serious seperation anxiety - help!!

Hi,

This is the first time I have used this forum so I'm hoping someone will be able to help me!!

I have a four and a half year old pointer, I've had her for a year and she now lives in the house with me (previously she was kenneled). I absolutely love her to bits, but she's making my life REALLY difficult at the moment! I can't leave her at home by herself or she goes mad, howls, pees and defecates, clears the windowsills, breaks things and generally gets really stressed, i sometimes leave her in the cage and she gets beyond stressed. I perservered for months with the leaving her for a few seconds and working up to half an hour but this didn't seem to work. I also tried the plug in DAP but this had no effect.

Also, she goes to bed fine at night but won't tolerate any doors being shut(she scratches at them, howls, barks and whines) and often pees in the night (on carpeted floor - nightmare!), recently she has started coming upstairs at 5am every morning and sleeping on my bed. This was fine but twice now she has peed on my bed.

It seems that every time I manage to break a bad habit she starts a new one. I'm being driven completely insane, I have never come accross a dog like this before having grown up with chilled out labradors!! I can live with most of this behaviour its mostly the peeing that's driving me mad - heeeeeeelp!!!!

google APBC or UKRCB to find a behaviourist in your area or get a referral via your vet.

a vet health check might be in order as well

Hi there

It sounds pretty bad and because of that I'd suggest getting in some professional help.

I'd suggest this person, if he is not near enough to you he might be able to advise of someone else in your area:

http://www.petbehavioursorted.com/index.html

I'd suggest taking advice from him as to someone else who may help if he's not near to you, because whoever helps you should be a reputable person - it's too easy for anyone to advertise themselves in the local paper these days and there is no way of knowing just how good they are.

Hth a bit

Wys
x

I think I do need to find a behaviourist, I spoke to one on the phone a few months ago but they said it was normal for a dog to be stressed and anxious in a new home, but its been a year now, i have to take my dog everywhere with me (luckily i work outdoors where this is possible!!) and i'm cleaning pee from the carpet at least 3 times a week!!
The vet seems to think she's healthy, and suggested i got another dg to keep her company, this is something I've considered but I'm not sure I could cope with the stress of having another dog if it had any behavioural issues at all - I have enough to deal with at the moment!!

did you speak to vet re behaviourist and this other behaviourist you mention, where did you find them?

its only normal for a stressed and anxious dog to be stressed and anxious in a new home, other dogs may be unsettled for an initial period.

Edited to say i am guessing the behaviourist meant its normal for a dog that was bought up in kennels to be stressed and anxious as it hasnt lived in a home before?

There is some truth in this.....and it may even be the root of the problem in your dog's case (im thinking her socialisation period, and possibly some adolescence, was kennel based?)

However, judging by your clarity on here, im guessing you told this behaviourist about the full range of symptoms?

If so, i would feel that the behaviouist may have taken one grain of truth out of the context of a wider picture?

This all depends upon how you explained things to the behaviourist of course, although any good behaviourist would actually meet the dog in its home.

Where did you find them?

Hi Lynette welcome to Dogsey.
May I just add to the advice already given.
You say ..
...has she soiled in the house since you got her . If so that can often mean that a dog has never been properly house trained.
A kennelled dog if given the space will do its best to avoid soiling near its bed or eating area, it will usually relieve itself anywhere which is not these areas, that is not the same thing as being taught to use specific areas.

If soiling has not recently started I would start from scratch as with a puppy to make sure your dog is properly house trained and this means taking her out preferably on a lead to places frequented by other dogs so that she is stimulated to relieve herself (as opposed to letting her go into the garden alone where you can't monitor if she is actually doing anything and she is not learning to wait until a particular time ). You need to take her out at frequent intervals to begin with until you are sure she has got the idea, praise her profusely when she goes and give a treat like a small piece of chicken (gradually stop giving the treat but always give praise).
You need to take her out as late as possible last thing at night, first thing in the morning,after sleep, food and every couple of hours until a routine of going outside is established.

If you are leaving her alone try to make sure she 'is empty' before being left. Are you leaving her with a radio on low and something like an old tee shirt which smells of you. this can help.
It is also important to throughly clean previously soiled areas to prevent any lingering scents prompting your dog to use the same areas again, white vinegar and biological washing powder are good for this.

I`ve got a shorthaired pointer with exactly the same problem - the first time he was left alone he destroyed my house. The second time he escaped and went looking for me. So after that we made sure my other dog(s) or a family member was with him, and he was fine. Pointers are sensitive souls and bond very closely to their family. After a while (OK, 5 years) he could be left.

Sorry I can`t be more help. I hope a behaviourist can help...or you could try borrowing another dog to see if that works?

Thanks for all your advice, your a friendly bunch I suppose I've been embarassed of my inability to train and settle my dog so I haven't really spoken to anyone about it properly. I've organised a session with a behaviourist that was recommended to me by a friend so fingers crossed we'll see an improvement soon.

She has never soiled in front of me and is always clean in the kennel so I think she knows not to go in the house. I always take her for a walk last thing at night and make sure she goes, and recently she was very ill with colitis for 3 months, and when she had the runs she would wake me in the night to go outside to the toilet. I also get up at 6am (or earlier!!!) every morning to try and wake up before she pees!!

I think i need to get a carpet cleaner in my living room, I've scrubbed the carpet with biololgical washing powder but she's peed there so much now even I can smell it I'll give the white vinegar a go too.

Does anyone have any idea why she would pee on my bed where she is lying (and me!!) she did this once before but I had a nightmare that night so thought maybe that had made her anxious, but last night she did the same for no reason (and I am staying at a friend's house!!) which is what prompted me to ask for advice this morning!She had also gone on the kitchen floor and this was at 5am - I didn't go to bed until midnight and she emptied her bladder in the garden then!!

Thanks again. And yes, I've come to the conclusion that pointers are very sensitive souls, although also very gentle and full of love!! I'm not giving up on her just yet.......