I have an almost 8 month old Chocolate Lab who has developed separation anxiety. Up until about 4 weeks ago he was pretty much ok with being left alone but we were notified by our neighbours after being out for a few hours that our dog was howling and barking constantly the whole time we were out. This has now progressed to a problem at night time where he can't be left alone without barking, howling and relieving himself on the floor. I have tried filling a hollow bone with mashed up biscuits and freezing it to keep him occupied but as soon as he finishes eating or he gets bored with it he starts the noise up again. Prior to this he was completely fine at night time only waking up between 6 and 7 every morning. Any advice would be gratefully received.
Re: Separation Anxiety Hello, welcome. There is a useful article here: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=404 The nighttime thing, and the barking when left alone, might be two different things. There are links at the bottom of the article to other articles that might help.
Re: Separation Anxiety My older dog suffers from a certain amount of separation anxiety. To be honest, we manage it as opposed to being able to have claimed to solved it. Overnight he's downstairs, no lights on, no noise. If he has an anxious phase - usually following a holiday or some other change in routine - we end up awake upstairs with pillows over our heads... but it does stop after a couple of nights of ignoring him completely. It may be in one of the articles that Julie linked in for you, but I know Pippa talks about using a water pistol at night if allowing him to howl isn't really an option (because of neighbours etc). She suggests shouting the verbal rebuke from your room, and then going down and following that up with a quick squirt, returning upstairs with no other interaction. If he is alone during the daytime, his anxiety levels definitely increase if he has too much space to 'patrol'. I shut him in the kitchen, with a kong, and the radio on. If I'm at home then the radio is on, so the noise is familiar to him - and I find that it's just enough to stop him going on high alert at every little noise outside. The postman laughs because he will bark like a big brave dog when I am at home, but apparently never makes a noise if he's home alone! If the kitchen were not at the back of the house, I'd leave him confined to a room at the back... However I do not have to leave him on a daily basis or for long. Have you got work commitments that mean you need to aim for a specific time period? What is he like when you are at home with him? Does he have to have your attention and be with you then? If so, it might help to work on him being alone and relaxed when you are in the house... You could do this with mat training, so he learns to settle in one place and gets a treat such as a kong, and you gradually move further away from him, within the same room and then to other parts of the house. Clare
Re: Separation Anxiety Separation anxiety in an older dog (that is, one that is no longer a new little puppy) takes time and effort and a change in practices to resolve. I think that it's beyond the scope of the internet. Funkymonkey, I think that you and your dog would benefit from the help of an experienced behaviourist. I'd ask your vet to recommend one who is experienced in this area. They will be able to take a full history from you, observe the way everything is happening now and work with you to develop a program to help your dog. I would very, very, very strongly recommend that you get good, experienced professional help with this. But the forum is always here to lend support throughout the ups and downs
Re: Separation Anxiety This is the topic I've been looking for! We're having similar problems with Dexter. Not at night but during the day. Say he is in the kitchen and I need to pop upstairs for something, I thought instead of putting him in his crate I'd give him a bit of independence (maybe that's we're I'm going wrong). No sooner I am at the top of the stairs, he whimpers then barks and then finds something chew. The cupboard under the stairs was a firm favourite before we got a lock put on the door ;-) I always leave him with a few toys, treats or his bone that he loves. I'm just a little worried for the future. I don't want him to be a dog that has to be kept in his crate when we go out. Do we think that's separation anxiety or just normal puppy behaviour? Having never owned a dog before I'm struggling to recognise the difference between the two.
Re: Separation Anxiety Hi Paige - I think Dexter sounds fairly normal rather than having separation issues. Lilly at 3 and a half follows me everywhere still, I can't take a pee without her following me into the bathroom. Not sure whether its a case of *she's getting up....must be food time....must follow* or whether its just dogs like to be in on the action whatever. She certainly has never had any kind of separation issues and always settled beautifully in her crate for overnight and work. We were lucky she wasn't really a chewer so were able to give her free access to the house quite early. Dex sounds pretty much on track to me - normal puppy
Re: Separation Anxiety Phew! Thanks Jacqui. Dexter is a very nosey dog. In all the cupboards, the fridge, the freezer. Typical labrador!
Re: Separation Anxiety My rescue lab had separation anxiety , So what my wife and i did was make a 10 minute recording each on our laptop of our voices reading a book then looped each recording multiple times . Then put on Ipod connected to stereo in living room and play recording when we go out and leave him in the kitchen with the door shut he assumes we are in the house . We also give him are very large roast bone bought from a large butchers near us , He is totally obsessed with the bone and it keeps him occupied for hours and he wont let go of it even on our return . Whatever going out treat you give your lab it or they need to last for as long as you are out that along with a recording in a separate room has worked very well for us . He could not be left for more than 2 minutes in a separate room all this we found out after leaving him for 20 mins and he scratched the front door urinated in the hallway amongst many other things , We set up camera to recorded him in order to assess his reaction and behaviour when been left . And we tried lots of different things after trawling the internet for days and trying each recommended method . We are now able to leave him for 6 hours without any issue at all and while we are in the house he will often go off and lay down in the hallway or kitchen and not show any interest in us . Better to try a few things just incase it becomes a bigger issue , Best of luck .
Re: Separation Anxiety Well done to both of you. That's really good suggestions . I don't currently having any problems with leaving Harley, but always good to know incase things change
Re: Separation Anxiety Thanks very much for the Mike! Never thought of doing something like that. I know whqt you mean about the roast bone. Dexter gets a postmans leg from a local pet shop and we forget we have a dog!
