Hi, I'm fairly new here, but I LOVE the message board, lots of useful information! I have a Jack Russell/Dachshund mix, she's 8 months old, I've had her for four of those months. I am a student at WVU, I am gone 4-6 hrs a day, usually around 10-3 or so. While I'm gone, my dog whines and cries almost all day (she's in her crate while at home alone), how can I fix this? I really don't want to have to get the no bark shock collars, she is only 6 lbs (runt of the litter) and I just don't feel comfortable with a shocker. I've tried leaving a tshirt I have recently worn with her in her crate, I've left the television on, and I've also left her with her tennis balls and chew toys in her crate. Nothing has seemed to work, my neighbors told me of her crying all the time, and I have noticed it when I get home...while unlocking the door, I can hear her crying. I always leave without making a scene and try to make leaving as least dramatic as possible...but still, the crying. I feel so bad leaving her here alone while I'm in class, any ideas to help me out would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for any info!!

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....she's 8 months old, I've had her for four of those months. I am a student at WVU, I am gone 4-6 hrs a day, usually around 10-3 or so. While I'm gone, my dog whines and cries almost all day (she's in her crate while at home alone).....

Here are some things that I have had success with:

This one takes a while, so the weekend might be a great time to start: Start leaving in the normal manner, keys and jacket in hand, and then hovering outside (far enough away so she cannot hear or smell you) for a minute. Then come back. Gradually extend the period of time. If she is so attached that you can't even leave the room, then start with that.

This is not instant, so I'd be prepared to spend a few days on it. If you have a friend or neighbor who the dog knows and is secure with, that person could pop in every now and then, too.......perhaps "leaving" and coming back in the same manner.

At the same time, I would introduce a fun toy, which the dog does not get unless she is alone in her crate. A filled Kong (or similar) that never appears unless she is alone can make "alone" attractive.

I'm sure others here have suggestions, too.

But most important of all, in my own opinion, is to leave a tired dog. That means that her long walk and structured exercise of the day (which all dogs need) happens before you leave. This means that you are leaving a dog who is going to want to sleep in her crate while you're gone. I think that part of some separation anxiety is boredom, and a tired, well-exercised dog is not bored. She's sleeping.

Good luck!

Hey Connie! Thanks for the advice, unfortunately I have tried leaving normally and coming back shortly thereafter to let her know I will always come back, I tried it for two weeks and found my efforts were not working. I am gone for class from 10-3... my girlfriend stops in between her classes around 12:30 to take my puppy out. I really don't want to have to resort to a no bark collar, at 6 lbs she just seems too small for one...but I really don't know what else to try.

I had a dog that did that, he would have seperation anxiety. Not too severe, but he would howl whenever i would leave for work.

If you have tried the gradual leaving and it doesn't help, i would follow the advice given and invest in a Kong.

It worked for me. If you fill it with something that the dog will ONLY get in the Kong, don't fill it with treats you give all the time. I had to make sure that it was packed kind of tight otherwise my guy had it gone in a matter of a few minutes. Give it to the dog when you put her in the crate and leave. Chances are she won't even notice you've left because she'll be too interested in whats in the Kong.
And exercise, a quiet dog is a tired dog. If you only walk her later in the day, you might want to get up a bit earlier and take her out for a walk then too. Tucker her out, don't just walk her, play fetch with her and make sure you get her nice and tired. That always helps.

If behavior modification does not work on it's own, you may want to add medication. The one usually given is Clomicalm, but we didn't have much success with our dog that has severe separation anxiety. We have had better luck with Buspar. It's not the answer to the problem, but it may help your dog get over the anxiety enough for behavior modification to work.

This is not something I would drug a dog over. Unless it is really creating serious issues with the neighbors, I guess I just don't see why this is such a dire situation. Is there a chance that all these things that have been tried are just coddling the dog, and reinforcing the behavior? Like the louder I am when she leaves, the more cool stuff I get to play with? I could be way off, but to me, this seems like it could be parallel to reassuring your dog for jacka$$ behavior when on-leash: cooing over the dog everytime you do something he doesn't like is just reinforcing this method of getting attention. If the dog is crated and you ARE home, do you come running every time it cries? Is it possible that it's associating this with when you crate him and leave??? Just something to consider...don't know if it applies at all or not.

I am very careful not to reward bad behavior. She is a great dog, she has no other issues, just the whining when left alone. It's becoming an issue because there are some days where I need to head over to campus at 6:45 to work on a project, and she's left here waking up my neighbors. It's actually an apartment building, they live above me--they say they don't mind the whining, but I know it has to get annoying. I never let her out of her crate while whining or right after she gets done whining. She goes crazy anytime someone visits and leaves, she runs from room to room looking for them, and cries. She LOVES my girlfriend, and each night my girlfriend leaves to go home, Jackie goes into a panic, she goes as far as to jump on dining room tables and everything. Even in my car, when I drop off my girlfriend at her house, Jackie will come to the front seat to look out the window and start crying.

Then it may be something that will be outgrown, as long as you're careful not to reward. It DOES have to get annoying for the neighbors, though...I guess I'd try the Kong idea, for the neighbors' sake...good luck!

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....Jackie goes into a panic, she goes as far as to jump on dining room tables and everything......

Have you tried the structured exercise before leaving, so that you are leaving a tired and well-exercised dog?

Here is an explanation of using meds in extreme cases, then working with tapering them down to none:
http://www.vetinfo.com/dsepanx.html#Separation%20Anxiety%20in%20Older%20Dog

and here are some suggestions short of meds (which I am not personally familiar with for this challenge, so can't comment knowledgeably on med use here):
http://canines.com/library/sepanxiety.shtml

and another, emphasizing leaving a tired dog:
http://www.perfectpaws.com/sa.html

I think I sound like a broken record, so I'll just say it one more time: A well-exercised dog who is tired by the time you leave is not a bored and frustrated and noisy dog; she is a sleeping dog. I do understand that energy is not the whole issue, and I do inderstand that the dog can indeed be anxious about your departure and her being alone. But I also know that a tired dog is going to sleep. And a sleeping dog is not whining and barking.

So I don't mean to oversimplify. But so many destructive, annoying, even compulsive behaviors can be improved (even eliminated) by lots of structured exercise.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, I am going to get up a little earlier and take her for a longer walk and stop off at the dog park and let her run off some energy. What's weird is she doesn't only do it when she's alone, she does it anytime anyone leaves. Could be my girlfriend or some of my friends, even people she meets for the first time. Soon as they leave, she starts whining and crying and goes into panic mode. When she first meets them...she acts as though they're a long lost friend whom she's known her whole life. Then, soon as they leave, even if they were only here 5 min, she cries and goes nuts...