[Lunareclipse]

Porter has tore up 3 crates and chewed up half of my house. We put peanut butter bones and other things in the crate, but he doesn't want them. He has to be where he can see me at all times. We even tethered him to the wall once when we left and he chewed threw a steel cable. We leave him toys and bones but he likes to chew up things he isn't supposed to. We have a metal back door and there is a large dent in the door where he slams himself up against it after we close it. This is pretty serious. He is going to hurt himself if we can't figure out what to do. The vet suggested some airline cable and he chewed through it in 4 hours. I do think one day he will eventually break our door down.

Until I can figure out a permanent solution, I might need to get a seditive from the vet to give him before we leave. It would be safer than having him get out and run the town.

[lange]

Wow That is very extreme, I can't imagine what's going through his mind when he becomes so upset. Poor Porter. Is it possible to leave him out in the yard when you go out? Maybe he would react differently then?......

[Lunareclipse]

Originally Posted by lange

Wow That is very extreme, I can't imagine what's going through his mind when he becomes so upset. Poor Porter. Is it possible to leave him out in the yard when you go out? Maybe he would react differently then?......

We can't. He can climb over the top of the kennel. We tied him out once with a lighter weight tractor chain and since he couldn't chew the chain he pulled until his collar broke. I need to also find a chain collar that is not a choker chain. I was thinking if I can't find one, I need to go get a chain and padlock it around his neck. He is the ultimate escape artist. And he only does it when we are gone. I thought great pyrenees were supposed to be able to be left alone to guard their flock. But Porter doesn't like to be left alone. He is the most wonderful doggie while we are home. It's when we're gone that he goes nuts.

[lange]

Originally Posted by Lunareclipse

I thought great pyrenees were supposed to be able to be left alone to guard their flock.

I thought the same exact thing when you posted about his SA. You get one that breaks the mold. ..Have the sedatives helped at all?

[Lunareclipse]

Haven't gotten sedatives yet. I am trying to save that as a last resort. But it looks like we will have to ge them anyway. We left the house for a few hours a few days ago and he clawed the floor so much that he wore his toenails down past the quick and they were bleeding when we got back. We went somewhere this evening and took him with us. We left him in the car while we went in to eat and we sat near the window to keep an eye on him and he was spazzing out in the car. As soon as he saw me in the window, though, he calmed down and laid down on the seat. His worst seperation anxiety seems to be when I'm not with him. It doesn't matter if someone else is with him. He flips out until he sees me again.

[fairydogmother]

Wow, I am really sorry to hear that you furry friend is having such a hard time. I have a couple of Pyrs myself, one of them rescued from an abusive situation. Angel is SUPER protective of me to the point that my husband dang near had to ask permission to come in the house. (When I first brought her home it was just me, her and the other poochies; my husband is an OTR driver and did not get to meet her for the firs week and a half she was in the house.)

So that makes me wonder if you have had him the whole time or did you adopt him when he was older? If so the SA could be triggered by something that happened in his past. In the mean time, I have a suggestion for you to try. Treat it kind of like training them to "stay"; it doesn't matter that you leave they need to know you are coming back. To get the dog to stay you have to reinforce that you are returning to them. Maybe you could just spend some time each evening going out the door, waiting a few minutes and coming back in and when you come in, give him a treat IF he is not already freaking out. Do to the severity of his SA it will probably take a while and a lot of love and patience to over come. I know you must already have all of those qualities because you got a Pyr in the first place! Good luck with you baby.

[Lunareclipse]

We adopted Porter from a shelter about a month or a month and a half ago. I would like to redirect his seperation anxiety into "guard the other doggies while i'm away" How do i go about doing that?

[fairydogmother]

Do you know how long he was in the shelter? Or anything about where he came from? Does he play with the other dogs? I think if you can get the SA nipped in the bud the rest will fall into place.

I would bet that his SA is stemming from his shelter stay; sounds like he was pretty starved for attention. My girl, Angel was totally freaked out about the stairs at our patio door and the tile in the kitchen. She broke her leg as a pup and the cast made her slide all over the place so she doesn't like slick floors. Previous owners had no patience with her when she would get scared and would literally yank her across the floor by the leash. She still isn't fond of them but now she will tolerate it enought to get where she is going. So I think if you try the little exercise I mentioned in the previous post he would eventually realize his humans are not abandoning him. When you come back in the house give him a little treat and LOTS of love and praise. When I say LOTS, I mean to the point you would be embarrassed by how goofy you look if someone walked in and caught you. lol Pyrs are very social animals, they LOVE their humans and most generally like to just be in you presence and you will usually find that they have to be touching you, i.e. laying on you feet, leaning against you leg, putting a paw on your foot.

[Nerodia]

I would also like to offer a suggestion. Our Aussie pup Mirren was also doing separation anxiety (although she just expressed it through ceaseless whining, yipping, and climbing on things and knocking them over). We did a couple of things that seemed to help:

1. Stopped making a big deal when we left the house
2. Minimized affection for awhile (about a month?), only giving it as a reward for her doing something we wanted.

It felt to us like we were being excessively stern, because, like you, we love smooching up our dogs. BUT...it helped.

I'm kind of a fan of Cesar Millan, and his recipe for a well-balanced, happy dog is as follows:

1. Exercise
2. Discipline
3. Affection (affection is for us, not the dog)

Dunno if that helps...?

Let us know how it goes!

[reeskujo]

Wow Luna that is pretty severe!...let me ask you...If you leave but hubby is at home what does he do or say when Porters anxiety starts up? Who's putting him in crate or confining him when you guys leave? Have you tried crating him for a small amount of time during the day when you at home? Also when you get home and let him out of his crate or however your having to confine him at this point what kind of attention are you giving him?

[Lunareclipse]

Originally Posted by reeskujo

Wow Luna that is pretty severe!...let me ask you...If you leave but hubby is at home what does he do or say when Porters anxiety starts up? Who's putting him in crate or confining him when you guys leave? Have you tried crating him for a small amount of time during the day when you at home? Also when you get home and let him out of his crate or however your having to confine him at this point what kind of attention are you giving him?

Ryan ignores Porter when he acts like that, other than telling him to knock it off. I put him in the crate and he's ok as long as he can see me. If I cover the crate or go to a different room, he tears the poor crate apart to get out. I have never been able to let him out of the crate when I get home. Every crate was tore up by the time I got home. The only attention he gets right now is from other people. He doesn't get any from me since his anxiety is only when I'm gone. The only interaction I really have with him is taking him out to potty.

[reeskujo]

Originally Posted by Nerodia

I would also like to offer a suggestion. Our Aussie pup Mirren was also doing separation anxiety (although she just expressed it through ceaseless whining, yipping, and climbing on things and knocking them over). We did a couple of things that seemed to help:

1. Stopped making a big deal when we left the house
2. Minimized affection for awhile (about a month?), only giving it as a reward for her doing something we wanted.

It felt to us like we were being excessively stern, because, like you, we love smooching up our dogs. BUT...it helped.

I'm kind of a fan of Cesar Millan, and his recipe for a well-balanced, happy dog is as follows:

1. Exercise
2. Discipline
3. Affection (affection is for us, not the dog)

Dunno if that helps...?

Let us know how it goes!

As a dog trainer there are some but few things I agree with when it comes to Cesar...His take on affection is for us and not for dogs is one of them!...While there are times that affection is not appropriate, such as when a dog is exhibiting a negative behavior....However dogs are pack animals and since humans have domesticated them we have become their pack....Dogs need human affection it is one of the ways they learn how to socialize with people in a positive way...Let's also remember that they show us love and affection all the time and unconditionally at that....What are you teaching a dog if you are not giving it back? I have seen the damage done by people who don't show their dogs affection all to often...They can become withdrawn,depressed, they can also become frustrated because the attention and affection they're trying to get is not being given, and when dogs become frustrated they tend to be destructive to release that frustration...Dogs are living,feeling creatures that we have chosen to bring into our homes...They not only want but need affection especially because they are pack orientated...Again there are times affection is not appropriate but to deny it or give lack of it knowing the damage it can cause to the dog mentally in my opinion is not just bad advice but cruel as well.

Originally Posted by Lunareclipse

Ryan ignores Porter when he acts like that, other than telling him to knock it off. I put him in the crate and he's ok as long as he can see me. If I cover the crate or go to a different room, he tears the poor crate apart to get out. I have never been able to let him out of the crate when I get home. Every crate was tore up by the time I got home. The only attention he gets right now is from other people. He doesn't get any from me since his anxiety is only when I'm gone. The only interaction I really have with him is taking him out to potty.

Have you tried putting him in the crate,going outside for a certain amount of time and then coming back in?...granted it does time some time but that is one thing that can be helpful...Also how soon does he start up when he realizes you're leaving...For example my Husky Nina would start the minute hubby would pick up the car keys.

[Lunareclipse]

Originally Posted by reeskujo

As a dog trainer there are some but few things I agree with when it comes to Cesar...His take on affection is for us and not for dogs is one of them!...While there are times that affection is not appropriate, such as when a dog is exhibiting a negative behavior....However dogs are pack animals and since humans have domesticated them we have become their pack....Dogs need human affection it is one of the ways they learn how to socialize with people in a positive way...Let's also remember that they show us love and affection all the time and unconditionally at that....What are you teaching a dog if you are not giving it back? I have seen the damage done by people who don't show their dogs affection all to often...They can become withdrawn,depressed, they can also become frustrated because the attention and affection they're trying to get is not being given, and when dogs become frustrated they tend to be destructive to release that frustration...Dogs are living,feeling creatures that we have chosen to bring into our homes...They not only want but need affection especially because they are pack orientated...Again there are times affection is not appropriate but to deny it or give lack of it knowing the damage it can cause to the dog mentally in my opinion is not just bad advice but cruel as well.



Have you tried putting him in the crate,going outside for a certain amount of time and then coming back in?...granted it does time some time but that is one thing that can be helpful...Also how soon does he start up when he realizes you're leaving...For example my Husky Nina would start the minute hubby would pick up the car keys.

He tries to climb in my lap the moment I go to put my shoes on. I have put my shoes on several hours before I had to leave and he was up my butt the whole time I had my shoes on. I went outside to put my shoes on and he went nuts the moment I closed the door.

[reeskujo]

Originally Posted by Lunareclipse

He tries to climb in my lap the moment I go to put my shoes on. I have put my shoes on several hours before I had to leave and he was up my butt the whole time I had my shoes on. I went outside to put my shoes on and he went nuts the moment I closed the door.

You know I have to wonder if this isn't a combination of things..One obviously the SA,but also his protective instinct and perhaps since you have the two other dogs a form of dominance in the sense that he's trying to claim you for yours?

When I brought Nina home we had already had Kujo for 3yr.s...He was obviously the alpha as far as the two of them were concerned especially being an Akita...Nina was also a very dominant personality right from the start....when she realized that she wasn't going to take his spot both by him reinforcing it as well as me she immediately latched on to my husband and low and behold the SA started. She didn't care if the rest of us were home or not...

We finally had enough of her detroying blinds and whatever else she could find and started doing things a little different...We started with reinforcing that Kujo was over her...he was allowed to go to his food bowl first,out the door first to go potty, as well as when they came to us for attention. Since she would try and push past Kujo we would make her sit and stay and when we were done giving him attention she was allowed to get up and get hers...

I also started having hubby go outside for 5 minutes and come back in ignoring her when he did until we extended the time to a half hour....Since she would start the minute he grabbed the keys I started having him give her a treat at the same time he was picking them up so she learned to associate that with something positive...I would then make him ignore her when he left and when he came home he gave her no attention until she settled down...however since Kujo would calm down with in 5 minutes of realizing you were ignoring him he got attention....

Mind you this was no quick fix!...It was at least a good 6 months before we saw a difference in her...However over time she slowly but surely improved to the point that she didn't have to be confined at all...As severe as Porter is I don't think there's a quick fix....It may not be a bad idea to get him some mild sedatives as your working through it...especially since dogs that have SA have a very hard time coping with the anxiety because they don't understand it that it can make the behavior even worse.

[Lunareclipse]

He doesn't seem that bothered by the other dogs and he doesn't seem to be claiming me as his over the rest of the dogs. He is ok as long as I am in the same room. He even goes and lays with the other dogs. It's if I go to leave the rooom or leave the house or go to the bathroom. He has even tried to sit on me while I'm trying to pee. It has become seriously hard to do a whole lot while he is in the same room with me and he goes nuts when I'm not in the same room with him. He does have some guarding instincts though. I dropped an iron skillet on my foot and hollared and he attacked the skillet. I told him it's dead now, you can stop and he went and laid down. I went to pick up the skillet and he jumped up and put himself in between me and skillet and refused to let me get near it. So I left it until Ryan got home.

[reeskujo]

Has the vet had any suggestions other then sedatives because it seems like your doing everything right.

[Lunareclipse]

The vet told me to interact with him as little as possible and have everyone else do everything for him so that he would transfer some of his obsession for me over to some of the other family members. She said it could take a while. And she suggested I get a pheromone thing from the pet store to plud into the wall. And she said if that doesn't work then she could prescribe an antidepressant for when
i go away.

[reeskujo]

It seems like time is going to be the thing....I sure hope he settles down for you soon.

[fairydogmother]

Originally Posted by Lunareclipse

He does have some guarding instincts though. I dropped an iron skillet on my foot and hollared and he attacked the skillet. I told him it's dead now, you can stop and he went and laid down. I went to pick up the skillet and he jumped up and put himself in between me and skillet and refused to let me get near it. So I left it until Ryan got home.

lmao! i would say more than "a little" guarding instinct! oh geez, i laughed so hard at the killing th skillet thing. Ratchet (my 7 month Pyr) has tried to kill the washing machine more than once when it has gotten unbalanced and started banging around.

Just something else to try... when you have to push him away or off of you for whatever reason use your foot or leg to nudge him away because they associate your hands with affection. I had to do that with my both of my puppies to get them to stop jumping on me and it worked.

[Lunareclipse]

Originally Posted by fairydogmother

lmao! i would say more than "a little" guarding instinct! oh geez, i laughed so hard at the killing th skillet thing. Ratchet (my 7 month Pyr) has tried to kill the washing machine more than once when it has gotten unbalanced and started banging around.

Just something else to try... when you have to push him away or off of you for whatever reason use your foot or leg to nudge him away because they associate your hands with affection. I had to do that with my both of my puppies to get them to stop jumping on me and it worked.

That's funny. Porter won't even go in the basement where the washer is at. He just stands at the top of the stairs and whines until I come back up. You have to get a video the next time your pyr attacks the washer. I'd love to see it.