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Separation Anxiety?

Zeus

I believe that my dog Zeus has issues with separation anxiety. He is an American Pitbull Terrier and is 7 months old now. Any time we leave the house he barks. I obviously don't know exactly how long this behavior continues, but he also pounces on the door and whines a lot. He also can't be outside by himself without jumping at the door and barking. Once you go out he's fine. He doesn't really pay that much attention to you once you're out with him, it's just like he wants you to be out there with him. He used to have to be attached to my hip everywhere I went. I couldn't get up and walk 2 feet without him following me. That seems to have gotten better, and he is starting to go off in the house on his own. But I am still wondering what I can do about when we leave the house and when he is outside if there is something I can do to ease his anxiety while he's out there alone.

•   Dennis Fehling says:

  January 03rd, 2009 at 02:24 PM

  Hello there.  I hope this willhelp you with your pup.  The first thing I would recommend is if your dog is not getting enough exercise then increase it.  Give your dog a mind challenging toy such as a Buster cube or some other kind of dog puzzle.  Start by leaving your dog alone for very short periods of time lets say 10 seconds of going to another room in your house.  then increase the time you leave in seconds not minutes.  this will let him know that you are not leaving for good just for a little while.  Do this in the house at first when you can successfully leave him for a minute alone in the house then start over again by going out the front door for 10 seconds, then 20 then 30 ECT.  This should be done with you dog having something to occupy his time IE the BUster Cube or a king filled with cheese ECT.  What we are trying to tell your dog is that it's ok to be by yourself as Mom / Dad will be back shortly.  This has to be taken in Baby steps meaning very soort periods of time then increase time spent away as he/she get better.  A crate will also help.  Dogs like to den.  a crate while you are away can make them feel safe.  I hope this helps. I have 4 pit bulls myself and really love this breed.  Any questions feel free to contact me via my website. www.friendsforlifedogtraining.com

   

  Dennis

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• Morgan says:

  January 03rd, 2009 at 11:00 PM

  Thank you so much for your response. I've watched shows like it's me or the dog and they suggest having a toy that the dog only gets when you leave the house. In your experience does this help? I was also wondering about the toy that you can record your voice onto and it releases treats when the dog plays with it. I was wondering if you knew how well those worked and if something like that might also help ease his anxiety while I'm away.

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•   Dennis Fehling says:

  January 04th, 2009 at 12:19 PM

  hello again Morgan, lets beging by addressing your dogs real issue.  It's not about toys or things that you can by him/her it's about you being gone.  Yes interactive games are great i use them with my little amstaff and she loves them. How long are you gone from your dog?  How much exercise is your dog getting during the day.  I recommend at least for pit bulls and most dogs at least 30 minutes of hard exercise a day if possible.  Now on to the training.  Start by doing this in ababy steps like I said before.  Leave your dog in the living room for lets say 5 sec. go back give a treat.  Leave for 10 sec go back give a treat, leave for 15 sec go back give a treat.  At no time do you say anything to your dog.  Do not greet your dog in an excitable manner as you want your dog calm when you leave and when you come home.  Do this until you can be gone for a ful minute and no reaction from your dog.  Now he thinks this is a game.  his is what we want.  we want him to think that you going away is a game.  Now when you can leave for a full minute then thin about what you do everytime you get ready to leave do you grab your keys right off the bat? do you put your coat on first, do you say something specific to your dog as you are leaving.  This is what i would do.  the first time you leave for 5 seconds shake your keys very lightly toss a treat then go for 5 sec.  Come back give treat.  repeat the key grabs leave come back toss treat.  What you are doing is desenitizing your dog to your keys. Does this make sence?  another option is to hire a dog walker to come in and walk your dog for 15-30 minutes while you are away.  If you know a very trustworthy neighbor this is a great very easy fix.  also the buster cube i talked about is a great toy for your dog too keep him occupied while you are away.  You also can leave a radio on with very easy listening music.  I would stay away from the toys that play your voice as your dog will start looking all over for you and you will not be there.  If you would like go to my website at www.friendsforlifedogtraining.com go to the contact page and give me a call and I will walk you through this step by step.

   

  Dennis

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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• Morgan says:

  January 07th, 2009 at 11:10 PM

  We just recently moved so we are about 5 minutes from the dog park now. He gets to go there for about an hour every day as long as weather isn't bad. He also gets out in the backyard often throughout the day. I've tried to mix up my routine as I go to leave the house so that he won't know when I'm leaving. Now that the weather is cold I put my coat on to step out back with him as well, so he does associate my coat with going outside the most right now. When I had him in obidence classes they taught us to not give him attention until his paws are all on the floor. We are still working on this. It is one of the last bad behaviors that we have to work on. I'm gone from him for any where between 4-8 hours when I'm at work. He's not home alone though. He doesn't jump at the door while my boyfriend or our room mate is home, but he doesn't listen and tends to act up more while I'm gone. He has been getting slowly better with things now that we have moved and we have a yard where he can go out without a leash and is getting out for longer periods of time and playing with other dogs. I started doing about 5 seconds to start yesterday, and he seemed to be okay with that. I've only been adding a second everytime as I don't want to set him up to fail. Is there anything else I should be doing differently to help to correct this issue?

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•   Dennis Fehling says:

  January 08th, 2009 at 07:34 PM

  Good work on the Sep anx stuff.  Now on to the jumping behavior.  Dogs will do what has worked for them i the past.  When you get home and your dog is excited to see you do not give him any attention until he is calm.  When you come in the front door or wherever you come in from have a toy or treat ready to give him.  Before he has a chance to jump up on you bend over to his level so he is not forced to jump up.  Immediately giv him a treat before he can get off the ground.  I recommend either a treat or favorite toy.  This will give him something to divert his attention and offer a non jumping behavior.  As soon as the treat is given walk away from your dog while he is chewing the treat or playing with the toy.  Then and only then do you give attention only for calm behavior.  this has to be done with every member of the household.  They all have to never pay attention to him if he is jumping.  the bad thing to do is have the dog greet you with jumping up as soon as he sees then rewarding him as soon as his feet hit the floor this is telling your dog that the jump equals the reward.  So try and catch him before he gets the chance to jump in the first place by interrupting the behavior before it happens by either giving him a toy or a treat on the floor.  Let me know how he does.

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