Separation anxiety help!

ello everyone.. I am seeking for desperate help! We got our dog from the pound about a month and a half ago almost. The first day we put him in the basement(finished basement with couch and tv and stuff). He did really good! I was so happy Well the next day we only left for 2 hours..... And when we went to open the door we couldnt not even open it... He brought everything in reach and moveable to the top of the stairs and he ate his entire food dish as well as destroyed several other things including my blinds.... So then we went and bought the biggest cage they make.. We put it in the living room for 2 days. He tore up the bed in the inside and everything.... Then we moved it downstairs because it took up my entire living room.... Well then my other dog came over that me and my ex share ( we switch every 2 weeks) and we put their cages next to each other... Whenever we would leave the new dog Dash would bark like crazy! Well I came home that day and he peed the cage... So we tried it again.... the next few days were okay( Got big bones) Then it started to be really bad again he some how got out and pooped everywhere. Then that week he would randomly just go downstairs and start peeing and pooping. So we started shutting the door to downstairs..... Then we got to clips to put on the cage door. and put the divider in it to make it smaller. That worked for a few days and he was still having messes and he got out again from the corner of the cage. On a little side note while this is all going on he was busting up his nose trying to get out. I feel horrible for him.. Well then we got more locks to put around the outside corners too. In the mean time we got the pooping handeled. We chanaged his eating schedule... but then after I THOUGHT we had it down to a T. ... Well he pooped in the cage again. Well I thought I would be nice and leave him out 2 days ago.... so I picked everything up... well I came home for lunch and yet again everything was at the top of the stairs and 4 piles of poop on the floors. So yesterday we put him back into the cage and left for a few hours came back and he was out of the cage... I could not figure it out.... all the locks were still on..... I watched some youtube videos where dog push up on the cage and come out where the tray goes... I think that is what he did. So ziptied the entire cage so he could not get out... But his nose is busted up again.. and there is so much droll and hair laying on the outside of the cage it is disgusting... I will give you a little bit more of info about him... maybe some dog expert can HELP!! He is a german pointer lab mixed. He is very good dog! He knows his basic commands, sit, stay shake, lay down, come. The vet guesses he is 1 1/2 only thing we know is he was a stray but he had to come from a family. My guess he escaped ( we got him micro chipped). When we got him he had hookworms and is done with treatment 9 thought maybe that was part of pooping). He is very skinny 49 pounds. He is a huge snuggler and love to just lay in bed. ( He is there right now). He reterives a ball like no order dog has before. I will sit out side with him for hours launching the ball. He bring it right back and drops it and backs up a bit. EVERY SINGLE TIME! and he acts like the ball is crack or something. We have to take it away at night a lot of times. He really doestn have any interested playing with other dogs. The dont bother him though he is just more entertained with people and balls and he can jump really high! He also inhails his food.. we had to turn his bowl upside down to make it harder to eat the food. We are at work 8-5 Monday-Friday thats it. My other dog went to my exs 1 1/2 weeks ago. I talked to the vet about this several times.... She gave my anxiety meds to give him she said it was the strongest sedation meds they have. They are extremely expensive! She gave my 10 pills and we used all of them when my other dog was here. I thought they were helping a little because we weren't having a lot of problems. Well then we ran out and I talked to the vet again and asked if there was anything cheaper for him to take. SHe had me get melatonin from the drug store. I gave him 10 mg... It did nothing! I tried that for 3 days... I felt like his behavior got worse... That is the day I came home to a mess and a bloody nose dog... So I called the vet and got more pills. But they dont seem to being doing what they are meant to do.... I dont know what to do anymore... I am so lost...... Oh and one other thing he can not have fluffies because he eats them. We have went through like 200 dollars worth of toys in the last month and a half. I bought the special tuff ones... They dont work. I finally found a ball that is soft he can not destroy and about 6 other toys he cant destroy finally! I just dont get it!!! He just sleeps we are home! Why cant he do that during the day... please help.. I cant keep buying these pills and worrying all day if he is in the cage or destroying my basement or making a mess in the basement and making it smell.....He is also fixed that was about 4 days before we adopted him and when we got him we put him on antibiotics.

Must say that long post is hard to read with no paragraph spacing! But, you seem to be saying your dog 'sleeps all the time when you are home' and is then left alone when you go to work?

How much outdoor exercise and training is he getting?

Sorry just spotted that you sit outside and throw the ball for him.

Dog sounds bored and probably lonely when left as well. I wouldn't like to be kept in a basement and wouldn't keep any dog I owned in a basement either.

Firstly, welcome to Dogsey and sorry you are having problems with your new dog.

It is very early days and you are more than likely his security so when you leave he panics. Do you know anything about his history as its possible he was left for long periods.

My only suggestion would be to make sure you have taken him out for a really good off-lead walk (if his recall is good) to wear him out. Leave him with a stuffed kong, a nylabone or something that is virtually indestructable and leave the radio or TV on for comfort.

Rather than just leave practice leaving him for a few minutes at a time and then returning in to the room. Keep doing this with longer periods of absence each time. Don't make a big deal about leaving or coming back and only make a fuss of him if he's quiet and not manic to see you.

I have litter-mate brothers and both have been treated identically. One has separation anxiety, the other doesn't which shows some dogs can be predisposed inherently to suffer with it.

I really do sympathise as you worry the whole time you are out. If nothing helps I personally would ask the vet to recommend a good behaviourist who should be able to guide you through this to help him settle when you are out.

He is probably sleeping when you are at home with him because he is exhausted from fretting when you are out

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Hi welcome to Dogsey
Wow your certainly going through the mill with your boy ,just my thoughts on the situation
GSP/Lab high energy active dogs ,easily bored ,can be destructive if left as sooooo family orientated to the extent of being OTT how much excersising is your dog getting ?
Prior to you leaving him alone from 8amto 5pm ,not surprised he's going nuts
Pointers have endless energy a2hour off lead run and their just warming up they need mental as well as physical stimulation do not underestimate how intelegent this breed is
At 1 1/2 your boy is still a baby as they can be slow to mature suggest you go back to basics probably not what you want to hear no quick fix time and above all patience
As I dought you will have much back ground information coming from a rescue ,your dog could have come from a hunting background ,not used to living in a home ,so house training may take some time ,the retrieving his ball suggests to me this May be the case

Many hunters are using this GSP /LAB mix (even here in the uk)
Have you tried some hunt the treats /toys games that way you'll be exercising not only his pent up energy but his brain ,
Dont give up ,you may be in for the long haul but you won't regret it fabulous dogs 17years now I'd not be without mine Good Luck

TANG - We do not know anything about his history. They just said he was a stray... Yes he gets about 2 hours of exercise. We go on a morning run in the am and through the ball and we play and through the ball for about a hour every evening. AND.. its not a nasty basement, its a finished living room basement that we are down there with him a lot when we are home.

JENNY - He is getting lots of exercise. When we leave he gets a bone and the kongball with peanut butter in it, and we always leave the Tv on. And my vet recommended that too ( not making a big deal) So we walk downstairs I put him in and just walk up stairs I dont make a big deal about it when I leave or come back.We have did everything the vet has recommended.

NORMA - Yes I think he was a hunting dog but maybe also a family dog... he is so lovable and he is perfect when we are home with house training. He always just walks to the door.. And he poops every morning and he gets lots of exercise.