[~Karla~]

Bickie is very much "my" dog, despite the fact we bought her for the kids. She clearly sees me as pack leader, and that's fine because I pretty much am.

But her separation anxiety if i leave is getting worse. I'm making sure to change the routine around, give her kongs/toys/chews to play with when I go, don't make a fuss of leaving, ignore her when I get home until she settles down etc. The longest she's been left on her own is about an hour to an hour and a half, but that's only been a few times. When I took DS4 up to daycare this morning (leaving DH and the other 3 boys here) she apparently freaked. DH spent the whole time sitting in the dining room with her (despite me telling him not to) because he was worried she was going to hurt herself otherwise. She was too manic to go into the lounge with the other kids (so far she's only allowed in there to sleep at night and when she's calm during the day) and went berserk if he walked out of the room, even though she could see him through the baby gate.

When I'm home, she'll happily hang out and sleep outside the back door during the day or in the dining room while the kids and I are in the lounge room and doing something that we can't do with her in the room or eating etc. But if she sees me pick up a bag or hears keys clink, she flips. Anyone else does it, and she doesn't care. It's only me she's over-attached to.

I'm buying her a crate next week, but I'm not sure what to do about the fixation with me. Any ideas?

[ChexMix]

If Bickie is at risk of hurting herself or others, a good trainer or veterinary behaviourist (especially if medication is indicated) is the best option.

In the mean time, you could work on breaking the association between keys/bag and going out. Pick up the keys everytime you walk past them, jingle them, then put them back without going out. If you wanted to speed up the process, throw her a treat when you pick up the keys too, to short-circuit that immediate panic response that keys = bad thing is about to happen.

You can also start to build up very short absences and associate them with good things. Give her a kong with peanut butter, a bone or a pig's ear then walk out the front door for a couple of seconds, then come back in. Slowly build up the time you are out and try not to let her practice the panic behaviour - even if you can only touch the door handle to start then work up from there.

Licking and sucking release serotonin in the brain, so kongs or frozen treats are perfect for SA dogs. Also, corn in the diet can affect serotonin processing in some dogs so eliminating that from her diet is a good precaution.

Best of luck with your girl

[ChexMix]

Dr Karen Overall's relaxation protocol can also help with general anxiety including separation distress, it's a 14-day program to teach a dog to chill out where it's been placed, which someone has kindly put into mp3 format - http://championofmyheart.com/relaxation-protocol-mp3-files/

(there are more good tips at the bottom of this article - http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/11...ty_16044-1.html )

This post has been edited by kiddies-n-kelpies: 02/01/2013, 12:46 PM

[*Spikey*]

Hi Karla,

I will come back later with more detailed suggestions, but can I suggest that the very first thing you work on is developing some attachment to other members of the household? First, have everyone else pick up feeding and treat duties, and get them to take Bickie for a walk without you.

How far have you progressed with her obedience work so far? (it will help me work out some things the family can do to ease her stress)

[~Karla~]

Thanks girls

K'n'K - your first post is pretty much what I've been doing. I'm even leaving handbags and shopping bags around and just moving them to different rooms, putting them in cupboards etc just to break the association with bag = leaving, but it's not working. She starts getting anxious as soon as I touch one, even if we're in different rooms! I'll check out that link though. Thanks!

Spikey - her obedience is great, with me. Not so good with anyone else. She sits, stays, comes, drops, doesn't eat from her bowl until I tell her, gives (not so good on this, even with treats) and fetches. She really doesn't get the lead yet - it doesn't bother her, but she hasn't figured she needs to walk next to me. She hasn't had her third puppy vx yet ( due next week) so can't go out for walks until then. The kids are too young to be with her unsupervised and DH goes back to work full-time in the office next week (he's only been working part time from home while the office is closed for Xmas). We've only made 1 puppy preschool class so far as she got kennel cough from it. So she's not feeling 100% at the moment, but the SA is extreme this week (since I left her with DH overnight on NYE).

I've ordered the crate, but won't have it for at least a week or two.

Edited because I had too many "yet"s in there.

This post has been edited by ~Karla~: 02/01/2013, 01:52 PM

[*Spikey*]

Taa Karla,

I will have a think about it and get back to you - I have some major work to do, so it may be later tonight or tomorrow.

[~Karla~]

Thanks Spikey. I appreciate it.

[madmother]

Hah - do you have my dog?


Elvis is a houdini and totally freaks if left alone. We HAVE had the behavioural specialist out already ($150 but she was/is great - and the fee includes follow ups) as he has totally bonded to me - so much so that I call him my Aspie dog - he is as obsessed with me as Boy 1 was during his younger years, lol. But he is 6 and has been abused so we are trying to remove the bad habits (he has been trained in many ways, just the recent life undid a bit).

It is improving but we are on holidays with the dogs atm and all 3 dogs are a bit antsy.

How old is he? We are giving all 3 Rescue Remedy which helps a lot. We also do reward training - food based mainly.

I think we need to look at a crate - where did you get yours from, may I ask?

[~Karla~]

Ha ha, it is very similar to that autistic fixation my boys had with me too!

She's only a baby still - about 15 weeks. She's a rescue, but she was never shown any unkindness - her mum was picked up by the pound heavily pregnant and the pups were whelped and raised in a foster carers home. Her mum had such a sweet, gentle nature that I contemplated taking her instead, but she was a bit too old for what we wanted and had a few health issues.

I bought the crate online and am getting it shipped up from Sydney - I wanted one with a metal tray as she chews EVERYTHING and I don't want to have to keep buying new plastic trays. It was cheaper for me to get one couriered up here than buy one locally.

[madmother]

Link? We are in the same state...

Oh, and this dog has torn all the metal sheets off the dog run, then ripped the dog wire off the gate (which had heavy galvanised nails into a heavy timber frame) to escape to get to me. Not mentioning the damage to the western red cedar front door he gouged a couple of centimetres into...