April 19, 2011
I think my dog is suffering from separation anxiety. What can I do to fix this?
Full Question:
Hello,My name is Deanna and I have a question about the dog my fiance and I have. He is a two year old mix breed, possibly has Lab and Springer Spaniel along with something else in him. He weighs about 80 pounds and for the most part is well behaved when we are home. We got him when he was approximately 11 weeks old from the Humane Society in Menomonie. We made the mistake of not kenneling him while we are gone. We close off a back porch where he stays and put his kennel back there for him but never locked him in it. Then he began scratching on our dry wall about 6 months ago and recently began tearing up our flooring while we are gone. We have been doing some reading and think he may have separation anxiety. We have called other dog trainers and obedience schools and have had bad luck along with some rude remarks. We started putting him in his kennel and locking him in it but yesterday he chewed his way out of it. We bought a wire kennel for him hoping that will help a little. He also destroys anything you leave with him in the kennel. We will admit that like parents make mistakes with their kids, we have made a mistake with our dog and want to know what we can do to minimize or correct this problem. Any advice or help is greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Deanna
Ed's Answer:
I would do several things:
- Start some serious obedience with this dog – use a prong collar. The dog needs to 100% understand right from wrong and that there are consequences for doing the wrong thing.
- I would make darn sure the wire cage door is clipped shut with a snap off a leash so he cannot bully his way through it if he pushes hard.
- The dog would live in the crate when you are home for long periods of time – this would become his home. He comes out when YOU TAKE HIM OUTSIDE.
- Leave a radio on for the dog when you are gone.
- Give him something to do in the crate when you are gone – a cow's knuckle bone or a Kong with crème cheese in it.
- If he continues to be stupid I would get a NO BARK collar – I only like the Tri Tronics models we sell – I use these in my kennel. He would wear it when I was gone because my guess is he is barking when he is acting stupid in the crate. If he throws a fit with this on – so be it. That’s his problem not yours.
- There is a possibility that the dog would need to be trained with an electric collar – this would be used on a low level NICK setting when you were home and he was being stupid in the crate.
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