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 is doing SOOOO well in almost all areas, except 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!

 

[28m8zeod7x4sq]

I anxiously await replies to your post.  My 4 1/2 month old puppy has many of the same behaviors. He cries, barks, carries on when we leave, as well.  I can even hear him when I get in the garage and am inside my car!  I have tried many things as well.  For a while, I felt so guilty, I would wait to leave until someone else in the family came home.  I was feeling like I was being held hostage by a puppy!   Now I just leave, and hope as time goes by, he starts to understand that I will come back.  Let's hope we both get some good suggestions!

[Sally]

i wont be able to be a member of puppy madness after 12/23 as Duncan will turn 2! He was a very unhappy camper in his crate when i left. He never destroyed anything but would cry, howl, whine and basically never settle down. I would set a video camera to see how he would behave. He just was always alert and never once would lay down in the crate.

I did everything including some "desensitization" techniques a behaviorist gave me. It is all about doing these things.

1. change up your routine. For instance if your coat goes on and zsusie gets anxious then you know that might be something that signifies you are leaving. Sometimes it is keys. Anyway, just try not to do things in the same order everyday. Also, sometimes put your coat on but then don't leave. Just walk around the house with it. Or pick up your keys and then put them down a few times a day. The key is that you have to find the time to do this regularly.

 

2. Try leaving for 1 minute and then come back. go in and out of the house lots of times each day for a minute and then return.

 

Duncan never accepted being left alone in the crate, even when i was home. The crying did get less as he got older. His big breakthrough was when we graduated to being baby gated to the living/dining/kitchen area. I would have him lay down on his dog bed and give him a cookie. I would tell him STAY. He would stay and watch me with the saddest eyes but the crying stopped. He's now almost 2 and since he was always waiting downstairs by the front door for me i have moved his dog bed right down there. He now knows when i'm getting ready to leave and actually runs and lays down on his bed. He knows he's getting a cookie. He still isnt' thrilled that i'm gone but he will just lay on his bed and stare at the front door waiting for me. He has never been destructive so i think his anxiety never got as serious as it could have.

Zsusie is still so young. If you put the time in now it could save you in the future. Also, it could be the aversion to the crate itself. Some dogs just hate them. Funny now because duncan's crate stays open all the time and he loves it. He takes his toys in there all the time.

 

Good luck. Try and stay relaxed and calm and make every leaving or coming home experience as even as possible. no excitement. They need to learn that this is just part of routine. and do not give any affection to the pup until he's settled down and relaxed. you don't want to reward for being in an overly anxious or excited state.

 

 

[Sarah, Bruno & Dudley]

Bruno was like this when he was a puppy, and this is what my trainer told me to do. Start leaving the house in really small increments of time. Crate her up and leave for a minute, then two, then five, and so on and so on. And suprisingly it worked with Bruno. It takes time, but it's so worth it. I also would give him a good long walk right before I went anywhere and then filled his Kong with some treats. They have the Kong Puppy filler that you can squirt in there and put a few pieces of food stuck in it. It seemed to distract me leaving, and then he just kind of forgot about it.

Good luck

[Lynda Kamrath]

I know it sounds mean, but ignore the behaviors you don't want to encourage.  I left my dogs in the laundry room for five days while my husband was out of state at a funeral and I was working every day at an Art/Estate sale.  They did a little tearing up and I would just come home and welcome them out of the laundry room and then go in and clean up while they were playing outside.  The hard thing to ignore was the shredded drywall on one wall.  There were plenty of toys, open crates, beds, and things to explore, but I think a little anxiety was going on.  My neighbor came over one day to let them out into the back yard for a little romp and potty break.  Luckily we have no close neighbors, but I don't think they howled or cried because that never gets any attention from us.  They probably have bad associations with the laundry room because that is also where all the grooming goes on.

[Kelly S.]

Oh Thanks everyone for the suggestions!  She is still so young, I am definitely hoping to resolve this before it turns into something much bigger!

I think my biggest problem is my complaining neighbours (I live in a condo building), they have even gone so far as to complain to the superintendent (which is very bad!).  I wouldn't have too much of a problem leaving her (ignoring the crying), but my neighbours definitely do!

 

Zsusie just had her Spay surgery and got some teeth extracted yesterday, so I'm thinking recovery time is not the best time to train... but I'm definitely going to try some of your suggestions, and i'll let everyone know how it's going!

 

[shelly]

Kelly - we got Tori a "Thundershirt" which is supposed to work wonders for the type of behavior you are describing.  It works on the same idea of swaddling a baby...  I don't know what other types of behavior she has when left in her crate, or what type of crate you have, where the shirt may get caught if she thrashes around, but it's worth looking into and it only costs $35.00 and you can return it if it doesn't work.  We got it for Tori because she is a barker and gets very hyper when visitors come over.... maybe this will help.  You can google Thundershirt and there are a few videos you can watch....Good luck!