Suddenly developed separation anxiety.. Help

Kismet used to love being left... she couldn't get you out of the house fast enough to settle down with her kong and have some garden time... She was a relaxed confident happy go lucky gal and webcam showed her eating her treats and sleeping on her bed in the conservatory.

But recently something scared her... don't know what it was, but it was before the fireworks and she doesn't want to be left anymore... The neighbour has said she just howls from the moment I leave until someone gets home...

What can I do?

Currently our routine is 30 min walk in the morning, then she has 3 - 5 hours on her own before either I am back home, or my Mum comes over to sit with them, after IO am home in the afternoon she has her longer 1 hour walk.

She has scattered treats when she is left as well as a stuffed kong, or her antler bar. She used to be more than happy with this and all the food and kong would be gone when I got home, but now nothing is touched. Watching her on the webcam, she paces the fence line like a caged animal, then cries at the door, then back to pacing the fence line again until someone gets home.

The neighbour has offered to take her out for another walk in the morning, so that she is left for only 2 hours at a time, but she is a strong Huskamutt and he is an elderly gentlemen, I'm not sure he'd cope. I suggested he took her into his house instead, but she wont go into his house, she panics and bucks and pulls backwards out of her collar if he tries to take her in.

Meanwhile pharaoh just sleeps happily and calmly on the sofa...

Is there a reason she has to be in the garden when you are out?

Has anything changed in your routine or your home situation for example additions to the family etc or unidentified changes.
older dogs that have lived with a routine forever can notice the slightest changes and it can make them uneasy. There is lots of info in dogs and coping methods online if you type in sudden separation anxiety. hope things get better soon

How old is the dog? Could it be that the weather is much colder now - something like that?

could it be you have given her extra attention lately since the passing of your gorgeous girlie?....making the wrench of you leaving her harder?

When you say something scared her, how do you know this? I mean I would tend to agree, but just wondered how you came to this conclusion, as opposed to it being caused by something else.

Is there any way you could find out what it was? Sometimes if you video a dog, and watch very carefully, you can get clues For example if builders are next door, you can see from thedog's actions on the video that it is that which is causing the problem.

Or the dog will be looking in a certain direction, ears pricked, at the ready to se or hear the scary thing. Or they will show anxiety at a certain, or simillar, noise.

Are you positive, too that it's not fireworks? How is she wit them?

If you could find out what it is, then you could possibly take steps to protect her or alter her environment or timing of things so that it can be avoided/not noticed/she could be helped to not be scared of it.

No chance people were teasing her or throwing things at her?

Wys
xxx

Thank you all for your replies...

Some updates...

The routine has changed around here, I quit my job and have gone back to study a degree in animal management full time. So rather than two full days out of the house and one half day, I am now out 4 days, 3 full and one half day. On the full days my Mum comes over to dog sit in the afternoon. But this is a complete change for the Kismutt.

Also of course there was the passing of Selkie, which has left Kismet much quieter and more nervous than before. I hadn't noticed how much she relied on her until she was gone. But Kismet is definitely not as confident without Selkie (plus I am admittedly more relying on Kismet for grief support)... She may have always challenged her for dominance, but with Selkie gone, Kismet is finding the top-dog boots hard to fill. I am not someone who thinks that I am a pack leader.. Dogs are dogs and they have their own pack hierarchy and social bonds, I am outside of that relationship, but can step in and take charge of them as a human master in the dog/master dynamic.

Pharaoh does now looks to Kismet for guidance, he's a very submissive dog and used to follow Selkie everywhere and relied on her for confidence Kis does her best to lead him around and make him calm, but she's becoming a bag of nerves herself...

I have always separated her from Selkie and Pharaoh when I was out because she can be food aggressive and would push Selkie for dominance. I wanted to leave her a Kong to occupy her, but didn't want to risk a fight when I wasn't there. I also put her in the garden because she tends to overheat in the house and she can be as destructive as she likes out there.

I think something has frightened her based on her body language when I have observed her... She has head down, tail down, ears straining forward and jumps at every noise from the fence... My guess is the paper boy, or kids in the neighbourhood have banged at the fence... When she hears someone on the other side of the fence, she begins to pace the fence up and down howling and whining, then stands and thumps the fence with her paws and runs into the conservatory to see if there is a reaction, then starts to do it again. Leaping back at the slightest noise and grwooofing which is the closest thing she has to a bark.

The fireworks bother her, but less so, she just hides upstairs or under the table from them and waits for them to stop.

One thing I have considered is changing the routine and leaving Kismet with Pharaoh with the run of the living room and conservatory. This way she will have him to look after and for calm support (he just sleeps all day that I am out) and turn the heating off, maybe crack a window to try and keep the living room as cool as possible..

She has never been left in the house, but the plus side will be I can watch her on my webcam all day.

I would be a bit worried about the possibility of her and Pharaoh getting in to a fight. They have only scrapped a couple of times, but every time I have broken it up and Pharaoh has needed stitches.. Its not that Kismet is being unduly aggressive, it's just that Pharaoh has tissue paper skin, the slightest thing tears it.

I could get the crate back out and crate Pharaoh, he doesn't do much all day anyway, but if they could work it out, it may be nicer for them both to have free run.

Ok.. so armed with more info.. what do you think?

It's always hard to give any kind of advice without seeing, but it seems to me as if all the things in her life that helped her feel happy and give her balance and homeostasis have been disrupted and taken away from her. Obviously your other doglet who is no long there and you say that you are relying on her for grief support.

Depending on what you mean by this, she may find distressing if she's not sure what is meant by it and feels you are distressed yourself. She doesn't sound like the sort of dog who can cope with this very well, from what you have said. If she is then having problems with something outside scaring her, I'd say she is out of her comfort zone and in the circumstances it may be that being inside, with another dog etc would be helpful

Bit concerned about the other dog being bitten by her, but is this usually over food? as if it is then could that issue simply be avoided whilst you are out?

I'd consider using things like DAP, plus ensuring she is getting enough exercise, and mental stimulation

Hth and that you manage to find a solution.

Wys
x

How old is she? Maybe a vet-check? Dogs can get clingy if feeling down.

Well leaving them together is now off the cards as I just had to split up a fight between them caused when pharaoh stepped on her when she was sleeping!

I took her to college with me yesterday and left her in the car while I had lectures... Seemed to work, but will only be good while the weather is cold, will still need a long term solution