We adopted a 1 1/2 year old dog last week from our Humane Society. He's a mixed breed, looks to have German Shepard, Lab, Collie and who knows. We don't have any history on him as this shelter took him from another shelter that was overcrowed. He is really smart and learning so quickly, he is really calm in the house, has great manners, etc. Our problem is with his crate training. He sleeps in it at night without a problem (maybe 3 minutes of whining before he settles down), he's fine going in during the day and now will go in all on his own for his sleeps and we don't even close the door. BUT he gets extremely upset if we leave the house. Luckily my husband has been off all week working with him, and has gone out the past 3 days for about an hour and all has been good. Then today we were out for about 2 hours and the dog somehow got the bottom lock open, escaped from the kennel, chewed up the blinds and had the window screen ripped right off, lots of claw marks on the front door molding as well. It sounds like separation anxiety to me, and I'm really worried because my husband has to go back to work soon, and the dog will have to be in the crate for 4 hours at a time.

Does anyone have any ideas, or do we just keep doing what we're doing and today was just too big of a time alone jump? I can't afford some dog behaviourist to come in, we've already spent almost $1000 on adoption, supplies, vet bill, etc. but I am really really in love with this gorgeous boy already and can't even think of returning him!

Would doggy day care be a feasible option? I know you said you've already spent a lot of money, and can't really afford more, but would the day care be within your budget? Maybe even just twice a week, and hire a dog walker to come take him out two or three times a week. That might even help him to acclimate more to being a part of your family, and accept the fact that he has be to away from you for at least part of the time. As he begins to feel more secure about you going out, and learns to trust that you will indeed come back, he may settle down over time.

Also, have you considered leaving him a special treat for when you go out? A stuffed kong or a juicy bone, perhaps? This could help to keep him busy and take his mind off your absence, as well as creating a positive association for being alone.

This takes time..........first its all new to him and God only knows how many times he has been shuffled around that leads to the anxiety- Give the dog a shirt with your smell on it- there are also aroma therapy gizmos you plug in and it helps the dog relax- maybe plug it next to the crate.

You need to work with the dog by increasing the time away (10 min and up) rewarding and praising for the behaviour you want - being quiet and good. Give the dog a safe toy to have in the crate too.

Yes, we do give him a stuffed kong, and he starts to enjoy it, then as soon as we shut the door he just starts barking. I never thought of leaving a shirt or something for him though.

We may have to look at doggie daycare too, good idea even just for socialization. Unfortunately we can't do anything until he gets neutered in a couple weeks, I don't think the daycares will take him.

Thanks for the great ideas though. I think we'll just keep working at it and we just jumped ahead too quickly.

The other thing to remember is not to make a big fuss of him when you return home. This can be somewhat hard because of how lovely a doggy greeting can be, but best to simply walk by, put away the shopping or whatever and then give him a little pat. If he thinks you coming back is a big deal, then he'll also think that you going away is a big deal and act accordingly.

It worked great with my Samoyed, he used to get very agitated when we went out, now he just chills out on the balcony looking at cars going past. Oh and a pig ear or a specific chew toy that he only gets when you go out can be a great help too.

ps. good work on adopting an abandoned pet, dogs are too wonderful to be left in crowded shelters.

I feel your pain and welcome to my world. My Zoe has bad separation anxiety prob. We have tried the clothes, the plug in, the radio, the kong, the no crate, the crate. We broke her into us leaving slowly, everything we have done and are doing just haven't worked. We are working with the vet and the trainer. We just tried the wafer today, she seemed to kinda rest a little longer between the screeches and jumping and biting the crate. We only leave her for 3-4 hours at a time.

We just have to keep trying cause I just love her sooooooooo much! If you find a good solution, let me know. I guess I will try to see how much puppy care will cost.

Good luck!

[CorkyMax]

Put words--separation anxiety in dogs--in your browser-----Brings up many web results on this. They mention a lot of the same things that people have posted here but will give you more details and possibly some new ideas!!;-)

Have you tired him outside probably putting his crate outside? When he is outside your house he'll gets to see lots of things.

Originally Posted by millsandbones

Have you tired him outside probably putting his crate outside? When he is outside your house he'll gets to see lots of things.

I wish! Not in my neighborhood! Thanks though.

He has been in a shelter, which is a very stressful situation for any dog, and then he got put into a new home where there are new people telling him what to do and he is just very confused right now. i'm a dog trainer and you can e-mail me at trainobedience@yahoo.com and i can go over a lot with you on how to fix this problem. It takes patients and time, if you have that then he will do much better for this. I look forward to talking to you