Separation Aniexty???

[Jamie and Penny Lou]

Hi All

I need some quick advice in regards to behaviors I BELIEVE are related to separation aniexty. So here is the deal:

 

Penny Lou is our 10 month old Labradoodle. She is very well behaved when we are around. She sleeps outside of her kennel--in our bedroom--our master bath seems to be her spot at night. After we got her fixed in December--she had a hard time getting in and out of her kennel with her cone on. (this is when she started sleeping in our room). We started leaving her out of her kennel--free reign of the main floor of our house-everything else gated off--when we would do short errands. She did wonderful! So we started slowly stretching the time out--and pretty soon she was up to the full 8 or 9 hours we were at work. No accidents, no damage, no nothing. It was wonderful--I feel guilty when I have to cage her up for that long during the day. So fast forward about 2-3 months later--and even when we leave her at home (out of the kennel) for shorter periods of time--lets say 1-2 hours when my husband and I work out or go to dinner--she EATS our walls! At first it was just stractching the front window sill, then she dug into the drywall below that--put 3 pretty significant holes through the plaster. Then we started blocking that window off. So she moved to the patio door--and has scratched the entire door frame up--so we blocked that off. Now she lays by the back door when we leave--and is starting to chew on the corner of the walls--eating into the plaster yet again!

 

I hate having to cage her all day--and then again when I get home to go workout. But I don't know what else to do--she keeps destroying our walls. She does not do this to the furniture--or at least not yet!

 

I've tried running her outside after I am home--giving her dinner and then leaving to get my work out in--but it doesn't seem to help!

 

Any ideas?! Is this separation aniexty? She doesn't get super excited when we get home--I mean, she is excited but nothing I haven't expereienced with other dogs. She goes to 'doggie daycare' two days a week and gets plenty of exercise. She gets daily walks and playtime.

 

HELP! :)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Does she do this when you leave her alone for your workout on the days she's been to Daycare for the day?

[Jamie and Penny Lou]

Not generally--she usually is so tired she sleeps all night after daycare. I just can't seem to tire her out enough after work to make her sleep and relax while I'm gone. :(

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

now that the weather is getting nicer, what if you tried incorporating Penny Lou into your workouts.  Instead of going to the gym, what if you took some longer walks with her and go to a park where you could do some squats and lunges or pushups on a bench.  Mix in some sprints with some walking so you get the exercise you need and she gets the attention and stimulation she might need.  See if that makes a difference.  Doodles like to be around their people and since she is still young maybe it is too much for her to be alone for 9 hours during the day and then for another 1 or 2 at night while you go and work out.  It might not make a difference but it couldn't hurt to try.

 

what happens on the weekends if you try to leave the house for a little bit? 

[Heather Martinez]

We used to keep Teddy in a pen in the kitchen, and we wanted to let him be outside the pen and just in the kitchen with a baby gate (during the day for about 8 hours). He started chewing the kitchen cabinets. I tried everything, but after finally posting a question about how to get him to stop, I realized he was just not ready to be outside of his pen yet. We put him back in the pen. After he turned 2 we tried him in the kitchen without the pen again and this time he was okay - no chewing. For about the past month we've finally started letting him be free in the house for a few hours at a time when we are gone and  so far so good. So I don't think it has to be separation anxiety - maybe she is just in a phase where she likes to chew and has not yet learned what is okay to chew and what is not. I would put her back in the pen and try it again when she is older.

[Mandy & Benny]

I had that issue with Riley and it took roughly a year for him to be able to be out on his own completely.  I had him at the point that he wouldn't get into anything if I left the house one time in the day.  I could be gone for 12 hours and he was an angel.  However, if I left to go to the store for an hour, hung out at home all day, and then left for an hour in the evening, my socks, underwear, and baseboards would be in shambles.  Those instances earned him more time in the crate while I was gone.  He eventually learned his lesson and was allowed out all of the time.  Give it more time, she will learn what you expect of her.  Good luck!

[BG and Gavin]

A women that I work with just went through this with her 10 month old GSD.  Her breeder said to go back to square one so there is no chance for her to practice bad behaviour and work your way back.  She said not to expect her to be reliable again until she is closer to two years of age.  Sorry :(

[Heather]

My Oliver is going to be 14 months old and is always very good when left alone. He does have my 2 year old Goldendoodle Ellie to keep him company. He will still every once in a while get into something. So we close All the doors to give him less space to wander. I do believe "2" is the age that it ALL seems to click!!! Give it another try when he's older and can't get into trouble.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I don't know if this is separation anxiety as our Murphy demonstrated his separation anxiety with crying and howling and peeing in the house when we left him for even an hour. At the time we weren't working and he was with us 24/7, so when we occasionally went out together and left him alone he acted so miserable. I left once and walked around the back of the house to observe him and I could hear him whining before I even saw him. He never destroyed anything though.
Bella does eat things, but she doesn't have separation anxiety at all, she just gets bored and looks for things to do. Have you tried Bitter Lemon spray also?

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Our Springer has separation anxiety which we didn't recognized as a puppy.  He destroyed couches, chairs, ate molding off the walls. His anxiety was such that we were unable to crate train him.  The trainer we consulted told us to leave him outside when we left home - something we were not going to do so we tried confining him and our other dog in our den kitchen area.  Gordie jumped, climbed, or pushed open any barrier we set up to block the open doorway.  He outgrew damaging things but never outgrew the anxiety totally.  He did become content to be at home as long as our other dogs were home with him, but he has a limit when in our RV (even with the other dogs).  Now instead of destroying  things in his anxiety, he howls. It is sooooo sad to hear him.  I feel that if we had consulted a trainer with a brain, we could have alleviated most of his anxiety.  Since he is now 9, we just adapt ourselves.