Canine Separation Anxiety – I Have Never Seen It This Bad. I Am At A Loss.?
February 28th, 2010 | 
Author: I have trained dogs for many years and I trained my own service dog to boot. He does 55 commands, so although I don’t know everything, I have a pretty good clue with dogs.
I adopted a Shepherd from our local dog pound some 2 weeks after he had been found, on last Friday. Nobody claimed him. I went in and saw him during the week so he knew me.
He has attached himself to me alarmingly too much.
At first, I took him around town and today I left and came back to a broken front screen where he went through our window. A neighbor found him running back and forth in front of the house looking for us. She opened her van (like ours) and he went right in.
He was in a state of panic. Tonight I returned again and he pooped, tore blinds off, broke a bamboo room divider down, glasses all over the floor because he was on our counters, and he must have had an awful time. Back door open the entire time and he could have gone out.
I love him already. I fear he’s been terribly abused. more below
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Talk to a vet about medications that can help, this dog is obviously very distressed and that is bad for a dog’s health. Find a trainer skilled in this area and consider reading Patricia McConnell’s
I’ll Be Home Soon
http://www.fearfuldogs.com/books.html
55 commands ….wow…can it program the VCR?
I don’t believe in any unnecessary meds for dogs, but I really think this poor guy needs some vet prescribed tranquilizers. He’s a danger to himself (and your house).
If you get him the meds to calm him, you can work on behaviour modification. Perhaps you could get a behaviourist to help with him? I think both you and this dog need some help to get through this terrible time right now until he calms some and starts to trust that he’s not going anywhere and relaxes to the point that you can work with him.
i would kennel him at home when you are not there to keep him safe. when you are home tons of attention. how old? although they held him for 2 weeks is there a way that he could have beed lost and the other family is still looking for him. he might just be missing they and thinks you will leave him too. it is so hard with rescues. i foster dogs and cats they need so much love.
Don’t rehome him!!! it sounds like hes been through a lot! I also adopted a shepherd when he was a puppy from my local shelter and he too has gone through the whole attachment/abandonment issue. i was getting concerned about this as it was causing him so much stress every time i left the house, so i called a trainer and asked a few questions. apparently in shepherds, one of their qualities is that they feel they have a duty to protect their owners. because of this they grow attached to one person particularly, and when that person leaves, they panic and fear being abandoned. i was told that this abandonment issue was not a result of my puppy being abused or abandonded by a previous owner, but its because of his breed. the trainer told me to crate my puppy when i wasnt home to keep his destructiveness at bay, and that my dog would realize after a while of becoming more comfortable in the house and with me that he would outgrow this. it took about four months, but now i can let him out of the crate and he now has a lot less problems with me leaving him around the house. it also helps if you leave the dog with lots of toys and bones to distract him. your problem sounds exactly like what i went through….stick it out, try the crate and giving you dog attention and love and i’m sure he will outgrow this phase as he gets more comfortable. good luck! i wish you and your dog the best! kudos on adopting…its a great thing to do!
He needs to know that everything is ok when your away..and that you will be back for him.
While he’s inside.. crate train him..place him in the crate with some great doggy toys or a shirt with your scent.. leave the room for a while.. then come back.. pet him praise him for ’staying put’ while your away…praise him the most when he’s in his kennel and when he’s in his kennel.
make these his safe places.. feed him treats here..give him play timein those areas. When you come home.. pet him through the crate mesh.. or pet him in the kennel before releasing him to the yard or house…
He’s still getting use to being without and until he figures it out .. you have to help him cope. Good luck!
My sister in law’s mom has 7 great danes and a couple of them had this problem. She finally ( after one broke through a glass window to get to her) got a very mild sedative from the vet. She gave it for a month or so and used the time to retrain like crazy. The sedative took the edge from the dog and seemed to calm it enough that it “learned” that it wasn’t going to be abandoned sooner.
Poor little thing. I am glad you won’t abandon him. Please don’t ever change your mind!! Puppies and dogs need all the love in the world.
I wouldn’t drug the dog; I would kennel him when you’re not home. Maybe do it a little at a time over a couple of days so that he knows you’re coming back.
Put him in the kennel and leave for 10 minutes, come back and let him out. A bit later, do it again for 20 minutes, come back and let him out. Keep increasing the time you are gone, but I wouldn’t increase the time too fast. Maybe after a few days he will calm down.
I can’t really think of anything else. Poor little baby.
My dog has S. Anxiety too. He is 7 years old. After a lot of effort, he’s not perfect, but he’s better.
Our dog used to eat blinds off the windows because he wanted to see outside and watch the driveway for when we came home. Eventually, we gave him his own chair (the only furniture he’s allowed to get on) in front of the living room window, and left it blind-less so that he could always see outside. This helped a lot, and he doesn’t chew any other blinds in the house now because he has his own personal window that belongs to him.
However, he still anxiety pooped sometimes, and he went nuts for like 30 minutes after we came home. What helped for us was to train him, first of all, to sit and stay. Following these simple commands helped him to begin to control his impulses. Eventually, I trained him to sit, stay and wait up to several minutes before allowing him to go after a toy or treat which I placed near him. Then, I used the “stay” command for a few minutes at a time while I left the house (or car) and went out on the porch (or parking lot) and then came back inside. He got used to remaining calm when I left, because he knew he was following a command. Of course, it’s different when I leave my house for several hours, but he still seems to understand that I will return now.
I also don’t immediately talk, hug or cuddle him when I come home. He tends to cry at the door when he sees me through the window, and he runs around the house like a mad dog for long time after I come home. I don’t respond to this attention seeking behavior anymore. Instead, I completely ignore him and I wait until he has calmed down and THEN I say hello, pet, and cuddle him. It was hard for me to ignore him the first day ( I felt like I was abusing him) but on the SECOND day he calmed down after about 1 minute instead of his usual 15 minutes. I’ve been doing this for about a week, and he’s SO much better now. I only have to ignore him for about 30 seconds or so before he gets the hint and he stops barking/running/jumping and starts just walking around semi-calmly. Then I can acknowledge him and love on him like usual.
Hope this helps. I think your situation won’t be as easy because your child has been abused in the past, and mine wasn’t. Good luck and God bless you for your kind heart.