Guest Anonymous Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Hello everyone! My fiancee and I adopted a mix Poodle (minituare) about 2 weeks ago from the city shelter. Everytime we leave the house, the dog cries and scratches the door. When we get home, we find a mess... torn papers everywhere. When we take him out for walks, he barks non stop at people and especially other dogs. It seems that we won't be able to take him to a dog run/park as planned b/c he seems to be very agressive. After doing an online search, I suspect that the dog suffers from seperation anxiety. Does anyone know how this anxiety developed? What can we do now? Do we have to take him to obedience school? Please help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 I think you have more than just separation anxiety. With separation anxiety, the dog becomes anxious when left alone. This can result in destructive behaviour as you have described. One simple thing I can recommend is to crate train your dog. Crate training involves putting your dog in a plastic/metal dog crate (or carrier) while you are away. This may sound cruel, but it actually comforts the dog. It becomes their "special place" and they feel safe there. This tends to reduce their anxiety and also prevents them from destroying the house. The anxiety can develop for a number of reasons, but basically dogs are social animals and do not generally like to be left alone. Some dogs deal with it, others don't. As for the other behaviours you describe, I would strongly recommend obedience school. A good school/instructor will show you how to curb these behaviours as well as providing your dog with some socialization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Hi - Thanks for the replies. We bought him a crate... spacious enough for him not to feel like a prisoner. The first time we left him in the crate, he cried for about 1/2 hour. We felt so bad that we haven't locked him in the crate ever since. Plus, we live in an apartment and he drove our neighbors crazy with his crying and barking. Clearly he doesn't like the crate & locking him inside, I think, makes matters worse. What should I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogPaddle Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Crate training takes time. There are sections in this link that address crate training, just look for the relevant headings: [url]http://www.dogomania.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10960&sid=9d02b5b9ea0f1d3b730fcdbb5ba205ef[/url] Another possibility would be Rescue Remedy or a similar product. It is a herbal calming product for dogs. I've had best success adding it to a high strung animals water. It would be helpful during your dogs adjustment period. You can usually only find it at pet specialty stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Thanks for the link! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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