seperation Anxiety

[thornbirdskkk]

HELP!!!! I don't know if anyone has experienced this or knows of someone who has that can help me, I don't know what to do!! My Scrappy is a yellow lab and he is going on 13 years old. I also have a chocolate lab, Chubbs who is 4. Everytime we leave the house and the two are left alone, I have come home to find my box spring, to my bed shredded!! My daughter was home and in her room, heard this noise, and went in a caught him in the act, while Chubbs the baby was laying on top of the bed watching. So, I proceeded to duct tape the box spring and barracade that side of the bed so he could not get at it. Then came home another day to find that he has dug his way through my wall to wall carpet, straight through the rug, pad, to the wood subfloor. Everyday they are alone I come home to find more and more of my rug shredded!! I mentioned this to the vet and they gave me some medication that I had to pick up at my pharmacy, I'm sorry I cannot remember the name right now, but it people meds that help with depression. Well, I put him on them, with some hesistation, did not notice any difference in his behavior, the med bottle stated it could take 4 weeks before you notice a difference. I called the vet and he told me to take him off them. he would prescribe something else. Big mistake!! they should have told me to ween him off the pills, well withdrawal symptoms are not a fun thing to watch...I was horrified, watching my poor baby look like he was having seizures every 5 minutes. The vet told me it is seperation anxiety because of his age, gave me ACE!!!
First pill, within minutes he went to get up and was falling down, walking sideways...that was it with that!!!! Does anyone have humane suggestions!!!!Desperate.

[Canis erectus]

First I'd like to point out that many dogs simply do these sorts of things because it's fun, like picking up a new hobby. Because of this there are alot of dogs who are diagnosed with separation anxiety who are not nervous but are actually just finding something to whittle the time away with while you're gone. Many a folk say or are tols their dog has seraration anxiety because it's the easiest, most cookie-cutter answere for any of a number of actual problems (kninda like how ADHD has something like quadrupaled in the US in the last 10 years, but interestingly enough nowhere else in the world).

Now, not knowing your dog may have separation anxiety and maybe not. Either way crate training is probably your best bet. One way or another you've got a problem on your hands, and at age 13 it may not be simple to do, but it's never too late to crate train. Another alternative, one that most people don't have, is to bring him with you everywhere you go. This doesn't fix his newfound destructive tendencies, but you will be able to curb it by supervising him all the time. Yet another thing you can do is to get him more active. Of course a senior dog isn't going to play ball all day long, but you can get Scrappy some interesting toys (like a treat filled kong), or invent some fun games (like hide and seek).

I'll stand behind crate training as it was the only thing that worked for me. When we first adopted Zoey she actaully did have separation anxiety. Of course we never even would have suspected until after we came home after leaving her for the first time. My house, very literally, looked like someone had thrown a hand grenade into it. This scene was repeated every time we left the house until we got a crate and were able to crate Zoey for the day. Gradually her anxiety eased and after a couple of months, we stopped using the crate and eventually put the crate in the shed for storage.

I should note that normally crate use should be an ongoing thing throughout a dog's life. It should be a comfortable, secure place for a dog to hang out in while it's humans are away. Zoey is deathly afraid of kennels, crates. and anything of the sort, so we used for only as long as we had to.

I hope this helps to get you pointed out in the right direction, and good luck!

[thornbirdskkk]

thanks... I don't think I have the heart to put him a crate!! He would not know what was happening, and the little one would be roaming around. He is on dermaxx for arthritis, how good would that be on his joints. My husband and I work all day so taking him with us in not an option. My daughter is ususally home an hour or two before we get home, but up to that point he is destructive. I do believe he is not comfortable being left alone at this age. I don't know how much time he has left with me, I want him as happy and secure as I can. He was my first dog and I have had him since he was 7 weeks old. Never chewed anything except his vast array of toys since he's been a puppy! He's just decided to move on to bigger and better things I guess. At the last vet visit, the vet told me he has the teeth of a 2 year old! I give them lots of bones and things to chew on...it definately helps them..thanks for the advice I never crate trained which was bad.

[ShatteringGlass]

i agree with the crate training. If you really don't want to use the crate, what about keeping them confined to a small area in the house with a pet gate? Like the kitchen or where there is nothing for them to get to?

[Horsefeathers!]

Ace? Yikes! :o
Since you don't KNOW it's not some sort of seizures, I'd really, really stay away from ace since it's not something you want to give a seizure prone dog (to be honest, I just genuinely do not like what I believe is the over-use of acepromazine, period, but from all I understand, you do not give ace to seizure prone dogs).

I'm thinking it's time for a full work-up. The poor guy has some age on him, so it's not unreasonable to think he may be having some health problems causing the behavioral problems. Many physical problems (brain tumors, neurological problems, thyroid disorders, etc.) can affect behavior. I think I'd insist on a full exam and work-up to rule out any health issues. I just can't imagine why this vet is just "assuming" the dog, at this age, "just" has separation anxiety issues and isn't suggesting a check-up. Perhaps it's time to insist on a health check, or a second opinion from another vet?

Other than that, I agree that some form of confinement is in order. He may be getting a bit senile and his cognitive functions not what they used to be. If that's the case, it's in his own best interest to confine him to a space where, not only can't he do damage, he can't hurt himself. If not a crate (I understand the hesitancy in doing that after all these years, but...), perhaps "puppy proof" an area of the house where he isn't likely to damage anything or hurt himself, while still giving him something to do.

This is solely my opinion and I'm a nobody (not a vet or behaviorist or trainer or any such thing), but I wouldn't be willing to just dismiss sudden behavior changes in a 13 year old dog (like the vet seems to have). If he has never been destructive before in his life and his behavior change is so radical, my intuition would tell me that [u]something[/u] is wrong. In the meantime, keep him safe by confining him to a safe area.

Good luck.

[thornbirdskkk]

thanks for taking the time to read my post. Scrappy never had seizures but the withdrawals from the medication was like he was taking them. I am in no way giving him anymore of that stuff! My husband suggested that we lock him out of our room, but I told him I was afraid he would just destroy another room. He just had a complete physical, bloodwork and all was normal, and I love my vet and have 100% confidence in him. It was his assistant who I refused to go to that neglected to tell me to wean him off the medication, she didn't feel he was on it long enough to develop withdrawal symptoms. When it thunders and lightning he will try to burrow under anything he can, under the bed, under a blanket, he has always done that. Even fireworks do that to him. He is my baby and I feel bad that he is upset when we leave. I don't understand why though because he has his brother Chubbs with him all day. He is my old boy and I guess I will just have to live with shredded carpet in my bedroom, we are the only ones that see it..

[mouseatthebusstop]

if you cannot use a crate use a baby gate to confine him to one room