[yogivt]

Hi there!

I adopted my lab x german shepherd x pitbull (those are our guesses) last month. Vet estimates her age to be 2-3. She was in a high-kill shelter down south and was saved by a rescue organization. She is SWEET as pie, totally lovey and calm and perfectly mannered. She is a true velcro dog and wants to follow me everywhere. She is great off-leash outside, impeccable manners when leashed, no jumping, never barks, always comes when called, perfect in cars, and is a complete couch potato in the house. Basically she is amazing.

BUT

We do have a huge problem. When I leave, her training goes out the window. She has chewed two walls and had a few explosive poopoos, she sheds & drools like crazy (vet says because of nervousness), and she barks/whines/scratches incessantly. I got a metal bar crate because I wasn't quite ready for the deconstruction of my house. She loves her crate and hangs out in it when I am home, and I feed her meals in it. I left her in her crate while gone for an HOUR the other day and bent all the bars in the front and dragged the crate across the room somehow. I came home to a room/crate/dog covered in BLOOD because she broke her front nails in her frantic anxiety. The vet gave me sedatives to wean her off of and calm her while I am gone... so I left her in the crate the next day for an hour on the drugs. She bent bars on the other side of the crate and dragged it across the room again.


Things I have tried or have been doing:
-she gets run 30 minutes every morning and is exhausted when we are done
-radio on
-lights on
-stuffed animals that squeak in her crate (she loves these!)
-favorite bones in crate
-kong ball with peanutbutter in crate
-treats in crate
-blankets in crate
-Desensitization: I practice leaving and go through "leaving steps"... she is fine until I am actually gone, then she loses it

she will not TOUCH toys, treats, or her beloved kong ball when I am gone. She dumps her water over and throws the food everywhere like a crazy girl. She has a total absolute meltdown.

Another note- if somebody, anybody else is home and she can follow them around, she is fine. I am not in a position to get another dog and I don't know if I am being fair to her by keeping her and forcing her to be alone some portions of the day. Should I keep working through this or see if a busier household or somebody who could bring her to work will take her? She is SO good and I love her to pieces, but I cannot bear to DRUG her all the time. I feel terrible and have shed quite a few tears over her. My first dog was a little peekapoo who died in November after 14 years and she always managed to entertain herself while I was gone. I am not sure what to do.

THANK YOU!

PS I have read the other posts on SA but was hoping for some further insight of some sort... advice... who knows!

[cigwyllt]

Oh my goodness - what a hard time you are having. The only thing that you haven't mentioned is DAP - dog appeasing pheromone. You can get it in a spray or in a diffuser and lots of people have found that they make a big difference.

[yogivt]

I did get her a collar with pheromone and lavender/chammomile on it... not helpful. It does make her smell better though

[lange]

Have you tried covering her crate? Or better yet trying a plastic crate and moving it into a different room? One of my dogs feels safest crated in the basement when he gets anxiety over firework noise. They also sell a dog anxiety shirt which was quickly discussed in a previous thread(Thundershirt Anxiety Solution?). It may help bring some comfort to your dog.

[yogivt]

I do have her crate covered, and we have tried a few locations but no difference.

The Thundershirt! I looked at that... do you have any experience with it or know any true success stories? It makes sense. My roomate works at a facility for abused children and they use weighted vests and blankets there for anxiety.

[lange]

If you click on the link you;ll see Sara has used it on one of her dogs. When I first heard about this shirt it was because people were talking about how it had helped their dogs with their fear of storms & they were swearing by it. I haven't heard first hand info on how dogs w/SA have done but I would def give it a try since it obviously has some calming abilities.
I hope your baby finds some relief for both your sakes.

[yogivt]

Is it possible that she will just grow out of this?

[cigwyllt]

My oldest dog is 13 now but was dreadful when we first brought her home as a young adult. She would go to pieces if I left her for 5 minutes to go to the bathroom she would wreck something. We found that she was happiest being contained and that managed the problem for a number of years. Now she is fine when left with our other dogs.

However, a couple of years ago we had a very upsetting incident with her. The dogs are left alone in the kitchen with a tall gate separating the kitchen from the dining area. On this occasion the gate wasn't closed properly and the two terriers squeezed through the gap. Toffee panicked at being left alone and became trapped in the gap.

She didn't suffer any permanent damage but she was very sore and uncomfortable for a while afterwards and now has a large lump on her shoulder.

Aside from that, she is far more relaxed than she was when we first had her.