Hello- I'd like to hear if anyone has experienced separation anxiety with their dog. Our dog is 11 mos and has probably been showing signs of it for the past 6 mos. He is fine when he is in his routine (like when we leave in the morning for work) and mostly ok during the day but if we leave him at night and unless he is sleeping he will cry non-stop. and we all know its more like a howl then a wimper. Also when we leave him in the car he will cry and bark. and we do not leave him for long. it can start a few minutes after we walk into a store. I know its a hard thing to break and unfortunately we havent had a chance to try bc we now live in a condo and to be polite to our neighbors we choose not to leave him as much so I know its partly our fault bc we are letting him think that us being around all the time is normal but we are in the process of finishing a house and soon will be moved in. I wanted any advice from others that had had this occur with their Neo's and how they broke it. He is extremely attached to us and I know that its in the breed to be overprotective so I'm assuming that this could be a common trait in a Neo??? Thanks in advance Carly
You can try a few tricks though, that may help. Crates- help them feel secure. A set schedule really works for them. So they know what will happen next. Obedience helps. Work em out before you leave with a long walk- or try adding weights.
If all else fails- try Zanex. Your vet can give you a script. It does not change their personality at all, just takes some of their anxiety away. You can try a more natural route- there is melatonin or valerian as well. You can get those at any drug store or Vitamin Shoppe. _________________________ Nikki Agrippina Mastino
i really agree with Nikki and can attest to the benefits of a consistent schedule and exercise My Ellie cries if i am at the computer and she is on he couch! the crate is still an issue occasionally for Ellie, i have found that a consistent routine , and also good walk or play session prior to me having to leave in the day,all really makes a world of difference when we get off schedule ALL my dogs get cookaloo in different ways ,Nigel wants to destroy everything (like an unruly child )! Ellie cries her her heart out Stanley want's to eat everybody! and True becomes withdrawn and appears to be depressed , and detached. might sound crazy but this has been my observation.
i have never had to medicate ,but then i am in the country , and i am also in and out most of the time, so they aren't left for very long periods . good luck .
(also if i notice any of my dogs particularly outta wack or full of anxiety at anytime i have found even a 10 minute one on one walk or play session helps reduce the anxiety )
well deep, prolly don't let your dog drive a car until you know how the medication affects them
Seriously, I didn't see any. I used it for 4 days on a bitch that had issues with leaving her pups. Just enough to get her back into her normal routine. I have heard of people using it long term though without problems. It really does not change the dogs personality or make them really drowsy or anything. Just takes the edge of the anxiety off. _________________________ Nikki Agrippina Mastino
Hey thanks. Just wanted to make sure it was not just a trait of my dog. And I agree with all those options. He is perfectly fine during the week days where the routine is constant. Weekends he is with us a lot but if we know we need to go out at night we do find that keeping him active and tiring him out during the day makes it much easier. He loves his crate and although we dont shut the door any longer he will pretty much stays in there when we are not home. Although he is house broken and we could pack the crate up we dont have the heart too bc he really really loves it . I guess we will just see how it goes. he def has gotten better with being home alone. the leaving him in the car to run in a store is another thing but i guess if he still has problems we just wont be able to bring him along on errands. Main thing for me is that I dont want to increase his anxiety. So we will just accomodate him the best we can so that it is reduced as much as it can be. Its just been hard with where we live right now. We have even gotten people to come dog sit when we have to go somewhere. I just feel bad for my neighbors that live in the association with us. but once we move into our house we can start trying to break it. but yes for now I find that tiring him out works best. Thanks for all you help
My Scout doesn't like to be away from me either. The worst she was was in the car but nothing too serious, just lots of crying, barking and pacing (even if I just stepped out of the car and left her in it). I wanted to break her of that habit so I would take her with me to get gas. Go in and prepay cash (so I was away from the car for a few minutes at least) and then she would watch me pump the gas. I just worked my way up from there. I didn't move on to doing other things with her in the car until she was comfortable with me leaving to pay for and pump the gas. I was going to continue slowly but one day I HAD to leave her in the car for about 30 minutes unattended and I was a nervous wreck (as I couldn't see her to see what she was up to). When I went back out to the car I found her curled up and sleeping. Now I can leave her and she is fine. It worked for Scout but I don't know how bad it is for your dog. My advise would be to start slow like that and see if that works.
Joined: Tue May 06 2008, 10:54PM Location: Monroe, NY 10950 Posts: 145
To add, when leaving your dog don't make a big deal out of the goodbye. A pat on the head or a "See ya later boy" will do. If you get into the baby talk or get them excited, you will start the anxiety before you even leave. Do the same when you come home. Try to stay calm and assertive. I know it is hard because you may have missed him, but it helps the dog learn seperation.
My boy "Santino" Love the athletic Italian Bulldogs of the past. Happy to see many healthy examples here on this site.
JLBG that is great advice and from the little research I have done about breaking separation anxiety that is pretty much what is recommended. They say that leaving for 5 mins then coming back in again and again will help the dog to understand that it is not being abandoned. then you can increase the time of leaving him and continue doing that over and over again. I notice when I do run in to a store for a short trip he is much better and if he is not barking or crying I give him lots of praise when i get back in the car. if he is exhibiting those signs i just get in and ignore him. they say that a lot seperation anxiety is also brought on bc since the dog does not have a pact to be in with other dogs as they would in the wild they consider there family to act as that pact so when you leave they are left out so that is one of the reasons they could experience it as a young dog. I guess separation anxiety is one of the hardest things to break so congrats! I will continue with bringing him and leaving him for short periods of time to see if that helps. I also found that if sometimes i leave him with a treat that helps bc it preoccupies him.
Yveyant- that is exactly what we have done from the beg with him. we dont make a big fuss out of coming and going (it is really hard esp when you see that cute face so excited to welcome you home) but we found that that was part of the crate training and he does good with it. I ask him to go into his bed about 5 mins before I leave (that is if he isnt already in there) and then i just pat him on the head and say good boy and he is calm about it.
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