New Rescue crying when away from me

[Gillian Howard]

Hi - I just (yesterday) rescued a female 1 year old cross breed (dont know what) to live with my 2 year old terrier cross.

It was pretty obvious that she has been mistreated as she is very thin and shy.

Every time I leave the room she starts crying and jumping up to try and open the door.

What can I do to try to stop this? Help asap would be much appreciated. I am off work for a week but after then I will be working 8 hours a day so need to make sure her and my other dog are happy in the house together. Thanks x

[Renee]

gillchick -

I'm guessing here that your dog doesn't not have S.A. - true SA is very complicated and scary. Your dog is probably very stressed right now. You need to start building confidence with your dog - she needs to learn to trust you. I think that they have the NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) article up somewhere in here - that would be an excellent place to start. Make sure you do not reinforce the whining and crying - don't give her any attention for it. Start rewarding (with high value treats like cheese, meat etc.) her for when she is quiet.

Good luck

[Elizabeth Coleman]

First, let me applaud you for the rescue. It sounds like a lot of abandonment fear - and your pooch will need lots of love and one on one time with you to build trust - but I dare say you know that already. Have you thought about crate training? Begin by giving them a secure space? My mom also had a dog with the same problem and she slept in one of my dad's old t-shirts for a few nights and then put the t-shirt with the dog in a small laundry room until he got comfortable in there. Bit by bit, she opened up the house to him, so he wasn't so overwhelmed and spent at least a 1/2 hour with him before she would leave him for any length of time as well as setting a routine for him when she would return...

[Sheryl]

I found this only after my rescue Harley had a full-blown case of separation anxiety, but maybe some of it can help you. From
http://pages.prodigy.net/k9shrink/Separation_Anxiety.h tml

Preventing Separation Anxiety in Newly-Adopted Dogs

The Well-Tempered Pet, Madison Pet Gazette, June 1997

By Sharon Savage, M.S.

As a behavior consultant, I often treat wonderful dogs that recently have been adopted from shelters. After the owner's initial surprise at how well-behaved the new dog is, the pet's manners seem to vanish overnight. While the owner is away at work, walls are gnawed, accidents occur, or neighbors complain that the dog has begun howling.

These problems are all symptoms of "separation anxiety". But there is good news: separation anxiety can be prevented before it ever begins.

Separation anxiety is distress at being separated from the owner. In the case of shelter dogs, which have already experienced abandonment, the dog may bond with the new owner immediately, then panic when he leaves for work. Separation anxiety usually manifests itself as destruction at points of exit (chewing floors, walls, or crates), vocalization, inappropriate elimination, or self-mutilation. The first two behaviors are attempts to reunite with the owner, while the last two are products of the anxiety itself. Separation anxiety is differentiated from other behavior problems in that symptoms only occur during the owner's absence.

To understand what causes separation anxiety, consider the following scenario: after adopting a dog, you take a few days' vacation and spend every moment with your new pet. You leave for work Monday morning and return home nine hours later to an exuberant greeting session with your biggest fan.

However, emotional arrivals make stress-prone dogs spend each successive day obsession about the fabulous reunion scene that awaits. After several days or even weeks, you arrive to find a problem has occurred. You punish the dog, causing him to become more anxious the next day. The dog relieves his stress by engaging in the original problem behavior. The cycle of separation anxiety has begun.

Once started, separation anxiety can only be cured through a grueling program (2-4 months) of behavior modification. Fortunately, the problem may be prevented by following the same program for just a few days with newly adopted pets.

Plan about five days in which to get to know your new dog. Much of that will be spent encouraging his independence. Practice random departures by putting your dog where he'll stay while you're at work, saying an unemotional "see you later," and leaving the house. Return after 5 seconds (to start with) and ignore the dog. Practice 50-100 departures a day for several days, gradually increasing the average length of your absence.

Anytime you leave for more than a few minutes, give your dog a special treat (like a beef bone of Kong toy stuffed with liverwurst or peanut butter) that he only gets to have while you are gone.

Make your presence and absence be of about equal value to the dog--don't let your ego interfere! If you really do need to leave for a long period during these first few days, leave your pet at "doggie daycare" or with a friend. Once your dog can tolerate practice departures of 30 minutes, he's probably ready to spend half days alone. Visit your pet during lunch time for the first few weeks and you should be well on your way to a separation anxiety-free pet.




Resources for learning more:

The booklet, "The Dog That Cannot Be Left Alone" is available free of charge from Cycle Pet Care Center, P.O. Box 9001, Chicago, Illinois 60604-9001. Written by Victoria Voith, DVM, Ph.D. and Peter Borchelt, Ph.D., the booklet contains the complete behavior modification program outlined above.

The book The Dog Who Loved Too Much by Dr. Nicholas Dodman is available in paperback in the pet section of most local bookstores. The book contains anecdotal accounts of separation anxiety, and recommends solutions.

If your dog is friendly with other dogs but hasn't yet learned to be independent, consider enrolling him in "doggie daycare"--a supervised, active environment with canine playmates--while you're at work.

[Grace Erick]

Hi,

I posted this to someone else on another topic about what my Chihuahua book says about leaving your house if you want to keep the dog less anxious or keep him from becoming anxious:

This is what my Chi book for Dummies says:

Let him do his business 10 min. before you leave

Turn on the radio and leave his favorite toys

Don't say goodbye when you leave or give him attention in the last few minutes before you leave.

Go back and sit with him for 10 min, tell him to sit and praise him.

If you find a puddle or destruction, don't call attention to it, and make a note how long you were gone. Then DECREASE the amount of time you are gone, then gradually work your way back up to being gone for longer amounts of time.

Then they mention meds, but they can tend to lose their effectiveness over time and/or the dog will have to eventually be weaned off of them.

[Gillian Howard]

thanks so much for your help - I am currently practising the leaving the room routine and it seems to be working (so far) please see my other problem about bedtime and give me any help you can. x