Ten month Doodle may have separation anxiety

[Audrey Alegre]

Hello, 

Otis all of a sudden started to hate his crate during the day. He cries for about 5 minutes after he is done with his Kong. He'll start to dig and bite his crate. We know this because we have a dropcam. 

The thing is, his schedule hasn't changed. He gets a walk or play date in the morning, another walk in the afternoon and a long walk after my husband and I go to work. He gets a pretty good amount of exercise.

We think this may be a case of separation anxiety as he doesn't like when we leave him in his crate during the weekends and he follows us around the house all the time. 

If anyone can give any advice or share experiences with crating, anxiet, etc,  that would be most helpful! As we are expecting a baby in a few weeks and Otis has been a little harder to deal with as he's getting older. 

Thank you! 

[Rachelle and Olive]

I am not an expert at all, but I would not classify that as separation anxiety only because I have seen a crazy example of it when my dog was a puppy. We would put Olive in the crate as a puppy for 3 hours in the morning while I was at work and she would cry every minute of those three hours, would have stress poop accidents that were real runny, she would step in it and track it and dig and paw at the crate. She would cut open her nose and head to get out of the crate and would not sit or lay down once the entire time. And she did all of that every single time she was left alone. We literally tried everything under the sun and read up on so much information and none of it worked. She got so much exercise and activity and that didn't help a bit. People still ask me if I tried this item or that and I just smile at them and say "yes I did." So her case was pretty severe and I am glad you're not dealing with that :) This too shall pass with your pup.

It seems to me that dogs usually go through some changes in their teenage development. But again, I am no expert. I agree with having to re-train certain behaviors or changing some things up. My vet advised me to only start letting the dog freedom out of the crate if you know for certain that there is nothing hazardous they can get into. She told me multiple cases that she sees all the time of dogs getting hurt because they weren't mature enough to handle freedom. 

I hope this little bit of information and my story helps you. Good luck!

[Audrey Alegre]

Thanks so much for the advice. I really appreciate it!
I definitely don't trust Otis to leave him in the house as he eats everything but I was thinking I can start with the kitchen and start with short amounts of time.

[Rachelle and Olive]

Yes that is a good idea! I actually tried that with Olive when she was a puppy in the kitchen with her crate still in there with the door open to see if that would help with her anxiety and she ended up jumping on top of the table, then on top of the crate and got her foot stuck. Thankfully she didn't get hurt but that was when the vet said that she should be in the crate for her safety. It was an emergency vet and she said she would always see people bringing in their dogs that got electrocuted from chewing wires too! Yikes! Now, Olive is 11 months and kicked her separation anxiety a while ago and I let her have free roam of the house while I am at work. She always checks to see if I left the pantry door open to get some food. I just make sure it is shut. And occasionally she will tear up a piece of paper if left out. But other than that, she is content with her toys and bone. Good luck and let me know how things are going.

[Audrey Alegre]

Our doodles are about the same age! How did you know you can trust Olive to get free roam in your house?
Thanks so much for all your advice! It really does help!