Have a couple separation anxiety questions. I am using the search and am finding good tips, and suggestions so thanks to those who have gone before and the advice given already.
First the background. My wife and I recently got our first dog. Jack, an almost 3 year old Chiwawa / Jack Russell mix. His previous family rescued him from a shelter when he was a pup, but their life circumstances have changed and no longer have the free time to spend with him he needs.
He joined us about 2 months ago at this point. No real problems at first, but then over Thanksgiving he started showing what we now know to be signs of separation anxiety. We instantly cut out the big welcome homes encounters as he was getting more and more out of control. Jumping, whimpering, over the top excitement that would last probably 20 minutes. We realize now we fed that. He also follows us around the house, and our kids report that when we leave (they are still home) he paces, whines and whimpers. This is mostly on weekends if we go to breakfast/run an errand or come home from work then have to leave again.
Jack loves our kids, but bonded very quick and hard to my wife and I. He is also very intelligent. Even as a noob dog owners we have been able to quickly teach sit, stay, and are seeing signs of him learning to not rush the door when we go for a walk. He is learning he gets invited out of the house, he does not get to leave at will. still work to be done, but progress in just a couple weeks.
What we have done to date to deal with the separation anxiety.
1. Ignore him till he calms down when we come home. His welcome home excitement lasts maybe 5 to 10 minutes now.
2. Since I leave after my wife, I am trying to break up my “leaving tellsâ€
A Separation Anxiety Question
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Good stuff so far and great questions! 
Ok, taking stuff he can physically get hold of, when you are not there.... is just fair game to him.
Its there, you dont want it, why should he not have it?
Now we know that theres dangerous stuff in the trash, we know these things could hurt him but he has no concept of that, and there is no way to teach him that.
So get a dog proof trash can. OR, put the trash can somewhere he cant get it.
Trying to teach an animal to not do something they instinctively see no reason not to do, when you are not there to redirect them... is a pointless waste of time and liable to require the use of extreme aversives which carry their own risks (And are at best, not pleasant for the dog).
I find its better to expect a dog to investigate and take stuff that is available to them, and be pleasantly surprised if they do not.
Out of my five dogs.... 1 wouldnt take food left on a plate on the counter, let alone look in the trash... 1 would but only if it was really obvious... 3 will not only take the food, but get ON the counter, open drawers, open cupboards, gets in the fridge and the freezer... and 1 of those three.... is I am sure, shortly going to figure out how to order Dominoes pizza using my credit card online!
It is totally and utterly alien to dogs, who are opportunistic scavengers instinctively, to ignore food they can phsyically get hold of that isnt clearly 'someone elses property' (and dog property law is not like our own! at all!)
So the easiest simplest thing to do is not give him the opportunity.
You are also right not to scold him for this - at best he will associate the scolding with the presence of any mess, but he won't associate it with the making of the mess or the taking of stuff from the trash.
Attempting to teach a dog that he has been 'bad' like this will worsen seperation anxiety as well. Often the behaviour comes from boredom and/or frustration - getting stuck into the trash can and ripping up stuff in there can be a 'coping strategy' for stressful situations..
Then someone comes home and yells at him... which adds further stress..
Then he learns that he gets yelled at when there is stuff all over the floor.... but because he cant associate the stuff with his own earlier actions he cant stop doing... so stuff on the floor tells him hes going to get yelled at.... so being left becomes even MORE stressful and he feels the need to 'deal' with it more... so he rips up more stuff...
You can see its a vicious cycle and not at all useful.
You are also correct your son is misreading the body language from your dog.
The dog cowers/crouches back/makes that 'guilty' faces.... as an appeasement gesture. It says 'i see you are mad, please dont kill me, im no threat'.
He reads your body language far better than you can ever read his because dogs are much more heavily tuned into body language than verbal communication. So even a tensing of the shoulders as you come in and see 'mess. argh'.. a dog can pick up on, body language you wont even realise you are displaying!
So...
Dog proof trash can. There are a few available in the UK I would expect theres more on offer in the US. If you can get them, Simple Human make a trash can with a slidey lock on the lid that a dog cant open. They can still knock it over but I have yet to see my lurcher open it, and he is a trash expert! (And fridges, freezers, cupboards, drawers....).
If he LIKES getting into stuff whilst you are gone, once you solve the trash issue, give him stuff he can get into.
Leave a box with toys, stuffed Kongs, treats wrapped up in newspaper... sure its a mess to clean up when you get in, but you know its safe and you know hes been busy.... rather than pacing and howling!
A crate may help, some dogs chill out much more when they have less options to choose from. Sometimes being left with the decision to wait here.. go look out of here... sleep here..... sleep there..... go investigate over here... its too much.
Do crate train slowly though, its a nice place to be, not a punishment.
Ok, taking stuff he can physically get hold of, when you are not there.... is just fair game to him.
Its there, you dont want it, why should he not have it?
Now we know that theres dangerous stuff in the trash, we know these things could hurt him but he has no concept of that, and there is no way to teach him that.
So get a dog proof trash can. OR, put the trash can somewhere he cant get it.
Trying to teach an animal to not do something they instinctively see no reason not to do, when you are not there to redirect them... is a pointless waste of time and liable to require the use of extreme aversives which carry their own risks (And are at best, not pleasant for the dog).
I find its better to expect a dog to investigate and take stuff that is available to them, and be pleasantly surprised if they do not.
Out of my five dogs.... 1 wouldnt take food left on a plate on the counter, let alone look in the trash... 1 would but only if it was really obvious... 3 will not only take the food, but get ON the counter, open drawers, open cupboards, gets in the fridge and the freezer... and 1 of those three.... is I am sure, shortly going to figure out how to order Dominoes pizza using my credit card online!
It is totally and utterly alien to dogs, who are opportunistic scavengers instinctively, to ignore food they can phsyically get hold of that isnt clearly 'someone elses property' (and dog property law is not like our own! at all!)
So the easiest simplest thing to do is not give him the opportunity.
You are also right not to scold him for this - at best he will associate the scolding with the presence of any mess, but he won't associate it with the making of the mess or the taking of stuff from the trash.
Attempting to teach a dog that he has been 'bad' like this will worsen seperation anxiety as well. Often the behaviour comes from boredom and/or frustration - getting stuck into the trash can and ripping up stuff in there can be a 'coping strategy' for stressful situations..
Then someone comes home and yells at him... which adds further stress..
Then he learns that he gets yelled at when there is stuff all over the floor.... but because he cant associate the stuff with his own earlier actions he cant stop doing... so stuff on the floor tells him hes going to get yelled at.... so being left becomes even MORE stressful and he feels the need to 'deal' with it more... so he rips up more stuff...
You can see its a vicious cycle and not at all useful.
You are also correct your son is misreading the body language from your dog.
The dog cowers/crouches back/makes that 'guilty' faces.... as an appeasement gesture. It says 'i see you are mad, please dont kill me, im no threat'.
He reads your body language far better than you can ever read his because dogs are much more heavily tuned into body language than verbal communication. So even a tensing of the shoulders as you come in and see 'mess. argh'.. a dog can pick up on, body language you wont even realise you are displaying!
So...
Dog proof trash can. There are a few available in the UK I would expect theres more on offer in the US. If you can get them, Simple Human make a trash can with a slidey lock on the lid that a dog cant open. They can still knock it over but I have yet to see my lurcher open it, and he is a trash expert! (And fridges, freezers, cupboards, drawers....).
If he LIKES getting into stuff whilst you are gone, once you solve the trash issue, give him stuff he can get into.
Leave a box with toys, stuffed Kongs, treats wrapped up in newspaper... sure its a mess to clean up when you get in, but you know its safe and you know hes been busy.... rather than pacing and howling!
A crate may help, some dogs chill out much more when they have less options to choose from. Sometimes being left with the decision to wait here.. go look out of here... sleep here..... sleep there..... go investigate over here... its too much.
Do crate train slowly though, its a nice place to be, not a punishment.
Thank you for the quick response.
One more question if I may.
I have a weeks vacation time coming up. Any tips/suggestions/ideas for making the most of this time to work with Jack on his anxiety before it gets even more pronounced.
I want to be sure that my time around doesn't make the problem worse.
I saw on this forum the recommendation of "I'll be home soon", which I plan on doing ASAP. I am already reading her "other end of the leash".
Again, thanks for the tips.
One more question if I may.
I have a weeks vacation time coming up. Any tips/suggestions/ideas for making the most of this time to work with Jack on his anxiety before it gets even more pronounced.
I want to be sure that my time around doesn't make the problem worse.
I saw on this forum the recommendation of "I'll be home soon", which I plan on doing ASAP. I am already reading her "other end of the leash".
Again, thanks for the tips.
LOL, my wife and bird may have something to say about thatNoobs wrote:You've done research on the rest of the boards before you came here and asked your questions, and you've already taken advice from other posts with solutions for people who have the same issues as you're having.
I COULD KISS YOU.
Best of luck. In training your dog AND your son.
They both get a little peeved about me being kissed by someone else.
So the advice I will be trying out tonight is operation "stoodge". I am going to do my best to be the most boring person to follow around.
I suspect Jack will be easier to train then a 20 going on 21 year old son.
I have to echo Noobs sentiment there, I really could kiss you!
Use your vacation time to practice teh stuff you have read on here, it will help...
The worst thing you could do... which is what a lot of folk would do, is nothing. Then the dog gets used to people being home all the time and the vacation ends and !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! scary for the dog!
If you havent already, read through the clicker training thread (and also google theres more info out there) and have a go at that. That gives you something constructive to do with Jack that improves the confidence/trust/bond between you in a healthy way rather than his current 'needy' way if that makes sense.
Get your son to do clicker training with him too once you have the hang of it and can show him how - if hes not entirely convinced about the whole positive reinforcement training idea, actively demonstrating it at work is the best way to show him!
Use your vacation time to practice teh stuff you have read on here, it will help...
The worst thing you could do... which is what a lot of folk would do, is nothing. Then the dog gets used to people being home all the time and the vacation ends and !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! scary for the dog!
If you havent already, read through the clicker training thread (and also google theres more info out there) and have a go at that. That gives you something constructive to do with Jack that improves the confidence/trust/bond between you in a healthy way rather than his current 'needy' way if that makes sense.
Get your son to do clicker training with him too once you have the hang of it and can show him how - if hes not entirely convinced about the whole positive reinforcement training idea, actively demonstrating it at work is the best way to show him!
