Separation Anxiety please help!

Hi I have a 13 week old Husky x Inuit. I am the 3rd owner as the previous owner (who had him for about 1 - 2 weeks) say that their great danes bullied him. He is an amazing dog - very affectionate and has a great temperment. He is good with the kids and cats and doesn't seam at all bothered by other dogs but he is VERY nervous of other people which for a Husky I am led to believe is a bit odd.

Anyway, when I brought him home for the first day I kind of hung around and let him settle. From day one he followed me from room to room and whines and scratches at doors to try to get to me. Since the second day I have left him alone for about 15 minutes twice a day for the school run. I initially crated him as I heard this was the best idea but he kept escaping and urinating around the house. I then put a lock on the crate and he just urinated in the crate. During the 15 minutes he would constantly whine and bark also. I have now given up on the crate idea and let him roam the house. He is still barking and whining constantly. He is practically delirious with joy when I return and dribbles quite a lot.

Over the week I have had him he has calmed down, and I can disapear for upto 30seconds before he follows me sometimes but he seams in a lot of distress when I am gone. He ignores all toys and treats I leave to entertain him until I come home.

So far I am using a DAP diffuser, scullcap and valerian tablets, a t-shirt (in place of a thundershirt until that is delivered) a stuffed kong and a kibble ball. I tried bach rescue remedy but he won't touch it he thinks its disgusting.

I do not give him attention before I leave or after I return etc but nothing seams to work! I am getting pretty desperate.

I am wondering if homeopet anxiety may work or melatonin but am a bit worried about using melatonin.

Aside from this he is great - really good at training, learning to heel on the lead, I am socialising him and walking him well etc. Really don't know what to do now and can't afford a behaviourist/ visit to the vet for another week or two until I get paid.

Any help much appreciated!

Your dog is very young and has not been taught to be alone.

A dog requires to be taught how to cope when alone.

Melatonin is no licensed for use in the UK except under extreme circumstances.

You should not allow dogs to follow you about all over the place as that makes the contrast between presence v absence too large.

You need to start training your dog to be alone WHILST you are there.

Yes it does not make sense, but if your puppy cannot cope being in the same room as you but separate ie in a crate, then it is TOO SOON to start leaving him for 15 minutes at a time.

You will need to tackle this on two fronts, crate training and being alone.

Where does he sleep? It might be an idea to get him comfy in the crate ASLEEP next to your bed first.

Tackle the alone training step by step as per attached.

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/separationanxiety.pdf

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/te...yhomealone.pdf

Hi, thanks for your response.

It might help if I give a bit more info. When I bought him from the previous owners they said they left him alone for 5 hours a day....but that is with other dogs. I am now wondering if that is part of his anxiety?

These days, if I go into the kitchen to put the kettle on, he will get up after about 10 seconds come and have a look at me then go back into the living room and lie back down. Other times he will just lie down in the kitchen. I managed to have a shower the other day with the door shut and my dog lieing down outside. So like I said it is improving and I am trying to separate myself from him when I can but it is really tricky because my neighbour is working nights and he is sleeping during the day and has moaned about my dog barking so I'm quite restricted to when I can try the separation techniques.

With the 15 minutes left alone, I have to take the kids to school and the only alternative is to leave him in the car or tie him up outside the school. Either way he will be without me but I'm worried because of his fear if I tie him up and a kid is too exhuberant with him he may nip or something.

The other problem is my house layout. I have a living room which is attached to the hall and kitchen via folding double doors so I can't really securely shut them. All he has to do is dig a little and they are open. There is a stairgate on the stairs but he can jump it and will if he gets too nervous.

He is sleeping by the bed at the mo but again I was worried about waking the neighbours as the first time I put him in the crate at bedtime he started whining.

Feel a bit stuck and trapped in my own home!

It is kind of reassuring to think that this may just be new puppy syndrome and not full blown separation anxiety (I hope that is what you were saying anyway lol)!

Again any help greatly appreciated.

I would use the crate anyway because crates come in useful throughout the dog's entire life.

MOST cases of SA are NOT SA; it is a bit like people saying they have a "slipped disc" when actually they only have a backache!

I haven't and wouldn't tie him up unsupervised - especially at a school! I did leave him in the car today when I took my duaghter to ballet, and he did bark and salivate a lot then (and yes I did have a window open and it was for about 10 mins) but he wasn't AS bad. The second time (when I went to pick my daughter up) he didn't bark at all that I heard so you may be right.

I will try the crate in the bedroom again - now that he is settled in and familiar with the crate he might not be so bad and he does sleep from 12am to 7am soundly.

So worried about doing things wrong! I don't want to exhaserbate the situation. Does this sound like normal puppy behaviour then do you think?

yep...................

Excellent! I will persavere! If I'm back on here sobbing in a few weeks time you know I failed lol!

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/newdogprotocols.pdf