Hello all.
I recently started fostering an abandoned Cocker Spaniel named Oreo. I knew that he had separation anxiety related issues before fostering him, but decided to give him a chance. Else he would have been either on the streets or in a shelter (ready to be euthanised).
Oreo is around 2 yrs old and was taken in by someone, who's neighbours complained (and threated with eviction) about Oreo's barking. I got him last Saturday and I saw that he had no respect for this lady who rescued him. The first time we went on a walk, he rushed out of the apartment, which I promptly corrected. Eventually he learned.
The good:
I got a crate a couple of days back. Finding a crate was a bit difficult for me, but I managed it. As pointed out by Mr. Ed Frawley and other members he is allowed to come out of the crate only when I tell him to. Initially he resisted a little, but now he doesn't. He is well behaved when inside the crate and falls asleep. I take him out for walks, two times a day, after feeding him. Once in the morning (7AM~8AM) and once in the night (10PM). After every walk I take him straight to the crate and he understands what he needs to do. He promptly goes into the crate.
I put him in my bathroom because that is the only place where he cannot directly see me. While I am at home, he is quite quiet. Not even a whimper. He used to whine earlier but now, he has got rid of it. I never responded to him when he whined. I think that he got the picture there. I've left him in the crate (in the bathroom) for over 4 hrs once and not a sound.
He is already potty trained and does it ONLY outside. He will "hold it" till I take him out. That is one thing less to worry about. The only time I pet him is after he does his "thing" outside.

The bad:
He whined a little when I touched the door while leaving the apartment. I am not talking about opening it. Just touching the door makes him start whining. I ignored the whining and proceeded to the office. Once at the office I setup a skype account and called my apartment to do the "Big Brother" thing. Sure enough, it took him just 10mins to begin barking. I also heard him rattling the crate. I've noticed that he does push the crate around during this daily routine of his'.

The ugly:
I have a lot of patience with him. I did ignore his barking when I was home and he learned that it doesn't matter to me. However my neighbours might come knocking on the door soon. They have been very kind to me for not having complained till date, but I cannot count on their good will for too long.
If my neighbours do complain, I would be forced to either send him to an animal shelter or adopt him out to some other poor soul. The former being the only option right now. Also the worst case scenario would be for my neighbours barring me from fostering any more.
If he does end up at a shelter, it is highly possible that he would be put down after 60 days. If he goes to the shelter this problem will only escalate. We all know the limitations of shelters.
While I do not believe in "quick fixes", I do need one now to prevent the possible worst case scenarios. @least to prevent his barking.

About Oreo:
- Cocker Spaniel
- around 2 yrs of age
- not yet neutered (I plan on getting him neutered this weekend.)
- I use a nylon leash for walking him.
- Afraid of cars, but is getting better at it.
- 45 min x 2 walks daily.
- potty trained
- comfy with crate (when I am in the house, though not visible)
- abandoned dog.
- heartworm -ve
- good with children.
- good with dogs.
- unknown with cats

My Background:
I live in Seoul and being one of the most densely populated cities in the world, it's most a flat/apartment life. I've successfully fostered two dogs till date, one of them being blind. I do not have any experience in dealing with separation anxiety although I have some experience in dealing with dominant dogs. I never came across an aggressive dog till date.
My office is a 10min walk from home.
Obviously my understanding about dogs is quite limited and I am eager to learn

Thank you all for reading such a long post. I wanted to give as much information as I have to you.

PS:
- In case anyone wants to listen to him bark ( ) my skype account : cyrax_iiit
- Pics : http://beta.zooomr.com/photos/cyrax
- Seoul is GMT + 9hrs
- I DO NOT believe in humanising dogs. Oreo is a dog and that is about it. So all suggestions are welcome.

have you tried playing the radio, briefly leaving the apartment, coming back in - in increments of 5 minutes for a period of about 20 minutes, lengthening to increments of 10 minutes at a later time (i would try not same day). i'm not an expert, these are the steps I know of).

Jeff

 Quote: jeff benson

have you tried playing the radio, briefly leaving the apartment, coming back in - in increments of 5 minutes for a period of about 20 minutes, lengthening to increments of 10 minutes at a later time (i would try not same day). i'm not an expert, these are the steps I know of).

Jeff

I adopted a senior last summer who screamed (screamed!) when I left.

I did exactly what Jeff says. I devoted a long weekend to it. I lurked outside, too, and corrected (verbally) from the window the second he started. (He almost fainted the first time my voice came from the window.) It would work fine from the door too.

This took a while, but it worked. And yes, I did start with VERY short "trips." I came back several times before he ever started, which I think helped break the habit.

Oh, and of course I left a filled kong, left him tired (always leave a tired, well-walked dog when you go to work), and made my departures and arrivals completely calm and matter-of-fact.

This was my worst case to date. I had never heard a dog scream when left. It was so loud and sounded so tortured that I left a note in every neighbor's mailbox, assuring them that he was not having a root canal, that I was working on the problem, and here's my telephone number. Assuring them that you are aware of the irritation to them and are working on it does a LOT, IMHO.

Tried a no bark collar? I've never used one, but it's got to be better than going to the pound.

Hello Jeff.
I saw some of the earlier posts regarding separation anxiety. I tried this one too. It had an impact - 5 mins delay. Then he reverts to his grand barking.

*sigh*
Either I am too good @ predicting the future or all of my fears come true.
I got a call a few minutes back and the neighbours are not so happy with Oreo's persistent barking. I must say that they have been kind enough to let me keep him for two more days. I need to respect their patience and kindness.
So if he doesn't get a foster home or an adoption home it looks like he will end up at a shelter.
I thank all of you for the advice and I will try them out today and tomorrow. I hope that it works but regardless of what the outcome is, he will have to go to a shelter. It's beyond my control now.

Bark collar - I tried to get one before I even got him. I could find none in Korea. I will have to import it from the US and that takes too long to reach Korea. This was one of the first things that I checked out. Same thing for electric collars.
To Connie Sutherland : My apartment is on the first floor. So it is hard to pin the exact moment he starts barking. If I go out of the house, he would bark and stop the minute I enter. For situations like these I thought that the electric collar was the best solution. Alas! I never had any experience with an electric collar and also importing anything would take far too long.
I did manage to stop his whining when he is inside the house but not seeing me. All that was thanks to the suggestions from the other threads/articles that I saw on leerburg.com
It looks like I have lost my one chance to help a dog with separation anxiety and learn something myself. Let's hope that he finds a master who is better than I am.