 Separation anxiety I guess
#385176 - 10/26/2013 03:13 PM |
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My dog, if left alone for a minute even, in crate or loose will go crazy when he sees me.
There's about 2 minutes of hysteria, weeping out loud, jumping on me, jumping all over the place all while crying.
Anything I thought to try hasn't worked. I turn my back when he jumps but he keeps on. Aside from the fact that it hurts and there's no space to jump around like he does and he will hurt himself or us, there's also the fact that it's not a good state if mind for him to be in.
So now, out of desperation, I show him food, wait until he calms (and he does) and give it to him. For some reason he's then not going crazy or on a much lesser degree.
Any thoughts about what I'm doing or what I can try?
Thank you
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Re: Separation anxiety I guess
[Re: Natalie Rynda ]
#385180 - 10/26/2013 04:10 PM |
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I'd desensitize him to your comings and goings.
http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=33741&page=4#384244
http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=33741&page=4
"Then going crazy is being rewarded (even sometimes .... ) and calm-quiet is not (at least not consistently). ... Walk out for 5 seconds and walk back in, with the departure and the return both totally casual, no speaking, no attention, and ignore the dog completely on the return, not even approaching or looking at him. ... as everything else .... reward what you want."
And in another thread:
"I started calmly leaving for extremely brief moments. I came back before he even had a chance to react. I walked away far enough from the door so he couldn't smell me, but that's all ... then came back and came in, calmly. No hello, no nothing. (No excited returns, ever, just like no real goodbyes.) ... Ten seconds .... then thirty seconds .... then ten seconds .... then one minute ... again, no excitement. No greeting. Calm, casual. Then an hour later I might leave for thirty seconds. And so on."
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Re: Separation anxiety I guess
[Re: Natalie Rynda ]
#385182 - 10/26/2013 03:58 PM |
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Ignore him completely for the first 5-10 minutes, don't talk to him, don' t touch him, don't respond. When he has calmed and is standing or sitting quietly then pay attention to him. If you do the same thing every time he will stop doing this.
My animals are not "like" family, they ARE family. |
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Re: Separation anxiety I guess
[Re: Natalie Rynda ]
#385184 - 10/26/2013 04:30 PM |
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I will start doing this consistently (coming and going) but in the meanwhile, before he's used to it, is it OK to leave him in the crate for 5-10 mins, as Jodi suggested) while he's amped up like that.
When I come in he's already sitting (he knows that much, that he should be sitting) and his tail is banging on the crate and he's like a coiled spring.
Is it OK to leave him there like that? I will if it is.
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Re: Separation anxiety I guess
[Re: Natalie Rynda ]
#385185 - 10/26/2013 04:53 PM |
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IME, if you are 100% consistent about "not even seeing him" unless he is calm, then he won't do it for as long as 5-10 minutes.
IME, if you are instantly rewarding calm, and 100% consistently not rewarding "hysteria, weeping, jumping" with any attention whatsoever, he will catch on.
At first he will still try because it has served him in the past, even to the point of being offered food, but he will catch on, IF you are 100% consistent. If you are not, every instance of that will set you back.
And you must be 100% calm yourself. You will be waiting for a calm moment to mark, but you won't be looking at him or showing any kind of tension.
As mentioned in the other thread at http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=33741&page=4#384247 .... "I like the standing by the crate staring in the middle distance until he stops. I'm sure that would make him stop faster because he'd be curious.."
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Re: Separation anxiety I guess
[Re: Natalie Rynda ]
#385187 - 10/26/2013 05:31 PM |
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I am calm myself.
That's what I'm doing (from the other thread), waiting for the calm and giving a treat. He sees me get the treat so I'm bribing.
I will make sure he doesn't see it.
What Jodi is suggesting (and other people have) is to do stuff around the house for a few mins and not stand over the crate waiting for the calm.
I'm trying to see if I should do that or keep rewarding the calm (if it can be called that, he's tense though sitting and not crying). If rewarding the calm then I will make sure he doesn't know I have a treat
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Re: Separation anxiety I guess
[Re: Natalie Rynda ]
#385188 - 10/26/2013 05:52 PM |
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Doing stuff while ignoring him and gazing away from him while ignoring him are not mutually exclusive.
"Doing stuff" is great. It's the same non-rewarding thing to him as gazing elsewhere ... it's not paying attention to him. That is the point.
If you have been rewarding for quiet ( "keep rewarding the calm (if it can be called that, he's tense though sitting and not crying"), and it has "clicked" for him that quiet = reward, then you can very gradually introduce duration. "Tense" will taper off when duration is added .... VERY gradually ... and also, a dog who is sitting quietly, even if tense, is not a dog who is having "2 minutes of hysteria, weeping out loud, jumping on me, jumping all over the place all while crying."
He does not see you get the treat if you have treats strategically placed or in your bait bag.
By the way,
"I show him food"
is different from
"He sees me get the treat."
No response to that is needed. The point is, you don't want to do either one.
The main thing is to reward what you want, and not to reward, not even with negative attention, what you do not want.
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Re: Separation anxiety I guess
[Re: Natalie Rynda ]
#385190 - 10/26/2013 06:11 PM |
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Few things. He's sitting quietly in the crate because he knows that will let him get out. If I do let him out without feeding he goes crazy.
Somehow food calms him down, that's the only reason I started doing this.
Doing things in other rooms and ignoring him while standing over the crate to me sound different. I guess I'm picturing his reaction.
Let me try both and see what happens. I will put the treats somewhere where he can't see me take them. I don't have the bait bag on when I come home.
Edited by Connie Sutherland (10/26/2013 06:11 PM)
Edit reason: partial delete ... moved to new thread
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Re: Separation anxiety I guess
[Re: Natalie Rynda ]
#385193 - 10/26/2013 06:30 PM |
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"Doing things in other rooms and ignoring him while standing over the crate to me sound different."
No need at all to "stand over the crate." (No reply needed.)
"Somehow food calms him down, that's the only reason I started doing this." Actually, the bribe worked. They often do. (No reply needed.)
"Let me try both and see what happens. I will put the treats somewhere where he can't see me take them."
Sounds good.
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Re: Separation anxiety I guess
[Re: Natalie Rynda ]
#385195 - 10/26/2013 06:46 PM |
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Harley sound like your boy, hyper excitable...
He will do every thing fast, I had a tread a while back on teaching him "real calm" has he would do any thing asked but still he had that high energy vibe almost like an internal excited shiver.
He is still very sensitive to people energy. Any one with high internal energy will make him nuts.
I had to learn to not just be calm on the out side but inside too.
My boy is now almost 4yo and still there are people who I won't let him near as he will turn into a crazy playful in your face beast. He can now be calm for real with me and when on leash and with most people.
I had to be consistent 100% or we would be 10 steps back. I just love that dog so much because he is so much fun to work with today but now he has an off button.
Lucifer! |
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