Separation Anxiety

Ollie my 8 month old GSP is currently recovering from surgery following an accident with some barbed wire. In order to ensure he doesn't tear his stitches open we have temporarily re-homed his best doggy pal, Freddie. I have been told by a breeder that GSPs often suffer from Separation Anxiety, and Ollie it seems, is no exception.

The reason we got Freddie was because Ollie had a mild case of SA but since Freddie has gone we can see that it is now absolutely crippling. He won't even be left alone for a few minutes when you leave the room without howling, barking and throwing himself against the door. When Freddie was here they could be left together for 3 to 4 hours with no problems. They were quite happy to be shut in the kitchen together for most of the day, whilst my partner who works from home, is in the next room.

The only way we can manage his recovery from his injury and mental welbeing is to have him with us all the time. I'm hoping that when Freddie comes back next week Ollie will return to something approaching normal. Does anyone else with more than one dog have this problem when they are separated?

bring his buddy back home and crate one of them?

That's a very good idea, and if we couldn't provide "Ollie cover" for the next week we would have to do that. My concern is that when Freddie comes back, Ollie doesn't revert to how he was before this accident, which makes your suggestion even more appealing.

I have to balance that against the vision I have of Ollie throwing himself against either the inside or outside of the crate to get to Freddie.