Crate training and MAJOR seperation anxiety--HELP!!!!
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| You poor thing! I know, it's very stressful. I would recommend that you do some reading to help you understand why Harvey gets so stressed out when you leave him. There are many great books out there, I like Jan The Dog Listener: Learn How to Communicate with Your Dog for Willing Cooperation, by Jan Fennell; in addition to her basic training advice she has a chapter on separation.
Harvey might be equally unhappy if you leave him uncrated and alone, and he can hurt himslef or do a lot of damage if you leave him uncrated. You should also try leaving him with a stuffed Kong or another challenging toy so that he has something to do while you're gone. There are all kinds of toys now that let you hide little snacks. That will distract Harvey when you're first leaving and should help. Good luck! |
| Aw, I'm sorry. We went though separation anxiety and issues with the crate with Clyde, too. Are you putting him in the crate periodically even while you're home during the day, just to get him comfortable with it? That might help him adjust a little better since he'll know that you're coming back. Also, have you tried stuffing a Kong with peanut butter or something so that he'll have something to keep himself busy? That seems to work well for our new puppy Bear. |
 That's hard. Barney had terrible separation anxiety when we first got him. We started off with him in the crate but he would drool so much and get so worked up we stopped crating him (but we were lucky to have a safe place--the kitchen--to keep him while we were gone). The kong is definitely a good idea...also, try not to make a big deal of leaving--just put him in there with the kong, say good boy for going in and then leave...no crazy show of we're leaving now...that's helped Barney a lot. |
barney1 wrote: ...also, try not to make a big deal of leaving--just put him in there with the kong, say good boy for going in and then leave...no crazy show of we're leaving now...that's helped Barney a lot.
That's one of Jan Fennell's recommendations too. Give him something to keep him busy, then just walk out like it's no big deal. When Bailey was a puppy I would walk out the door and hear him howling - it broke my heart. Now, he couldn't care less because his crate is his favorite place to nap. My favorite moments are when I walk back in and he looks up at me with this annoyed expression: "Are you home already? You interrupted a really good nap!" |
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