My wife and I just adopted a 1.5 year old weimaraner from our local
humane society. She is an amazingly sweet and loving dog, and so far
we have found only one fault. She cannot be left alone even for a
second without getting concerned and barking. She was obviously crate
trained well before we got her because when we set up her crate for the
first time, she ran right in and went to sleep. She sleeps in the
crate in our bedroom at night with no issues. We can lock up the crate
before we go to work, but the second we disappear from her view she
starts barking. She then paces back and forth (maybe trying to dig
out) for minutes on end, and she has so much saliva coming out of her
mouth that the bottom of her crate is wet with pools of slobber. She
has had some accidents in her crate, but only while we've been gone.
While home she is perfectly housebroken. We've so far left some bones
she enjoys chewing in her crate with her, tried a kong with peanut
butter but nothing keeps her occupied enough to forget were gone. We
also just bought a plug in with dog appeasing pheremones to try to calm
her, but so far were not noticing any difference (its only been a few
days however). We tried some basic training by leaving for a few
seconds then coming back, and we can get to maybe 5-10sec, but after
that she clearly gets upset. We are considering hiring a behaviorist
to come to our home to assess our dogs situation fully, and coach us on
the best way for us to mitigate her separation anxiet. We are also
interested in what medication via a vet could do to aide her transition
while we attempt to make her comfortable while alone. My last question
is whether with patience, professional help and medication if we truly
can "cure" our dog of separation anxiety.

Sorry for my long email but any comments/help/advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

-Brent

said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

My last question
is whether with patience, professional help and medication
if we truly can "cure" our dog of separation anxiety.

Yes.

You've tried a whole bunch of things, but how long and how
consistently did you work on these things? If you're looking
for a quick fix, I think you're past that stage.

There have been some recent and good discussions about crate
training on this group and on rpd.breeds concerning dogs with
apparent separation anxiety. If they're not on your newsserver,
google has them.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

FWIW, night time is what I consider the best
time for testing a new dog's house freedom.

That so? Destructive behavior is CAUSED BY MISHANDLING
and therefore can be CURED NEARLY INSTANTLY. LIKE THIS:

Do you suppose that everyone hates you like poison because of your
mishandling of people and constant lies??

wrote in message
ups.com...
[..]
My last question
is whether with patience, professional help and medication if we truly
can "cure" our dog of separation anxiety.

Sorry for my long email but any comments/help/advice would be helpful.


Weims are notorious for over attachment, and that's why they are very seldom
recommended for people who work away from home all day - that said, it can
be done, so long as you are able to compensate in the mornings before you go
to work and in the evenings.

These links will help you understand the character of the weimaraner...
http://www.weimaranerclubofgreatbritain.org.uk/
http://www.weimrescue.org/

I personally would never crate an anxious dog - I've heard terrible stories
of dogs ripping themselves to shreds trying to work out an escape. Crates
are great for teething destructiveness, but can compound anxiety problems.

You'd be better off taking your annual leave consecutively, and both work on
teaching her 'alone' training and working out her own comfort zones within
the house. Setting up a cctv camera would be great so that you can work out
patterns in her behaviour to help you work out a plan and leaving her in
small but increasing increments will help a lot.

One thing that worked well for me when trying to cure my last dog, a rescue
GSD, of separation anxiety was to ensure that she never saw me leave,
focusing her attention on a stuffed kong toy or food scattered on the floor,
then slipping out while she was busy with that. I kept up the same pattern
with Cindy from the day we brought her home at 7 weeks and she's never been
bothered in the slightest about being left.

for 'the best' source of weimaraner help on the net, join
http://www.weimaranerforum.org ...see you there

Diana

--
Cindy the weimaraner's web site:
http://cindy-incidentally.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk

Thanks to those who provided legitimate feedback. Your thoughts are
greatly appreciated. To the wackos who insist on typing LIKE this THE
while THREAD, please post your ramblings elsewhere. We are making slow
progress, and have decided to consult a certified bahaviorist to be
sure were moving in the right direction.

Thanks,

-Brent

Brent,

Along with all the good suggestions you might want to leave a radio or soft
music on for her. Even though you are not there it may help some. With a
dog like this there is no quick fix only hard work and persistance but it
will pay off in the end.

Celeste

wrote in message
ups.com...
My wife and I just adopted a 1.5 year old weimaraner from our local
humane society. She is an amazingly sweet and loving dog, and so far
we have found only one fault. She cannot be left alone even for a
second without getting concerned and barking. She was obviously crate
trained well before we got her because when we set up her crate for the
first time, she ran right in and went to sleep. She sleeps in the
crate in our bedroom at night with no issues. We can lock up the crate
before we go to work, but the second we disappear from her view she
starts barking. She then paces back and forth (maybe trying to dig
out) for minutes on end, and she has so much saliva coming out of her
mouth that the bottom of her crate is wet with pools of slobber. She
has had some accidents in her crate, but only while we've been gone.
While home she is perfectly housebroken. We've so far left some bones
she enjoys chewing in her crate with her, tried a kong with peanut
butter but nothing keeps her occupied enough to forget were gone. We
also just bought a plug in with dog appeasing pheremones to try to calm
her, but so far were not noticing any difference (its only been a few
days however). We tried some basic training by leaving for a few
seconds then coming back, and we can get to maybe 5-10sec, but after
that she clearly gets upset. We are considering hiring a behaviorist
to come to our home to assess our dogs situation fully, and coach us on
the best way for us to mitigate her separation anxiet. We are also
interested in what medication via a vet could do to aide her transition
while we attempt to make her comfortable while alone. My last question
is whether with patience, professional help and medication if we truly
can "cure" our dog of separation anxiety.

Sorry for my long email but any comments/help/advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

-Brent

wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks to those who provided legitimate feedback. Your thoughts are
greatly appreciated. To the wackos who insist on typing LIKE this
THE
while THREAD, please post your ramblings elsewhere. We are making
slow
progress, and have decided to consult a certified bahaviorist to be
sure were moving in the right direction.

Thanks,

-Brent.


Can you leave the crate unlocked?
I've copied this from another forum written by a behaviourist. She
recommends creating a comfort zone, a place the dog can retreat to and
feel safe and secure in.
http://www.takingthelead.co.uk/

*Comfort Zone is a place the dog would choose at home to rest/sleep
in, not a place the owner gives access to or chooses. So, if for
example a dog had access to anywhere in the home - what you need to
know is were would she keep going to rest/sleep. It maybe on sofa, on
your bed, under a table etc. This is her comfort zone and now needs
enhancing by feeding in it, making sure water is available at it and
spending time in it yourself with your dog.*

Where ever she chooses, you could put up baby gates to block her
access to the whole of the house. You can put a duvet in there, her
toys , a piece of your unwashed clothing. spend at least half an hour
a day in there with her or as near as possible.
Alison

"Diana" said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Crates
are great for teething destructiveness, but can compound
anxiety problems.

How do crates compound anxiety?

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

On 24 Oct 2005 04:35:21 GMT, Rocky wrote:

"Diana" said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Crates
are great for teething destructiveness, but can compound
anxiety problems.

How do crates compound anxiety?

They can certainly compound anxiety for dogs that have confinement
issues or SA. Unfortunately, a lot of dogs with true SA are made
worse, not better, with crating.

Mustang Sally

sighthounds & siberians said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

How do crates compound anxiety?

They can certainly compound anxiety for dogs that have
confinement issues or SA. Unfortunately, a lot of dogs
with true SA are made worse, not better, with crating.

I agree as it pertains to correctly-diagnosed SA, but I've
encountered quite a few "anxious" dogs who simply weren't
properly introduced to the crate.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.