Hi all!

I'm new to this group but I would like some ideas and information on
separation anxiety. I bought a standard poodle puppy, 3 mos. old, a week
ago. She weighs about 30 lbs so she isn't a small puppy. She'll sleep in
bed with us without needing to go out, from about 10 pm to 6:30 am. She
follows me all around the house. She gets upset when I take a shower. She
won't stay out to go potty unless I'm with her...or my husband. If we leave
her for a few hours she defacates and urinates all over the place. She even
did it in her crate. She cries if I leave her in the car for a few minutes!
My husband and I love her dearly. I can't believe how much since we have
only had her a week. I have a month to make up my mind. If it doesn't work
out I can take her back and get my money back. But I really don't want to
do that. Can I break her of this? My husband and I work so she's alone
for three hours, two days a week. Plus, how can I housebreak her when she
is too afraid to go to the door on her own. I put her food in an area where
she can't see me and she takes a few bites and then runs to find me. I
would appreciate any ideas and thoughts on the matter.

thank you
sharon

Sharon Benum ) wrote:

: My husband and I love her dearly. I can't believe how much since we have
: only had her a week. I have a month to make up my mind. If it doesn't work
: out I can take her back and get my money back. But I really don't want to
: do that. Can I break her of this? My husband and I work so she's alone
: for three hours, two days a week.

Actually, since she is only alone for six hours total per week, you have a
good shot at licking this. You've got time and that's the most important
thing. The problem is that the dog goes into a fearful panic when you are
gone. The way to fix this is to desensitize the dog to your leaving and
coming back -- so that she learns that you always do come back. This
requires lots of short absences that must end before the dog starts
freaking out, so the dog can learn that yes, it is possible for Mom to
leave without greaking out. The reason why this is so hard for many
people to teach their dogs is that they have to be gone too much, so the
dog keeps getting put into situations where she goes into panic mode, and
relapses, undoing the work that was already done.

You can do this, I think. I would start with very short "virtual"
absences -- i.e., going into the next room and returning over and over
again. When I say short, I mean REAL short, like under 30 seconds.
Gradually increase the length of time your absences last. Once she is
all right with virtual absences of a reasonable length, graduate to real
absences, starting VERY short again, like under 30 seconds. And then
lengthen them. But be sure not to progress faster than your dog can handle.

Since you are only gone for three hours twice a week, but these absences
are probably way too much for your dog at this point, a short-acting
anti-anxiety medication may help for these periods, in order to keep them
from undoing the work you've done. I would consult with your
veterinarian or, if there is one available, a vet behaviorist if you
decide to go this route. The other option is to take your pup to doggie
day care or have a petsitter come in during these periods. The goal is
eventually for you to not have to do this (although there's no reason not
to continue if the dog enjoys it), but during the training period it
could be quite crucial.

If your dog's anxiety is very, very severe and she is anxious in other
situations (about noises, strangers, etc.) a more general
longer-acting anti-anxiety medication may be helpful, but again, a
veterinary behaviorist would be the one to help you with something like this.

There's good information at these links -- please read them and let us
know if you have any other questions.

http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/app...s/anxiety.html
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/separtn.htm

Good luck.

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Melanie Lee Chang | Form ever follows function.
Departments of Anthropology and Biology |
University of Pennsylvania | -- Louis Sullivan
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sharon Benum ) wrote:

: My husband and I love her dearly. I can't believe how much since we have
: only had her a week. I have a month to make up my mind. If it doesn't work
: out I can take her back and get my money back. But I really don't want to
: do that. Can I break her of this? My husband and I work so she's alone
: for three hours, two days a week.

Actually, since she is only alone for six hours total per week, you have a
good shot at licking this. You've got time and that's the most important
thing. The problem is that the dog goes into a fearful panic when you are
gone. The way to fix this is to desensitize the dog to your leaving and
coming back -- so that she learns that you always do come back. This
requires lots of short absences that must end before the dog starts
freaking out, so the dog can learn that yes, it is possible for Mom to
leave without greaking out. The reason why this is so hard for many
people to teach their dogs is that they have to be gone too much, so the
dog keeps getting put into situations where she goes into panic mode, and
relapses, undoing the work that was already done.

You can do this, I think. I would start with very short "virtual"
absences -- i.e., going into the next room and returning over and over
again. When I say short, I mean REAL short, like under 30 seconds.
Gradually increase the length of time your absences last. Once she is
all right with virtual absences of a reasonable length, graduate to real
absences, starting VERY short again, like under 30 seconds. And then
lengthen them. But be sure not to progress faster than your dog can handle.

Since you are only gone for three hours twice a week, but these absences
are probably way too much for your dog at this point, a short-acting
anti-anxiety medication may help for these periods, in order to keep them
from undoing the work you've done. I would consult with your
veterinarian or, if there is one available, a vet behaviorist if you
decide to go this route. The other option is to take your pup to doggie
day care or have a petsitter come in during these periods. The goal is
eventually for you to not have to do this (although there's no reason not
to continue if the dog enjoys it), but during the training period it
could be quite crucial.

If your dog's anxiety is very, very severe and she is anxious in other
situations (about noises, strangers, etc.) a more general
longer-acting anti-anxiety medication may be helpful, but again, a
veterinary behaviorist would be the one to help you with something like this.

There's good information at these links -- please read them and let us
know if you have any other questions.

http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/app...s/anxiety.html
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/separtn.htm

Good luck.

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Melanie Lee Chang | Form ever follows function.
Departments of Anthropology and Biology |
University of Pennsylvania | -- Louis Sullivan
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sharon Benum ) wrote:

: My husband and I love her dearly. I can't believe how much since we have
: only had her a week. I have a month to make up my mind. If it doesn't work
: out I can take her back and get my money back. But I really don't want to
: do that. Can I break her of this? My husband and I work so she's alone
: for three hours, two days a week.

Actually, since she is only alone for six hours total per week, you have a
good shot at licking this. You've got time and that's the most important
thing. The problem is that the dog goes into a fearful panic when you are
gone. The way to fix this is to desensitize the dog to your leaving and
coming back -- so that she learns that you always do come back. This
requires lots of short absences that must end before the dog starts
freaking out, so the dog can learn that yes, it is possible for Mom to
leave without greaking out. The reason why this is so hard for many
people to teach their dogs is that they have to be gone too much, so the
dog keeps getting put into situations where she goes into panic mode, and
relapses, undoing the work that was already done.

You can do this, I think. I would start with very short "virtual"
absences -- i.e., going into the next room and returning over and over
again. When I say short, I mean REAL short, like under 30 seconds.
Gradually increase the length of time your absences last. Once she is
all right with virtual absences of a reasonable length, graduate to real
absences, starting VERY short again, like under 30 seconds. And then
lengthen them. But be sure not to progress faster than your dog can handle.

Since you are only gone for three hours twice a week, but these absences
are probably way too much for your dog at this point, a short-acting
anti-anxiety medication may help for these periods, in order to keep them
from undoing the work you've done. I would consult with your
veterinarian or, if there is one available, a vet behaviorist if you
decide to go this route. The other option is to take your pup to doggie
day care or have a petsitter come in during these periods. The goal is
eventually for you to not have to do this (although there's no reason not
to continue if the dog enjoys it), but during the training period it
could be quite crucial.

If your dog's anxiety is very, very severe and she is anxious in other
situations (about noises, strangers, etc.) a more general
longer-acting anti-anxiety medication may be helpful, but again, a
veterinary behaviorist would be the one to help you with something like this.

There's good information at these links -- please read them and let us
know if you have any other questions.

http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/app...s/anxiety.html
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/separtn.htm

Good luck.

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Melanie Lee Chang | Form ever follows function.
Departments of Anthropology and Biology |
University of Pennsylvania | -- Louis Sullivan
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sharon Benum ) wrote:

: My husband and I love her dearly. I can't believe how much since we have
: only had her a week. I have a month to make up my mind. If it doesn't work
: out I can take her back and get my money back. But I really don't want to
: do that. Can I break her of this? My husband and I work so she's alone
: for three hours, two days a week.

Actually, since she is only alone for six hours total per week, you have a
good shot at licking this. You've got time and that's the most important
thing. The problem is that the dog goes into a fearful panic when you are
gone. The way to fix this is to desensitize the dog to your leaving and
coming back -- so that she learns that you always do come back. This
requires lots of short absences that must end before the dog starts
freaking out, so the dog can learn that yes, it is possible for Mom to
leave without greaking out. The reason why this is so hard for many
people to teach their dogs is that they have to be gone too much, so the
dog keeps getting put into situations where she goes into panic mode, and
relapses, undoing the work that was already done.

You can do this, I think. I would start with very short "virtual"
absences -- i.e., going into the next room and returning over and over
again. When I say short, I mean REAL short, like under 30 seconds.
Gradually increase the length of time your absences last. Once she is
all right with virtual absences of a reasonable length, graduate to real
absences, starting VERY short again, like under 30 seconds. And then
lengthen them. But be sure not to progress faster than your dog can handle.

Since you are only gone for three hours twice a week, but these absences
are probably way too much for your dog at this point, a short-acting
anti-anxiety medication may help for these periods, in order to keep them
from undoing the work you've done. I would consult with your
veterinarian or, if there is one available, a vet behaviorist if you
decide to go this route. The other option is to take your pup to doggie
day care or have a petsitter come in during these periods. The goal is
eventually for you to not have to do this (although there's no reason not
to continue if the dog enjoys it), but during the training period it
could be quite crucial.

If your dog's anxiety is very, very severe and she is anxious in other
situations (about noises, strangers, etc.) a more general
longer-acting anti-anxiety medication may be helpful, but again, a
veterinary behaviorist would be the one to help you with something like this.

There's good information at these links -- please read them and let us
know if you have any other questions.

http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/app...s/anxiety.html
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/separtn.htm

Good luck.

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Melanie Lee Chang | Form ever follows function.
Departments of Anthropology and Biology |
University of Pennsylvania | -- Louis Sullivan
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------