My 5 month old puppy has serious separation anxiety. We've tried all
sorts of things; everything from crating (which was a disaster) to
letting him roam in the living room. He was doing OK for a little
while, and now all of a sudden he's trying to chew his way through the
front door. It's not like we leave him alone for any more than a few
hours max at a time, so he's not home alone all day.

Other than the separation anxiety, he's great. He's fully house-
trained and listens well.
I can't afford obedience training at the moment, so that's out of the
question. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to solve this
issue?

On Mon, 24 May 2010 13:34:54 -0700 (PDT), "Carly S."
wrote:

My 5 month old puppy has serious separation anxiety. We've tried all
sorts of things; everything from crating (which was a disaster) to
letting him roam in the living room. He was doing OK for a little
while, and now all of a sudden he's trying to chew his way through the
front door. It's not like we leave him alone for any more than a few
hours max at a time, so he's not home alone all day.

Other than the separation anxiety, he's great. He's fully house-
trained and listens well.
I can't afford obedience training at the moment, so that's out of the
question. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to solve this
issue?

Are you quite sure it's separation anxiety - does he follow you around
the house and get anxious whenever you're out of sight? Trying to
chew through the door does sound like SA. You say you've tried all
sorts of things but don't elaborate; have you tried baby-gating him
into one puppy-proofed room so he can't destroy anything? You will
need to desensitize him to your absence. Patricia McConnell has a
good book on how to do this entitled "I'll Be Home Soon"; basically,
you will choose a weekend or some block of days where you can really
work on this, and you'll leave your puppy for only as long a period of
time as he can tolerate (which might be only a couple of minutes),
gradually lengthening the times as he can handle it. Dogs pick up on
our habits, and dogs with SA will recognize signs of your impending
departure ("uh-oh, she's picking up her keys, next she'll go to the
door"), so vary your routines so he can't do that. Ignore him for a
bit before you leave and right after you get home, and make your
departures and returns low-key. These are just a few things - I'd
strongly suggest borrowing or buying the book. Some dogs with severe
SA benefit from medication to take the edge off their anxiety while
you're working on behavior modification.

Training can really give dogs confidence. You don't necessarily have
to take him to a class, you can work with him yourself. Ian Dunbar
and Patricia McConnell both have written good books on basic training.

I hope this helps and wish you luck with your pup. Dealing with doggy
fears and anxieties can be challenging.