Crate Separation Anxiety

[Kelly S.]

Hi All!

I am fairly new to Doodle Kisses and am loving everyone's advice!

My mini doodle, Zsusie, is 6 months old and I think she may have a case of separation anxiety.  She has been crate trained since about 8wks old, and does well when I put her in throughout the day when I am home, She plays and naps in her crate throughout the day, and she sleeps in her crate at night without any problems....

However whenever I leave she apparently screams bloody murder for the entire time I am gone (usually no more than 3hrs). When I get home she is usually extremely wound up, has shredded toys and blankets, and the tray at the bottom of the crate has been thrown across the room (Which i have no tied in to prevent it happening again). Apparently the whining/barking is so bad my neighbours thought she was dying or being abused!!!!

 

This has been going for a few months, and I have tried many different things since then... including putting one of my t-shirts in the crate with her (something w/my scent), having her in the crate multiple times throughout the day, verbally reprimanding her when I catch her, giving her treats when she is being good in the crate, a heating pad in the crate, putting on music, a "beating heart" pillow to try to help calm her, and giving her very special toys/treats while in the crate.... But nothing has helped!

 

I love her to death, and feel so bad that she is (or we are)  having such a hard time with this!

If anyone out there has any comments or advice, it would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

 

[Ginny Nightingale]

I would love to hear what people have to say--I have never dealt with this personally but I know that there are some other ideas, such as pheromones that are like plug in air fresheners and calm the dog --also meds that calm the dog. Talk to your vet, perhaps.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Me too.  Off the top of my head I worry that she may harm herself in the crate. I had two dogs who beat them selves up so bad in the crate, turned it over, and almost needed stitches.  If you do have to crate I would not leave anything in the crate the dog could shred  :(    Sounds like you have tried and I know how frustrating this can be. I have tried all that you have listed also.  I no longer use a crate when I am not home.  I use a gate between rooms and always leave a leg bone to chew for anxiety.

A monitoring camera might be used with the different techniques you are going to try to see how effective each remedy you try.

Some of the pheromone products have had great success.  We have a discussion in this group about those products.  I caution the use of plug in diffusers  though, as these can have harmful effects.  The collars have been used with great  success.  The downfall to collars are that they expire within a month and must be replaced--but so are all the toys and linens you place in the crate so this might be money well spent.

Also read about the Thundershirt!!  We have a discussion in this group also and it has received rave reviews in this group.

 

My girl was severe.   We have used medication + training combination with GREAT success.  I do not recommend one without the other.  But our situation was fear of ALL situations + we could not take her to a trainer without the meds.   The meds do NOT calm her, but actually take away so many fears that now she is much more active and playful.  But the meds she is on originally were for dogs who chewed themselves up so much when left alone that it was causing danger.  Our Medication is Clomipramine.  Consult your vet.   Actually consult your vet each time you go in about this situation.   They are very helpful.  We took our girl in several times for health monitoring, separation anxiety, and fear before we decided medication would improve her quality of life.

Stay with us here.  There are a lot of things to trouble shoot to help your dog.  Let us know what you are trying too.  We are all in these situations here and are working through the good and bad things together.

 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I know your pup is young.  At 6 months she is probably pretty good with her potty training.   Is it possible to gate off a room or small area?   Of course, puppy proof the area before you use it.  Then try 5 minutes for a few weeks, then 10 minutes for a few weeks.  Build up to the time to get her used to the separation.  Many times, small and frequents steps are the most successful.

You may just try this little area and step outside.  Then do it again over and over building up to a 15 minute ride to the corner store in a month or so.  See how that goes.

[Christine & Camus]

I did have a doodle with Extreme separation anxiety and found that the pheromones helped, but did not solve the problem.  I could not leave him alone, crated or uncrated, so he became my constant companion.  When he could not go with me I got a sitter for him.  Medication and a trainer was the recommended approach. 

Camus has what I call mild separation anxiety in combination with a few other fear issues. A combination of Clomipramine, the Sentry pheromone collar, and working with him on his fear issues (I am reluctant to use the word training as I am the one working with him and I am not a trainer) has really helped. The Sentry collar is amazing.  I did not replace it at the end of one month and he started to get very jumpy/skittish.  Got a new collar for him and within 30 minutes he was calm again. Pheromones are also available in a spray, which I am going to try.  You can spray (~ 10-15 minutes before needed) a bandanna for your dog to wear, a stuffed toy, blanket, small area, etc. I read some reviews on the "Only Natural Pet Phero-Soothe," and it sounds promising. This is the link http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Only-Natural-Pet-Phero-Sooth...  

 

I am very interested in what others will have to say or have tried and found effective for separation anxiety.

[Kelly S.]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!  I think I will definitely be trying a trainer in the new year, as well as possibly this pheromone collar. We'll see, hopefully there's some improvement soon!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'm wondering if your Vet can help you to find the right type of trainer to help with this issue.  I actually found the trainer I'm using for Murphy through my Vet.  She recommends a different trainer who runs classes for dogs without any real issues, and the one I'm using now for dogs with specific needs that wouldn't do well in a regular training class.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We had/have a dog with separation anxiety.  We didn't recognize the problem when he was a puppy even though we consulted behaviorists they didn't 'diagnose' it as such.  The point is we treated it as puppy destructiveness and didn't treat it as anxiety.  He got over the destructiveness, however it has resurfaced and when we leave him in our RV he howls even though he has other dogs with him.  It is very smart of you to address this now.