My dog has hip dysplasia and he gets very upset when I drop him off for his physical therapy at the university. He settles down as soon as I’m out of sight. Is this separation anxiety?

Hi Cindy

I have a 2 year old neutered male German Shepherd who is very friendly to people and other dogs (we won't talk about cats rabbits, and squirrels at this point) I work full time - so I leave him at home for several hours a day - so it's not like he is used to being with me all the time. I also have a 8-year old neutered male Pembroke Welsh Corgi who lives in the house too - but they are separated when I leave. They get along great - it's just that sometimes Ben (my shepherd) gets a little rough when they are playing. He weighs about 100 lbs and the corgi is only 35 lbs) - It's often my corgi who initiates the play. I don't like to leave them together unsupervised - because I am afraid that my corgi might get hurt if they get playing rough. Until May of this year, I also had a 15 1/2 year old Pembroke - who was definitely the alpha dog of the group.

When I leave Ben at home he doesn't show any signs of anxiety. He has a small room with a crate in it, there are a couple of big windows and 2 doorways - one blocked with just an x-pen. When I am getting ready to leave - he happily trots to his room - gets his treats and lays down. He has not been a destructive dog.

Ben is dysplastic and was already starting to favor his right side. I had heard about a program at MSU where they do rehabilitation (and physical therapy) for dogs. I took him for an evaluation and they thought that he would definitely benefit from the program. They said that the muscles on his right side were 8 cm smaller than the left. So I put him in the program - and he is doing great. He goes 2 days a week. I drop him off on my way to work and pick him up on my way home - so he is there from about 7:15am to 4pm. He Loves the underwater treadmill (he loves playing in water - any kind, anywhere). He is cooperating great with them - they are so impressed with how quickly he learns and how enthusiastic he is with the different things that they do with him.

The problem starts when I first leave him - he carries on, and I have never seen him act like this -crying and being very vocal - this morning I saw him really pulling on her as I was leaving. She tells me that as soon as I am out of sight - he is fine. He is attentive - good in his cage/crate, very friendly to all the people and other dogs, easy to train and work with. When I take him there in the morning - he is very happy - he seems excited when we get to the clinic - very happy going inside - goes right up to her and seems happy - but as soon as I hand over the leash and walk away - he starts carrying on. What worries me most is that the anxiety seems to be getting worse.

What would you suggest I do to help this situation before it escalates?