanders away on walks, etc. And though I really am outwardly acting cool to it, that look on her face when we are reunited is irresistable!
As far as the circumstances of her dump, I can only think that she was an adorable little puppy, that someone got and didn't housetrain or do much of anything else with... she was already spayed when I got her (huge surprise to me! Maybe obtained through a shelter though, where she would have had to be spayed), but her dental situation was a mess, as was her skin. The skin cleared up with nothing more than a good haircut and time, so I suspect that was just stress. She's a wooly little lamb now!
That's a great story Bigcats, thanks for sharing it .
I've only had one dog with separation anxiety issues. I never could figure out the source of it. We found her when she was 5 weeks old, and she was in bad shape, but she's been with us ever since (she's 7+ now). She's lived nearly her entire life with a male dog who was a very balanced dog and they adored each other (we lost him this past spring to cancer).
So I have no idea why this dog had separation anxiety and none of my other dogs have ever had it . 2 things seemed to help in our case: 1) we let her start sleeping in our bed. That cut her anxiety by 75% practically overnight. I'm not recommending this for anyone else, I'd rather she not sleep in our bed, but it did help her. 2) Then, late last year, we took in another dog. That dog is younger (she was maybe 2 at the time), so the hierarchy changed. That seemed to take care of the last of the separation anxiety.
I'm glad you found a solution for you little doggie . Sometimes medication is exactly what is needed to give them mental relief and I'm glad it's working for your dog .
I'm the lucky one - although I would have liked a dog, I would have dragged my feet forever about it if she hadn't been sprung on me... worrying if I had the time, worrying if my cats would adjust, worrying if I would get sick of the walking every day. But then she was just there and I'll have to make the time, and too bad if I get sick of walking (I'm not, it's great). Plus, having moved to this remote little town it is just so great to have a companion to explore with. I'm still a "cat lady", but it's quite different having a dog and being able to take her around town, up into the mountains, etc. And most of this exploring I wouldn't be doing if I didn't have the motivation to introduce Nelly to swimming in a lake, stepping in snow, etc. So it's working out well.
And like Patricia McConnell mentioned in the book, there are advantages to the "velcro dog" too. She's loyal to me, she never wanders away on walks, etc. And though I really am outwardly acting cool to it, that look on her face when we are reunited is irresistable!
As far as the circumstances of her dump, I can only think that she was an adorable little puppy, that someone got and didn't housetrain or do much of anything else with... she was already spayed when I got her (huge surprise to me! Maybe obtained through a shelter though, where she would have had to be spayed), but her dental situation was a mess, as was her skin. The skin cleared up with nothing more than a good haircut and time, so I suspect that was just stress. She's a wooly little lamb now!
I believe that in another of her books, Patricia McConnell describes Luke as "her soulmate dog"...
Yep. My Shadow is a velcro dog, too.
Shadow has serious separation anxiety. I tried crate training him and within a few minutes (almost seconds) he would become absolutely soaking wet from sweating from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. I gave him a room of his own for when I have to leave him. At first, he had accidents like you described. Now, he doesn't do that but he still scratches the door trying to get through. He's not sweating like he did, though. I left him in the car when I had to run inside somewhere and within a few minutes he tore up the visor and ripped out the window trim in my car -- trying to get out, apparently. I've been noticing that even closing the door to the bathroom while I take a bath stresses him out -- so maybe his panic attacks are related to claustrophobia of some kind.
He also had puppy mange when I found him and it's gone now. He'd been picked up by Animal Control who apparently found him running down the street. Now I know why... He is an escape artist! He knows how to open doors by the handle. He even locked me out of the house the other day trying to open the door! (I had to call a locksmith)
It's interesting that he showed no signs of stress when I picked him out at the Humane Society but it started as soon as we got home with the crate.
anyway.... I'm glad you found her!
Last edited by World Citizen; 10-05-2008 at 08:11 AM..
I have a very small standard poodle that came into our Rescue as a surrender. He was a mess; epileptic, stressed, dehydrated with diarrhea, and totally frantic. After 5 days of hospitalization to rehydrate him and control the seizures, he came to me. He couldn't be crated, and couldn't be left alone for five minutes. He chewed and scratched everything in sight, including chairs, doorframes and windowsills. Thank goodness for Patricia McConnell's books! With a few months of work and patience, and by following McConnell's recommendations to the letter,I now have a wonderful, calm, extremely loving dog (yeah, I adopted him...) that is loved by everyone he meets. After all we've been through, he's so in tune to me and so attentive that I'm constantly in awe of the amazing bond that is possible between the human and canine species.
I have a very small standard poodle that came into our Rescue as a surrender. He was a mess; epileptic, stressed, dehydrated with diarrhea, and totally frantic. After 5 days of hospitalization to rehydrate him and control the seizures, he came to me. He couldn't be crated, and couldn't be left alone for five minutes. He chewed and scratched everything in sight, including chairs, doorframes and windowsills. Thank goodness for Patricia McConnell's books! With a few months of work and patience, and by following McConnell's recommendations to the letter,I now have a wonderful, calm, extremely loving dog (yeah, I adopted him...) that is loved by everyone he meets. After all we've been through, he's so in tune to me and so attentive that I'm constantly in awe of the amazing bond that is possible between the human and canine species.
I didn't know that YOU also had a velcro dog...
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Thank you for caring!....
Great happy ending story! Good luck! 
. 2 things seemed to help in our case: 1) we let her start sleeping in our bed. That cut her anxiety by 75% practically overnight. I'm not recommending this for anyone else, I'd rather she not sleep in our bed, but it did help her. 2) Then, late last year, we took in another dog. That dog is younger (she was maybe 2 at the time), so the hierarchy changed. That seemed to take care of the last of the separation anxiety.
