Yup, another Separation Anxiety problem

[Lucy and Denzel]

Apologies for starting yet another thread on this old problem but it is actually getting worse!
We’ve had 4yr old Harley just 7 weeks since mid Nov and he’s always been a very upset when we have to leave him. We’re both working shifts in the NHS and work our hours around the dog, normally our days will clash just one day a week but occasionally it’ll be 2 days. On those days we’ve a dog walker mid morning come in and I’m always home for lunch so he’s alone for a max of 3hrs, if that.

I’ll hear him crying as I near the house and upon opening the door I’ll find he’s pee’d and often had a no2. He’s also turned the kitchen upside down and once even destroyed his bed!

We’ll usually walk him before we leave even at stupid o’clock and leave him with a goodie filled Kong, chew or pigs ear but he’s just not interested in them.
We originally started to leave him a few minutes then going back in without making a fuss and building it up 15mins, 30mins but he’d still go into a blind panic and often pee after just a few mins. There never seemed to be any improvement.

Apart from this he’s a wonderful dog but we’re running out of options and feel this is doing the little fella more harm than good as it looks like he’s actually getting worse. 

[theshrew]

Whats his background ?

[Lucy and Denzel]

His previous family, a mum and her two sons 7 & 9, he no previous signs of anxiety apparently.
Spoke to her last week and she said she used to leave him up to 3 hours with a few toys and the radio on when she went out. Weekdays she was able to take him to work with her but during the 1st lockdown she lost her job, she found another but had to leave Harley with an elderly relative during the day. I believe the relative was unable to give Harley much exercise if any.
So that’s the first big change of routine.
Six months later she makes the decision to rehome him because her elderly relative is unable to cope with a young ball obsessed spaniel and she knows it’s not fair on the poor dog.
The second big change, a new home.
We are home quite a bit, both part time and both shift workers, so it’s not often he’s left alone.
As said earlier we’re trying to get him used to us going out, closing the front door walking around the block for a few minutes then coming back or leaving him in a room and closing the door behind us to make a cuppa rather than him accompanying us to the kitchen but if we go out for any length of time i.e. shopping we’ll come home to mayhem. He trashed the kitchen earlier this week!!!
We both know this is going to take a looooong time but is there anything else we could be doing?

 

[caro]

Hi Lucy,

What does he do when you leave him downstairs for example and you are upstairs?  Our Sam is only 10 months and we’ve found him much more able to tolerate this now but he used to whine when left downstairs even for a short time.

We still haven’t left him at home more than an hour but I’ve been researching separation anxiety as our last dog had it and I don’t want to go through it again but with bring at home so much it’s always a worry.

Can you play games in the house such as sit and stay/wait then find it? Or just say wait and then go out the room with the door open and ask him to wait/stay then reward?  I was watching Cesar Milan just the other day and he said to build it up from that so it’s like a game or a challenge.

Harley does seem to be at the extreme end of the scale though and you might need a behaviourist to help. You could find the Facebook group set up by Julie Naismith but her methods can take years to work as it’s such tiny increments.

I’m so sorry you are going through this x

[Lucy and Denzel]

Can you play games in the house such as sit and stay/wait then find it? Or just say wait and then go out the room with the door open and ask him to wait/stay then reward?  I was watching Cesar Milan just the other day and he said to build it up from that so it’s like a game

My other half has had to isolate this week as the Covid T&T app alerted her she’d been in contact with someone who’d tested positive (bit difficult not too in our business...) and working with Harley both indoors and the garden with games including wait/stay, go find and getting him used to spending time in his own company and becoming more independent. It seems to be working because when we let him out into the garden he’ll spend more time exploring and having a good sniff around when before he’d go out, have a wee and want to come straight back in.
It’s just unfortunate that she can’t pop out and leave him indoors because she’s not allowed out for 10 days.