Seperation Anxiety

So Ivan has developed a case of this and it seems to only be getting worse. Not only does he bark and howl when we leave but he also gets very destructive. He has been caged lately but the toys that he gets given get shredded and I wouldnt mind that but he eats the parts for some reason. I have tried covering his crate to try and ease him but then he pulls the blanket in and shreds it. However it did seem to calm him for a day or two. But now this is not only happening when we leave but at night and anytime that there is no one in the room for a length of time like at night or when I take a shower. He gets himself so worked up and stressed out that it really concerns me. Can anyone help???

O and this was never told to me by the rescue.

quite possibly it never happened in the rescue (was it a kennels?...most sep anx dogs i have come across dont show the symptoms in kennels).
also, the previous owner may not have told them, or quite possibly it never happened in the previous home due to different circumstances and routines?

how long have you had him and what is the routine you set him from day 1?

have you contacted the rescue for advice?
what rescue is he from?

it's never simple is it!

Think you might have to start again with him, and treat him like he's a little puppy.

You need to start leaving him for short periods of time (like a minute) before you leave him unattended for a while. Make sure he knows you're coming back. Try and tire him out before you go out (if you can!) with a walk, training, mental stimulation etc.

He was in a foster home is whole life and never spent time in a kennel. I expected that since this was the case he would have some sort of manners and at least know how to sit. But he knew NOTHING and didnt even come to his name. On top of that he had tape worms and the hip that he had surgery on I believe is messed up and was so when we got him. When she tried to show us his exercises that were supposed to be done he was miserably uncomfortable but I (dont ask why Im not really sure) didnt bother to ask. She just said that he hated them. But Im begining to think that they actually hurt him.

Anywayz, sry about the rant but its been a long time coming. His routines havent changed since he came home with us. Everything has been the same. Im always home and the only thing that changes is my husbands work schedule cause he is on shift work. But that has been going on since we got him too. We adopted him on June 22 of this year. The lady said that she just left the dogs outside when she left. There was a large fence in her yard, actually most of the yard was fenced. So maybe she didnt know. I asked her how he was when you left him and she didnt really have an answer.

Im thinking the puppy thing is probably the way to go huh.....

Ok so the other day when we left to go to the store I video taped Ivan. (Right now Im trying to figure out how to get it from the camera to the computer) It was an hour of tape. At 2 minutes and change in he began to get antsy and start barking and pawing at the sides of the cage. He was spinning in circles, digging vigorously at the bottom of the cage, barking, howling and whining. He would paw at the side of the cage so hard that the cage was moving and bulging out. After a little while into the tape he would lay down and then flip over onto his back lay there for no more than a minute and then he would get up again start everything all over again and as the tape went it got worse before it got better. This behavior continued on for 45 minutes and change of this hour long video.

Any help on how to approach this. It seems like he has a pretty sever case. Basically Ive started ignoring him when we leave and when we return. Also he tries to push getting attention from us and I dont generally allow him to do this but OH does. I have told OH to ignore him when he comes up and is pushing for attention and to call him over or approach him ourself when he is calm. And now that we are ignoring him when he pushes for it its getting to the point that he is jumping up on the couch in our face and bringing toys over and pawing at us. And his big feet hurt! LOL. If we call Chance over for attention he tries to push Chance out of the way and with his size almost double Chances he can. Again any help would be great.

I know this is slightly off topic but my dog has a similar problem. Whenever I leave she isn't destructive but she poos right by the front door.
The neighbours say she isn't noisy and she doesn't appear distressed when I get home, she is normally perfectly house trained when I am in the house.
It doesn't matter how long I give her outside to go to the loo she seems to hold on until I go out. It also doesn't matter how long I leave her for, even 5 mins.
I don't really believe in crating her, any suggestions on what I could do?

Not sure how to help you but maybe someone can help the both of us.

i think you're doing the right thing by ignoring him when you leave and come back and only calling him to you when quiet. you need to start off small (like walking outside, countin to ten and coming back) and build on the successes. don't get stressed if he's done anything, he won't associate why you're upset with what he's done. the main thing is when you've decided what you're going to do, stick with it, he needs to learn the rules and boundaries and that you're not light touches and won't give up
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