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How long have you had this dog and how much obedience training have you done?
New dogs are unsure of your return, so they panic. Once he learns that you are coming back he will be better. This works so much better if you have a daily routine.
Also, if you have not spent time training, so he learns you are the boss, he may be afraid to let you leave - thinking he needs to be with you to protect you, so he panics.
Some dogs can never be crated. Does he destroy things if left out of the crate? If not, you might want to try leaving him out. Is he afraid of the crate itself? I used to throw pieces of lunchmeat in my dogs crate to get her to go in. Once she would go in without creeping in, I started closing the door and giving her a piece through the bars, then opening it for her. Eventually we got to the point she would go in for the meat, sit and wait while I fed her a piece every few minutes through the bars. Then I got her to go in with out a pieced of meat, but sit there and get pieces through the slats. Until finally I just tell her to go to bed and she runs in happily and turns and waits for her 1 piece that I still give to her to this day.
I have a dog with slight seperation anxiety. She was horrible the first week a had her. She cried and carried on like someone was in the house hacking off her limbs! I went to work in tears it was so bad. My neighbor - thank goodness she loved dogs - told me on the 3rd day that she quit after 30 minutes. By week 2 she stopped as soon as I was out of sight. Now she is fine - but I have to crate her or she will destroy my door trying to claw her way out to get to me. So he was right in saying it will be something you have to deal with forever.
We've had him about 2.5 weeks and so far we've worked through Sit, Down, Stay, and Come. He loves when we train. We've done a couple practices where I left him free and "fake left" and hung out in the garage. He still cried a lot, but stopped after a few mins and just walked around panting. In the crate it's complete panic (when we leave only, he sleeps in there at night just fine). We're hesitant to leave him free bc we don't want him to tear up the house trying to get out like he does his crate, but I think it's something we'll have to try a few times and monitor how he does.
We are going to have a trainer come work with us for off leash training and establishing ourselves as clear leaders of the house. We're hoping this will help with the separation anxiety. It's $495 for training in our home for as long as needed. While the obdedience training is guaranteed, she cannot guarantee anything with the separation anxiety bc it is such a difficult issue.
I have a 10 week old GSD and I watch the dog whisperer, I have also bought some of the DVD's and he is awesome and deals with all those problems. His big emphasis is tiring the dog out.
Good luck I have had mine for 3 weeks now and she still has anxiety when left in the cage. It does get better.
We bought a large plastic crate with a steel gate at Petsmart for $200 a couple of years ago to use with a SA foster dog. She had tangled everyother crate. We now lend this crate to others with houdini dogs and it holds all. You don't need to spend $500
If you are able to (I understand not everyone can), try taking a bike ride to tire him out. We have temperatures similar to yours and I find a bike ride is a lot easier on me, way more tiring to my dogs and then I only have to go for about a 10 - 15 minute fast-paced ride to exhaust my crazy girl. Exhaustion is the key, and they do enjoy the run no matter the weather or if you have alterior motives of exhaustion . I found that in southern coastal Georgia that I could force myself to do this 4 times a day with a longer run later at night during the whole 1st year I got her.
Chase is still a puppy and a mighty cute one at that. Some of that anxiety might be because he is a puppy. Last year I got Dazzle at 8 months and he had major anxiety anytime he could not see me. He did not destroy things but would let out these loud howl type whines and pace I was not sure how it was going to work out as until Jazz got use to him I had to gate him into my dining room when ever I left or was busy. One afternoon I had some things to do upstairs and did not want him underfoot so gated him into the dining room and he started in with his noise and then it abruptly stopped, curious I went downstairs and my other old dog, Dash who was battling cancer had managed to get into the dining room. After that Dash became the babysitter and Dazzle was relaxed and quite when Dash was near by. Dash babysat for 6 months before he died and luckly by then Dazzle was comfortable with living here and having me leave. ( as Jazz is no babysitter!)
Jazz too was a bit anxious when she was a puppy and left alone so I made a point of not really even talkng to her for about 15-30 minutes before I left then as I was walking out the door I would say" I have to go to work but I will be back you watch the house." In a voice like I would give a command. I kept my coming and going very low key. She is part cattle dog and they tend to have seperation anxiety as they tend to bond very close to one person and do not like being apart from them so from day one I tried to nip that in the bud and did so. The anxiety did not last long. Jazz is crate trained but once she was able to be trusted when she was alone she had her open crate and when she knows I will be leaving she runs and gets in her crate and waits for the treat filled kong I toss in the crate .On work nights she will get in that crate a good half hour before I leave just waiting for me to leave so she can have that kong.The crate is her safe place so it is always left open so she can come and go from it. Dash was the same way but he had a dog bed instead of a crate that he would go to then look at me like hurry up I want that kong. Dazzle is doing it now too....I guess I should feel bad that they want me gone so they get the treat filled kong, but then again I always knew they would sell me out for food!
I think some time people make the dog anxious as they kiss it and say over and over things like Be a good boy, Momma's going but you be good and thus they make the dog anxious.
In all honesty, tiring my dog out has done absolutely nothing for his anxiety in the crate. We got him in part so my SO, a distance runner, would have a running buddy, and he gets no fewer than three 45 min. to an hour walk/runs a day, and, when we were crating him, was ALWAYS exercised vigorously pre-crating. Lots of play and roughhousing, too. Anybody I've ever talked to about his anxiety while crated has pinned it on him not getting enough activity, but it couldn't have been further from the case...no couch potato, here. Keeping your dog active and wearing them out so they ostensibly sleep in your absence is good advice, but in our experience, it didn't do that trick at all. His severe anxiety trumped being all tuckered out.
In all honesty, tiring my dog out has done absolutely nothing for his anxiety in the crate. We got him in part so my SO, a distance runner, would have a running buddy, and he gets no fewer than three 45 min. to an hour walk/runs a day, and, when we were crating him, was ALWAYS exercised vigorously pre-crating. Lots of play and roughhousing, too. Anybody I've ever talked to about his anxiety while crated has pinned it on him not getting enough activity, but it couldn't have been further from the case...no couch potato, here. Keeping your dog active and wearing them out so they ostensibly sleep in your absence is good advice, but in our experience, it didn't do that trick at all. His severe anxiety trumped being all tuckered out.
Thats very true - exercise is NOT the whole answer to separation anxiety. It is just one of a number of steps that can be taken to control the anxiety. Its a process not a one time quick fix that will help a dog to adjust to being alone. There is no one thing that I know of that will work for anxiety of any kind (whether its separation, loud noises, strangers, etc). Its a series of steps, tailored to the specific dog, and consistant positive reinforcement using those steps that does work in most cases. Its starts with positve introduction of the kennel ( I prefer plastic travel kennels to crates), working toward having the dog accept the kennel as a "safe spot", positive procedures that are done before leaving and procedures to do (and not do) when arriving home. Anxiety in dogs is one of the hardest behavours to curb but, yes, I have seen it done successfully!
For SA, I agree it's not about tiring the dog out, it's about panic being left.
Before I engaged a trainer for the SA issue, I would absolutely check references and understand his/her methodology (some can do more harm than good and I speak from personal experience). No alpha rolls or shock stuff....aversive tactics should be avoided, especially with a puppy, so that's a red flag.
I would definitely try xanax before spending $500. If it works, it will work quickly, like within a week or 2. It's all about calming the dog down and THEN triggering the anxiety provoking event.
And I think someone already mentioned this, but have you tried various types of crates? My dog freaked with a Vari-Kennel. So I bought a wire crate, and now it's her little den....she hangs out in there, especially when she has something she covets. She still doesn't like the Vari Kennel. But, it was not the change in kennel that fixed the panic. That just helped with the process.
It's possible that my dog would do much better with a plastic molded kennel than the wire crate, in terms of being soothed. Unfortunately, he'd gnaw it to bits. The list of "unbreakable" things that dog has managed to turn to a pile of shreds or shavings when anxious is long, varied, and wholly unbelievable to the lay person. If there were a gnaw-proof plastic kennel, I'd line up for it to try.
For us, the SA was worse in the crate. He still doesn't love being left, but when he can curl up on the bed or couch, or wander around, he's less panicky than when he's confined, and he's less likely to freak out and damage things. It's possible that the freedom to move around, pace, etc. allows him to release nervous energy that the crate didn't allow for.
I also don't know that I'd pay $500 for training on something that notoriously doesn't respond to training in many cases, but to each, their own. I've certainly tried a lot of things, and know the desperation to make the anxiety go away.
I feel that some dogs should never be left alone for long periods of time. To me, dogs are like perpetual 5 year old human children, and certainly no one would dream of leaving one of them alone for one hour let alone more hours than that. Dogs are pack animals and they need the company of others. Especially if they love to snuggle or are super smart. It's not fair to want a dog to be a clingy bundle of love when we are home, but then to turn off that neediness and affection when we have to left to go to work. Their love and affection is not a spigot to be turned off and on depending on their humans' need and schedule.
Anyway, I think that many of these dogs with separation anxiety would be greatly helped if they had some other companionship while their owners were off at work or doing errands. Having another dog buddy or even a cat friend would help their mental state greatly. Also, older dogs may have it easier being left alone as they sleep more as they get on in years.
When I had a pug dog, I did work long hours, but the pug had the friendship of my cat. Since then, I've always had at least two dogs at a time. Right now, I have eight dogs. Last year, Woofx3 posted about having a dog with separation anxiety. That was one of my puppies. I lent her that dog in order to help ease her pain over the loss of her former dog. Since then, I have that puppy back and she's very happy being with her littermates. I will not separate these four and they also have great fun with their mom now.
My dogs all miss me when I leave for work, and I am clearly their pack leader. But after I leave, they all settle down.
Anyway, when a dog has severe problems with separation anxiety, the owner(s) should strongly consider getting a second dog or a cat for company.
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. I found that in southern coastal Georgia that I could force myself to do this 4 times a day with a longer run later at night during the whole 1st year I got her.
