Our chocolate lab is now 15 months old and has been a problem child in some areas, but wonderful in others, so I'm trying to target each issue separately. My last post was about leash biting, and we've done very well with that training since. So I'm hoping to target the possible anxiety now. Specifically, he is a barking frustrated mess of a greeter. We constantly have to practice coming in the door and only approaching/rewarding when he is calm, but this has gotten us nowhere. And it is very difficult to ride with him in the car, or get him to the Vet, let alone take him around people (anyone but me and my husband) because he lunges, barks, and jumps. I've never seen any aggression though. He has been prescribed an anti-anxiety med by the Vet, recommended by a daycare we took him to (for extreme anxiety in their kennel), but it doesn't always help. But if left out all day while we're gone to work, he typically won't touch a thing. He barely moves around. He will hardly touch his toys and never eats the treats or bones left for him. I read on another thread that this could be separation anxiety. We used to leave him in a bedroom if we both worked a long shift and he would tear up everything. I just thought he grew out of it, but maybe it's just not as bad when we leave him in the living room? Any thoughts on this?
Do you know how the dog behaves when you leave? Have you filmed your dog? Put a harness on your dog. If you have a sedan buy a seat belt attachment, and clip him into the seat belt Hmm. Anxiety that you had left him? What triggers the anxiety at day care? Dogs will not outgrow separation anxiety. It will probably worsen. But as I suggested above, you need to film him for 10 minutes before you leave and about 1 hour after you leave. Watch the film and tell us precisely how your dog behaves.
