These (my new species of friends) are called dragonfly's.
(Picture supplied by My Vickie's friend Caren)
Allred out now. Here comes Mommas Boy Bert.
Note from My Vickie
Hi everyone, Bert has kindly allowed me to ask for your help. We have a very nice family who are taking in a troubled dog and are asking for any suggestions you can give them regarding separation anxiety.
Here is their note to us:
Do you have any suggestions for separation anxiety and how to correct it or maybe some of your bloggers/viewers may have some ideas as to how to treat it best without putting him on medication? I have noticed when he is at our house with Jazzie and we leave them in the bathroom which is where we leave Jazzie when we both are away that he is usually just fine and does perform the same behavior that he does at their house. Maybe with him having a “friend” with him will fix the situation but in case he starts the behavior at our house I would like some ideas as to how to break him of it before he destroys our house like he did theirs. They have tried to crate him and he just digs and chews and scratches until he is bleeding – he chews on the wire kennel until his mouth is bleeding trying to get the wire to bend and he has succeeded in bending the wire. He scratches at the bottom of the kennel until his feet are bleeding and if left uncrated tears up the wall – chews on the wood and chews the carpet. Any suggestions would be helpful.
This wonderful family are going to adopt this dog so any ideas you can leave in the comment section or an email to me at jamiesyra(at)msn(dot)com would be most appreciated.
Thanks
My Vickie & Bert
35 comments:
Hello Blogging Friends!!
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I really hope they can find a solution for that so everyone will be happy!
I have never had that problem so I don't know what could help!
Take care
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza
Golly Bert, me has NO advice (bet yous never thought you;ld hear that from me. And me was so excited to see my handsome Allred!
Kisses
Nellie
Bert... I think that Praying is a good thingy where "HE" is concerned. BUTT buddy if I lived with "THAT" I would SUPER GLUE my eyes OPEN !!
Awwww..that photo of Allred is soooo cute. I am happy he found a type of animal he can tolerate, hehe. Dragonflies, eh? I used to catch them when I was a stupid girl.
As for separation anxiety, my friend Jen has a shit tzu who has that problem. Jen and her husband hires dog sitter every time they have to leave fir a long period of time. I have dog sat a few times and it helps. I hear Rory, the dog is able to withstand separation for a longer duration of time now. I will forward this post to her. Perhaps she will have more good ideas.
I love you all.
PS Bert, you are too sweet. Sometimes it is OK to bark at Allred just to scare him a bit. You know, act like what we say bark is worse than its bite?
Bert buddy you know what my MOM's solution for separation anxiety... I go to your place when I can not be with my MOM. But with my SA I did not hurt myself to the point of bleeding. Nor did I tear up the house(except the front door I broke through)I just worked my self way up to the point that my MOM was very worried. Having another dog did seem to help me somewhat when I would be left at MOM's sister's house even if no human was home with us. The final solution is to have the peeps quit there job and stay with him 24/7.
Blessings,
Goose
Bert, you're not praying hard enough. He's still there.
AllRed - that dragonfly story is terrible! i'm glad i never heard it when i was a child or it would have screwed my head for sure ;)
regarding separation anxiety - Georgia had a very bad case of it when we first got her. to tell you the truth, we tried everything from unpleasant ointments and sprays and treat stuffed toys to [vet prescribed] anxiety drugs and locking her outside. Nothing worked. In the end, 1 of us was always in the house with her for the first year! If we had to go out together, we tried to get back within the half hour. Exercise, exercise, EXERCISE! was very helpful. 3 hours of walk and playtime every single day usually settled her down for a while [though still not sufficiently to leave her alone]. Her separation anxiety ended very suddenly and all by itself. I guess she just grew up and grew comfortable in the house, and realised no one was going to abandon her :)
Hello Allred. I'm sure you love Bert as much as my Vickie loves you. ^^
Did they introduce the crate at an early age or is it just when they leave? Because some dogs can associate crates with negative experiences. Do they walk him everyday? Sometimes, all it takes is mental and physical stimulation to take away the pent up energy.
Please check this video out. http://www.cesarsway.com/newsandevents/videos/cesars-class-on-separation-anxiety-part-1?channelId=0a5ec7b23f38493697e68c3893396679&channelListId&mediaId=794a6786aedc4b70b7b3fb214e9028f6
It explains the things they could start with to minimize the anxiety and the logic as why these steps are to be done.
Huggies and Cheese,
Haopee
We hope this helps.
Ok now I am scared of dragon flies and Allred.
Loveys Sasha
Sasha has terrible separation anxiety and we have still not figured out any worthwhile solution. I would love suggestions as well so I hope you get some.
Anne
You will find some fantastic ideas on how to relieve separation anxiety on one of the blogs that I follow: http://loveandaleash.com. Do a search for separation anxiety, and you will find previous posts that address this topic. The main idea is to keep the dog busy while you're away.
My heart goes out to those folks dealing with serious separation anxiety and I commend them that they are trying to fix the problem without medication. I sure do hope that they find a solution, but the one that helped us the most was getting a playmate for Chloe...with the two of them, they can hang out together! Wishing them luck!!
Jeanne...mama to Chloe and LadyBug
Woof! Woof! You just have a Golden Moment when when Allred is in the room ... Golden LAUGHS! We got some Dragonfly here n it's hard to take photos so Golden Thanks for sharing the photo.
Bathroom is not a really good place to leave a dog. How about a crate? Training is necessary and it takes time n lots of love n patience. A special pillow or a favorite toy can help out too. Good Luck!
Lots of Golden ALOHA n Woofs, Sugar
I wish I could help your friend with his anxiety.
Before I joined the family Floyd got terrible anxiety, luckily he only had to endure 2 weeks before I came a long.
I keep him company now so he's okay.
But getting a companion doesn't help all anxious dogs.
I hope they can find a solution.
Our mom grew up thinkin' that about dragonflies too! Evil grandma!
We sure hope that someone can help this troubled pup.
Love ya lots,
Mitch and Molly
How about letting him associate something positive when the humans leave the house? I read that toys such as those from Kong where you stuff treats into work well.
Bert, I think closing your eyes and hoping for the best is a flawed strategy.
I don't know how to help that scared doggie, but I wish his new family all the best that things can be worked out.
SLobbers,
Mango
Bert you and Allred crack us up.
Best wishes Molly
Bert buddy, you should nevers close your eyes around Allred cuz then you can't sees what he's gonna do.
And thanks...NOT fur da dragon Fly story. Mum has always been screwd up but imagine if her had grown up knowin' dat story...woooooweeeeeee.
My sissy has seperation anxiety but her has gotten a weeeee bit betters da longer her has been heres. Udder than dat, I ain't much help.
I am thankful they are adopting him with issues and all...so many dogs don't gets dat chance because of them issues. Gotts love a family dat will do dat.
Puddles
Maybe a new bone or something to chew on will help pass the time while the humans are away. Sometimes we hear of humans putting those treats in a kong toy -- and it takes the dog a long time to get the treats out. (We've never tried that though.) Sorry we don't have much advice to give.
I agree a lot with what Geogia has said. Sometimes it's just time. I know a lot of people have had success with Melatonin as a calming aid Deccy x
Thank you so much everyone for all the advice. We were told to never crate a dog with separation anxiety and that is what my daughter was doing but only after he destroyed their house. I am hoping having our little Jazzie there with Pepper will ease it somewhat and hopefully put an end to it. But we'll see. We love him so much and can't let him go back to a shelter. I am going to try some of your suggetions and if anyone has more ideas please keep posting or you can email me directly at penelope.cromwell@amersports.com. Seriously any ideas will help. He is moving in Friday and I will be home almost all weekend except for grocery shopping and possibly church on Sunday so I think the first weekend he is going to be fine but the next week is the one I am concerned about - my husband and I both work. I do like the suggestion of staying home 24/7 but I like to eat so we can't quit our jobs but really do like that idea. Anyway thank you all for your help. Please keep sending the ideas as we will try everything we can. I hope it works it for us because I definitely want him to feel safe and secure in his new home.
Cute photos, even of Allred! :)
Not sure how to help such intense SA, but maybe a DAP diffuser will help? The other thing is that everything (coming/going) has to be made very, very low key. But this is pretty intense. Have they thought about talking to a behaviourist?
We are no experts on this but, right from the start, #1 always felt better leaving me at home as she knew I had my kitties there with me, so I was never alone. Maybe this guy needs a pal?
Allred, you're looking GREAT!
Woofs,
Tommy
Allred...you cracks me up!
Da Momma only had one dog ever with separation anxiety. She hated being left in a crate when Mom and Dad were at work. She broke out every time. Finally just leaving her loose was all it took and she adjusted....no damage to the house.
This probably won't work for you though since this poor dog destroys everything in its path. Maybe it just needs company from another dog.
We had the exact same scenario with our Shihtzu. We didn't know it at the time, but before we adopted him (at age 2 years) he had never ever ever been alone before. There was always a human or another dog with him at all times. So getting another dog could be a solution, since we can leave our dog with my brother-in-law's dog for extended periods and he is ok. However, what we had to do in order to be able to leave him alone was a very time consuming training process. We would start by closing the door to our apartment, then immediately opening it again and giving him a treat for his good behavior. Then we would do that quite a few times. Then we would leave the door closed 30 seconds, and then do the same thing. Repeat many times. Then leave the door closed 1 minute, etc. If he whined or scratched or anything, reduce the time again and build back up. We worked 1 minute at a time up to 15 mins. Then started adding more minutes each time. It took quite a while to get up to 30 minutes. My neighbors all laughed at me always sitting in the hall quietly studying, timing my door openings. lol. After about 30 minutes the time started to jump up, and he was able to go 45 min, 1 hr, etc. We got him up to 5-6 hours, which was enough to fit our schedule (my partner and I both have flex work times). I am sure we could get him to go a little longer if we kept at the training, to get up to a full 8 hour work day. Time consuming, but sooooooooo worth it!!!!!
Hey Bert!
Wow, did I read that right?!? TWIT?!? TWIT?!? That's totally uncalled for. Pththtthtth to Allred (as always). I used to think dragonflies are cool, but now they're a little scary. THANKS, ALLRED! NOT!
Grr and Woof,
Sarge, COP
Woof to you Bert!!!! Please let your Vickie know that I have instructed my assistant to send her an e-mail re your separation anxiety question. While I suffered from separation anxiety for a long time, I now enjoy my time alone at home resting and relaxing!!!! Much love to you Bert - XXOO - Mazzie
That is a tough one. Need to give him something else to think about. Not sure how to do that though.
Your Clueless friends,
Murphy and Stanley
Hey, Allred! I caught one of those dragonflies and killed it yesterday. Ha woo to you!!!
Umm... separation anxiety. Yeah. I suffer from a bit of that myself. They could try Rescue Remedy, a DAP diffuser, a Thunder Shirt (they work for anxiety, too), and lots of training is helpful -- sort of de-conditioning. Leave him alone for 2 minutes, don't make a big deal out of leaving, but leave. Then come back in. If he's been good, LOTS of praise! If he hasn't - try a shorter period of time. Repeat tons of times, then start increasing the time.
There are also anti-anxiety drugs your vet can prescribe, but I wouldn't go that route unless you REALLY had to!
I hope that helps.
Luv,
Dave
PS: I'd pray, too, Bert...
I would say to seek the help of a professional trainer. Maybe one that can come in home and work with you and the dog.
We tried Rescue Remedy on Storm to help calm her down when she was in stressful situations. It made her quite sick. In the end, sending her to a field trainer who worked with her and tired her out did the trick and made her a more confident dog. Pre her time with the trainer, she had a bit of separation anxiety, but mostly she would get overwhelmed in situations with a lot of people or dogs, (like a dog show). Now she could care less.
As they say a tired dog is a happy dog. Find time to walk the dog before leaving and if possible to have someone check in on the pup and walk him mid day. Keep the tv or radio on. How big is the crate? Might be too confining for 8-9 hours. How about using an xpen instead? Good luck.
Seperation anxiety is one of those tricky subject. To tackle the problem, finding out how long it has been going on for helps, and under which circumstances does it occur, is it when a certain family member leaves the house?
We will be praying for the separation anxiety issue... he is a lucky dog on the adoption. :)
The dragonfly story is just ugh. So glad I didn't know about that when I was younger. I would have been a mess!!
Shelle, Milo, Dixie and Newby,
http://simpaticodreams.blogspot.com/
Well Allred, that ought to give the little peeps something to have nightmares over BOL! Shakin my head.
That is so wonderful that those peeps are going to adopt the doggy with the separation anxiety :) My pawrents didn't know if I would experience that or not when they adopted me. They'd read in a book, Mom thinks it was Ian Dunbar's Before and After Getting Your Puppy, that using a treat stuffed Kong (positive reinforcement) whenever they needed to leave me worked well so they employed this technique from the beginning and I've never shown signs of experiencing separation anxiety.
Here's how they did it...
Over a span of a couple weeks:
Tell me it's breaky wakey time and give me a treat (they use string cheese) in my Kong then leave for 5 minutes and come back.
Next day or same day but later on, do the same butt leave for 10 minutes. Keep repeating this day after day and extending the time you are gone until you get to a whole day. If at any time anxiety pops up, reduce the amount of time you are gone back to when there was no anxiety and then go forward again from there.
Oh, and I always get my Kong in my safe place (my den). So whereever your pup's safe place is, is where they would suggest he/she receive the 'breaky wakey' Kong.
I know for certain that when I get my Kong, all is good and my pawrents will return some time that day. :)
Hope this helps.
Waggin at ya,
Roo
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