Seperation anxiety and then some

[rubyduby]

Amber is only 9 months old and has suffered from anxiety from day one, initially we put it down to her being a baby and somewhere new, but it hasn't changed and tho she has never been left alone, either myself or my OH have always be with her, including our 9 yr Old Cocker Topaz, she is still anxious and doesn't even tolerate one or other of us if either of us goes out she whinges for the other, noticeably more for me as I do all the feeding walking and cuddling, we cant leave her alone as she sits and wails like a child . Being left ALONE I can totally understand, but getting upset even when there is another person in doors has me stumped, she is the first dog that has suffered from this problem in our 40 yrs of constant Cocker ownership. Any suggestions, or similar experiences

[Gerryjane]

If you join a Facebook group called Dog Training Advice and Support DTAS, there is lots of good reading and info on teaching pup how to be alone through eg The Flitting Game. It’s important to work below threshold so if pup struggles alone after 10 seconds you leave for 9 seconds. It can be a long process but worth the work I think. We have used this approach with Toby now 7 months. If my OH is home I can now leave the house and pup watches me go and I can go upstairs without him howling. He will go to another room alone out of choice and we are now working on a door closing between us. This might not seem much but it is huge progress compared to where we started.