We have a 22-month male yellow lab who is frantic when one, but not necessarily all of us, leave the house. He no longer jumps up (usually), but his teeth chatter & he barks viciously running back & forth from the side door from which we depart to the living room window. Within a minute or two, he is perfectly calm, but it is very difficult on the individual who leaves. This is a long standing behavior issue. The vet suggested this might be a temper tantrum, but he is obviously very anxious & not even distracted by high-value treats. We recently stopped crating him during the day when all of us leave the house & stopped crating him at night several months ago. There is generally less than a three hour span when he is home alone. So far, there have been no issues with him getting into/destroying things. He gets two 2-3 mile walks/day & games of fetch & tug in between. Other dog owners have suggested adding a second dog. Any ideas?
Hello and welcome to the forum. This does, indeed, sound like anxious behaviour, so I would address his arousal level rather than trying to stop the behaviour directly. The simplest way to go about this is by breaking down your departure routines into tiny pieces and repeating each piece over and over, rewarding him for staying calm each time. So it may be something like: Pick up your shoes. Put a shoe on. Put two shoes on. Pick up your keys. Put on your coat. Put your hand on the door handle. Crack the door. Open the door fully. Walk out the door without closing it behind you. Return immediately. Walk out the door without closing it behind you. Count to 5 then return. Then 10, 15 etc. Walk out the door and pull it closed without it "catching". Return immediately. Walk out the door and pull it closed without it "catching". Count to 5 then return. Then 10, 15 etc. Walk out the door and close it fully. Return immediately. Walk out the door and close it fully. Count to 5 then return. Then 10, 15 etc. You would do each of these ten or more times (the same behaviour repeated over and over, rather than cycling through them), treating the dog for staying calm each and every time. If he can't stay calm with the step, break it down into something smaller - eg just reaching towards the keys instead of picking them up. Don't work through them all in a single session. Choose a behaviour and do just that one, then give him a few minutes before doing the next behaviour. You need to judge your dog as to when to move on. For example, if he doesn't react at all to you putting your shoes on, then you can combine it with, for example, picking up your keys. But, if he looks a bit unsettled with you picking up your shoes, continue with that one thing until he is relaxed about it. This might mean doing just that one thing ten times a session for several session a day over several days before he learns that it's not worth stressing about. What you're trying to do is replace his negative, aroused feelings about you leaving with positive, calm ones. It can take time. From my experience, a second dog doesn't necessarily help with separation anxiety. I have three dogs, one of which is anxious at being left, even though there are two other dogs for company.
