Don't Leave Me Home Alone!

DINO writes to tell us...
"I have a beautiful male beagle who will turn 12 months old on August 8. His name is DJ. DJ has a serious separation anxiety problem whereby he does not want to stay at home by himself. Anytime he does not see me or if I just go out of the door it is totally non-stop barking. I have tried doing so many of the exercises of leaving him alone for 5 minutes etc. and it is not working. DJ gets plenty of exercise and that is not the issue. He sticks to me like Velcro. DJ is no longer destructive in my apartment and crating is not necessary. He has his own place in my apartment with a comforter, pillows, and toys which is right by the TV. I keep the TV on when he is there. I have placed him on meds and it is now 2 weeks with no results. Getting another dog is not an option for me.
Any helpful advice would be so greatly appreciated."

Comments

[Retrievers]

First of all, don't worry about the fact that getting another dog isn't an option for you. Getting a dog to keep your dog company rarely works. Dogs don't think like we do - he's not lonely, he's worried about you. Chances are a second dog would just feed off DJ's anxieties and you'd end up with 2 barkers.

Secondly, you said you've tried lots of things like leaving for 5 minutes etc. But what EXACTLY have you tried? Have you tried leaving him a Kong with peanut butter in it? Or a treat ball? Have you tried ignoring him for the last 30 minutes before you leave and the first 15 minutes when you come home? Separation anxiety can be really frustrating, I've been through it and I know what you're going through. What ended up working for us was following this routine each time we left the house:

#1 - Give dog some Rescue Remedy (natural herbal remedy with calming effects - not a drug)
#2 - Start ignoring the dog about 20 minutes before leaving, just pretend he's not there.
#3 - About 2 minutes before leaving, take a Kong stuffed with peanut butter or baby food out of the freezer and put on the floor, continuing to ignore the dog
#4 - Leave without saying anything
#5 - When returning, ignore the dog for 10-15 minutes

#1 calms their nerves somewhat. #2, #3 and #5 make your dog realize that coming and going is no big deal and nothing to make a fuss about. Plus, it makes the transition from you being there to you being gone less obvious. #3 distracts the dog when you leave. He may get a little anxious, but the Kong will be SOOO good. By the time he's finished it, his anxieties will be gone since there won't be any new activity to trigger it.

It takes a couple of weeks of sticking to this routine for it to work, but after trying several things, this is what finally did it for us with our dog.

The other important thing while you're doing this is to practice obedience training with him a couple of times a day. Sometimes, separation anxiety is a result of the dog thinking that he's responsible for you. When you leave, he can't protect you, so he gets anxious. But if you practice obedience to teach him that you're in charge and not the other way around, I've seen this help with separation anxiety. Plus, you say he gets a lot of exercise, but this will help to challenge and tire out his mind too.

The only other thing I would suggest would be to have a trainer come over and observe your dog, observe what he does when you leave etc. and give you some 3rd party advice.

Melissa
(and Jasmine, Kona & Bogart too!)

[Ashley]

I would get a treat ball and put some treats in there. Then play with him so he gets the idea that by rolling it he gets treats! After he gets excited by the sight of it, put it down [w/ treats] and go to another room, saying 'Bye now, be right back darling! [or something like that]' and close the door to the room. if he doesn't make any noise after a few minutes, come back saying 'GOOD BOY! I'm back!!' do this over a while then use the actual door you leave through and repeat till he is fine with you being gone.
One thing is, don't use the treat ball for ANYTHING else except when you leave so he realizes 'Hey! I get this toy when mom/dad leaves but I DON'T get this when they ARE here...seems okay for them to leave without me since I get this wonderful toy!'

[Diane]

What is a Kong? I've looked online and it appears to be some sort of a plastic doggie chew but how would you stuff it with peanut butter like advised for the dog with seperation anxiety????

[Amber]

A kong is the greatest dog toy ever invented! It is a rubbery dog toy that is sort of cylindrical and is hollow with a hole in the bottom. You can get them at any major pet store and I've seen them in grocery stores as well by the dog food. You just take peanut butter (or any other favorite treat) and fill the hole up with it and give it to them. It keeps my Jack Russells entertained for hours! Even when it's empty they keep licking it! I definitely recommend it! It has helped with my little girl's separation anxiety for about two months now.