We recently acquire a 3.5 year old Shih Tsu - very sweet, loving dog, but
does not tolerate being left alone. We have to resort to putting him in a
large "crate" when one of us cannot be home with him and it's seems that
over time he is having more trouble, not less. Now he senses when we are
leaving, runs the other way and generally resists the process. When we come
back even after a short time (one or two hours) he becomes quite frantic and
cries/whines after we let him out. The fact that his behavior seems to be
getting worse is really stressing us, but we don't know what else might
help. TIA for any suggestions.

In article ,
"Victek" wrote:

but
does not tolerate being left alone.

How does he exhibit his intolerance?

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

Victek wrote:
We recently acquire a 3.5 year old Shih Tsu - very sweet, loving dog,
but does not tolerate being left alone. We have to resort to putting
him in a large "crate" when one of us cannot be home with him and it's
seems that over time he is having more trouble, not less.

I'd recommend consulting with a trainer or behaviorist in your area,
as well as your vet. It may be that anti-anxiety meds are called
for, at least in the short-term, while you're working with
desensitizing him.

In the meantime, what is your leaving and returning routine? I've
found it helpful to make both as no-nonsense and unemotional as
possible, up to and including not greeting the dog or saying
goodbye. Make it as much of a non-event as you can.

You may need to downgrade the size of the crate (giving the dog too
much space to be in charge of can heighten his anxiety.

Third, I'd start over with desensitization. Don't leave him for
longer than he can handle, because doing so undermines any progress
you make. That may mean starting with leaving him alone for just a
few minutes (long enough to go out and check the mail?), and
gradually build up to longer lengths of time. I know that this is
easier said than done, as most people work full-time and don't have
the luxury of taking time off to work with their dogs. Your trainer
may have some suggestions for how to handle that.

Something else you might consider is that, while some dogs with SA
are helped by crating, some are not. For some dogs, crating can
actually make matters worse. Again, this is something you can
discuss with your trainer. But, how is he when left uncrated? Have
you tried leaving him uncrated for short periods of time? It just
seems to me that a crate is an excellent tool, but it's not The
Answer. If it were me, I'd be working toward the end goal of
weening him off the crate.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

"Victek" wrote in message
...
We recently acquire a 3.5 year old Shih Tsu - very sweet, loving dog, but
does not tolerate being left alone. We have to resort to putting him in a
large "crate" when one of us cannot be home with him and it's seems that
over time he is having more trouble, not less. Now he senses when we are
leaving, runs the other way and generally resists the process. When we
come back even after a short time (one or two hours) he becomes quite
frantic and cries/whines after we let him out. The fact that his behavior
seems to be getting worse is really stressing us, but we don't know what
else might help. TIA for any suggestions.


What I did with my adult dog/rescue, was to start out leaving her alone for
very short periods of time. Something as simple as taking out the garbage,
and loitering for an extra moment or two. I did this numerous times a day,
gradually extending the length of time to up to 10 or 15 minutes over a
period of weeks. From there we went to quick trips to the drug store or
grocery, no more than 30 minutes. Over time my comings and goings became so
routine that she learned to take them instride. Prior to my getting her, I
was told she was very destructive in her foster home when left alone, so she
always had to be crated. I'd say it took me about 4 to 6 months total, to
get her to the place where she can now be left alone all day without
accident or incident.

Good Luck!


td

but
does not tolerate being left alone.

How does he exhibit his intolerance?

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

From my first post:

"When we come back even after a short time (one or two hours) he becomes
quite frantic and cries/whines after we let him out"

We recently acquire a 3.5 year old Shih Tsu - very sweet, loving dog, but
does not tolerate being left alone. We have to resort to putting him in
a large "crate" when one of us cannot be home with him and it's seems
that over time he is having more trouble, not less.

I'd recommend consulting with a trainer or behaviorist in your area, as
well as your vet. It may be that anti-anxiety meds are called for, at
least in the short-term, while you're working with desensitizing him.

In the meantime, what is your leaving and returning routine? I've found
it helpful to make both as no-nonsense and unemotional as possible, up to
and including not greeting the dog or saying goodbye. Make it as much of
a non-event as you can.

You may need to downgrade the size of the crate (giving the dog too much
space to be in charge of can heighten his anxiety.

Third, I'd start over with desensitization. Don't leave him for longer
than he can handle, because doing so undermines any progress you make.
That may mean starting with leaving him alone for just a few minutes (long
enough to go out and check the mail?), and gradually build up to longer
lengths of time. I know that this is easier said than done, as most
people work full-time and don't have the luxury of taking time off to work
with their dogs. Your trainer may have some suggestions for how to handle
that.

Something else you might consider is that, while some dogs with SA are
helped by crating, some are not. For some dogs, crating can actually make
matters worse. Again, this is something you can discuss with your
trainer. But, how is he when left uncrated? Have you tried leaving him
uncrated for short periods of time? It just seems to me that a crate is
an excellent tool, but it's not The Answer. If it were me, I'd be working
toward the end goal of weening him off the crate.

Thanks for the reply. We've got a call into our Vet, and we're also
considering a session with a trainer my wife used previously with a
different dog (different issues). We understand the idea of gradual
desensitization, but as you note the reality of both of us working is not
optimal for our dog. My wife works full-time and is gone 9/10 hours,
Mon-Fri. Fortunately my work schedule is more flexible, but I still
sometimes need to be away for five or six hours at a time. We've tried
leaving the dog for short periods in our front patio, thinking that he might
be more comfortable with more space. It didn't seem to make any difference
though, and he did some damage, so we won't try that again until the issue
is better under control. Regarding the crate, I too would eventually like
to stop using it, but for the moment it's the only reasonably safe choice
when we have to leave him. I hadn't heard about anti-anxiety med for dogs -
that's something we will have to look into. Do you have any experience with
these?

In article ,
"Victek" wrote:


"When we come back even after a short time (one or two hours) he becomes
quite frantic and cries/whines after we let him out"

Yes, but what does he do when you're actually GONE. That is a better
indicator of whether you're dealing with SA. His reaction AFTER you
come home is one that your behavior affects an awful lot. How do you
greet him? What have you tried to diffuse the situation? When does he
stop?

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"When we come back even after a short time (one or two hours) he becomes
quite frantic and cries/whines after we let him out"

Yes, but what does he do when you're actually GONE. That is a better
indicator of whether you're dealing with SA. His reaction AFTER you
come home is one that your behavior affects an awful lot. How do you
greet him? What have you tried to diffuse the situation? When does he
stop?

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

We've observed him through the window when we come home and before he sees
us he appears peaceful. We'd have to setup a video camera to really know
how he's handling it when we're not there. His behavior changes when he see
us and we do understand that our response is a factor. We show him we're
happy to see him, but we ignore the whining. It made a noticeable
difference when I understood this and stopped trying to console him, which
only made the acting out worse. Apart from this issue the dog is well
adjusted. He doesn't have "accidents" in the house and he's calm and happy
as long as he can be around us. The goal is to be able to leave him in our
front patio (so he can relieve himself if necessary) and trust that he won't
bark constantly and destroy things, but we don't know how to move forward.

In article ,
"Victek" wrote:


We've observed him through the window when we come home and before he sees
us he appears peaceful. We'd have to setup a video camera to really know
how he's handling it when we're not there.

OK. Still, I'd say he doesn't really suffer from SA. He calms himself
and that is a good thing!

His behavior changes when he see
us and we do understand that our response is a factor. We show him we're
happy to see him, but we ignore the whining.

I would discontinue "happy to see him" until you've been home for a bit
and only after he has calmed with you ignoring him. You can say hello,
take him out, but I wouldn't give him any further attention until he's
calm.

It made a noticeable
difference when I understood this and stopped trying to console him, which
only made the acting out worse.

Yep. It may take some time for him to forget that pattern though, so
just be patient!

Apart from this issue the dog is well
adjusted. He doesn't have "accidents" in the house and he's calm and happy
as long as he can be around us.

Perfectly reasonable behavior for a dog knew to you!

The goal is to be able to leave him in our
front patio (so he can relieve himself if necessary) and trust that he won't
bark constantly and destroy things, but we don't know how to move forward.

I don't recommend leaving dogs outdoors when nobody is home, unless
there is a VERY secure and bad-guy proof enclosure, shelter, etc., AND
you know your dog isn't disturbing anyone. That's a lot to do.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

We've observed him through the window when we come home and before he
sees
us he appears peaceful. We'd have to setup a video camera to really know
how he's handling it when we're not there.

OK. Still, I'd say he doesn't really suffer from SA. He calms himself
and that is a good thing!

His behavior changes when he see
us and we do understand that our response is a factor. We show him we're
happy to see him, but we ignore the whining.

I would discontinue "happy to see him" until you've been home for a bit
and only after he has calmed with you ignoring him. You can say hello,
take him out, but I wouldn't give him any further attention until he's
calm.

It made a noticeable
difference when I understood this and stopped trying to console him,
which
only made the acting out worse.

Yep. It may take some time for him to forget that pattern though, so
just be patient!

Apart from this issue the dog is well
adjusted. He doesn't have "accidents" in the house and he's calm and
happy
as long as he can be around us.

Perfectly reasonable behavior for a dog knew to you!

The goal is to be able to leave him in our
front patio (so he can relieve himself if necessary) and trust that he
won't
bark constantly and destroy things, but we don't know how to move
forward.

I don't recommend leaving dogs outdoors when nobody is home, unless
there is a VERY secure and bad-guy proof enclosure, shelter, etc., AND
you know your dog isn't disturbing anyone. That's a lot to do.

Point taken. Can you suggest a better arrangement(s) given our
circumstances, which I would think are quite common?