Anxiety with a Lab x Mastiff

[usherlad]

Hi,

My mum and her boyfriend rescued Bo about 3-4 months ago and he's about 20months old. We couldnt have wished for a more loving dog but he suffers extremely bad from anxiety and chews everything. When we leave him to go out he just ruins everything, whether it be in the house or the garden. We've tried everything from leaving him with all his toys or sticks to chew on to building a hut and run for him but none of these are working. They also have a German Shephard and both get along perfectly.

if anyone can help i would be extremely grateful because they have lost all patience with him and i couldnt bare to lose him

Thank You

Andrew

[debs x]

hey!! we have this problem with our collie, when ever he was on his own he would chew anything he could get his paws on!! the worst time was night time because he is not aloud upstairs, lots of people suggested sprays and lemon basicly things that taste yuk! and others suggested a crate, i was not sure about it at first but we got one and after a night or 2 he settled, now he see's it as bed, he has his food and water in with him and chew toys to!!(and a duvet) no more chewing in our house since we got it!!!! im sure others will have some good advice for you on here to, they have helped me out!! good luck!!!

[loopylurcherlover2000]

As I am mad about Lurchers and I am soon adopting one from a rescue centre I have had to learn a lot about Seperation Anxiety.
Here is how to deal with it :

First of all make sure the dog has a quiet place to itself - where it can escape from everything and relax. As 'debs x' said it is a good idea to set up a crate in a private space in your house. This should be a smallish space where the dog should sleep and you should feed your dog there as well. DO NOT shut a door on the dog as they can't see out of the room and this will make the dog panic - this will cause manic scratching, blind panic and big damage. Use a dog gate or a babygate.
1. Start by putting your dog in the safe place (where his bed is) for just 1 minute. Leave him by walking out of the room and making sure he can't see or hear you. If the dog goes the minute without whining open the gate - do not say a word, and let the dog out. DONT praise your dog for being quiet/well-behaved - you want your dog to know it is normal and not what is expected. If the dog is fine with 1 minute try 2, 3,4 and then 5 minutes, and so forth. Do this every hour of the day.
If your dog shows signs of stressing after 1 or 2 minutes,and starts to howl/whine/bark IGNORE the behaviour for a few minutes - as he may just calm down. If s/he doesn't stop DON'T go to the dog. Just shout SETTLE DOWN from where you are. If the dog settles - leave him for 1 minute after the whining stops and then go and let him out - saying nothing and not praising. THIS NEEDS TO BE KEPT UP FOR A GOOD FEW WEEKS
Do this at weekends as well - if you keep it up you should finally be able to get your dog to stay on his own for an hour or two.

If you would like information on leaving your dog alone at home please just say. But if you do what is written above - your dog should become more responsible and if you leave some toys/chews with him he should get better. Hope This Helps! GOOD LUCK !!!

[nick_j007]

Originally Posted by loopylurcherlover2000

As I am mad about Lurchers and I am soon adopting one from a rescue centre I have had to learn a lot about Seperation Anxiety.
Here is how to deal with it :

First of all make sure the dog has a quiet place to itself - where it can escape from everything and relax. As 'debs x' said it is a good idea to set up a crate in a private space in your house. This should be a smallish space where the dog should sleep and you should feed your dog there as well. DO NOT shut a door on the dog as they can't see out of the room and this will make the dog panic - this will cause manic scratching, blind panic and big damage. Use a dog gate or a babygate.
1. Start by putting your dog in the safe place (where his bed is) for just 1 minute. Leave him by walking out of the room and making sure he can't see or hear you. If the dog goes the minute without whining open the gate - do not say a word, and let the dog out. DONT praise your dog for being quiet/well-behaved - you want your dog to know it is normal and not what is expected. If the dog is fine with 1 minute try 2, 3,4 and then 5 minutes, and so forth. Do this every hour of the day.
If your dog shows signs of stressing after 1 or 2 minutes,and starts to howl/whine/bark IGNORE the behaviour for a few minutes - as he may just calm down. If s/he doesn't stop DON'T go to the dog. Just shout SETTLE DOWN from where you are. If the dog settles - leave him for 1 minute after the whining stops and then go and let him out - saying nothing and not praising. THIS NEEDS TO BE KEPT UP FOR A GOOD FEW WEEKS
Do this at weekends as well - if you keep it up you should finally be able to get your dog to stay on his own for an hour or two.

If you would like information on leaving your dog alone at home please just say. But if you do what is written above - your dog should become more responsible and if you leave some toys/chews with him he should get better. Hope This Helps! GOOD LUCK !!!

Sounds like a plan

Just to add a couple of things if I may. Avoid shouting or saying ANYTHING if the dog is making a noise. The owner's voice is best removed from the whole process. What can sometimes help if the dog is getting too hyper in its vocalisation is a 'tap-tap' on the door with a hard implement. This can have the startle effect, which in some cases does actually snap the dog out of its noisy phase. You will see after one or two attempts if this is going to work for your dog or not. Sometimes it works a treat, other times it does nothing. If no result, stop the use of it.

Also, place a greater emphasis upon leaving the dog something to distract it upon departures. I use stuffed Kongs (about 6/day) with the dog's food allowance in it across the 6. I use Nature Diet for this as it is perfect for Kong stuffing. This makes each departure something to be looked forward to.

Depending on the severity of the S.A., you may find that the dog is a long way off being able to cope for 1 minute in the beginning, so you may be only able to count to 10 or so before the dog begins to create. Just walk in ignoring the dog as already suggested as soon as you have a slight pause in the noise. A few of these should begin to give a bit of momentum.

Good luck!

Alpha Dog Behaviour Home page. Welcome. Dog behaviourist and dog trainer Nick Jones MCFBA.