Help with dog separation anxiety

Hi,

This is for my cousin, who is pretty desperate with her dog, who has a very bad case of separation anxiety...
He is the only dog in the building, allowed in as an exception, and once things got so bad when they were out that the neighbors called the cops as they thought the dog was being tortured.
He has gotten better for a while, as she was given him a huge bone to chew while she was out, but he is no longer interested in that.

He is the sweetest dog.... very loving and playful; but once they live the house he cries non stop... He will also shred paper all over the house. They said it is weird, almost compulsive, he shreds paper in little tiny pieces.

They love him very very much, and they are most concerned with his well being then with anything else... So... They asked me if I knew anything...

They tried Rescue Remedy, and it didn't work.

I just told my cousin to ignore him for 30 minutes before living the house, and after coming in - to desensitize him from them living the house; they will try that...

What else can they try to help him?
If it helps, he is a 2yr old Schnauzer.

What else can they try?

Thanks!

Lol sounds like my shi tzu... she has spent alot of her not quite 3 yrs kenneled( best I can tell 6-9 months of her first 2.5 yrs).. She shredd s paper products..

Crate training is what I would recommend for your cousin .... There are also natural calming aids to help( Pm me and I will send you the list ( so far only 2 dogs of mine without any separation issues)

Jan Fennel described a dog's separation anxiety as that of a mother getting anxious when her 2 year old is out on their own without supervision. If the dog feels that they are "alpha" in the home, they fret when their "children" are gone.

My Lola had separation anxiety when we adopted her from a shelter. We made sure she understood our rules and gave her time for her to realize that we would return when we left. A lot of what gets them over it is strong discipline and consistency with your routine. I find that when we get lax with either of those, Lola immediately acts up again. I think some just have the temperament for the problem and its something you always need to stay on top of.

(Lola ate magazines, newspapers, boxes of kleenex, remote controls, drapes, shoes, etc)

eeh, separation anxiety is quite frustrating. I adopted my schnauzer at around the age of 2, after a year of abuse, and a following year of neglect.

We had to do quite a few different tasks.

We'd go outside, sit by our door, and wait, let the dog whine, wait until she quieted down and then come back in.

We'd also go through our "getting ready to go" routine throughout the day, often times anxiety is triggered by something you do that signals to the dog you're leaving. So we'd do the routine, without leaving calmly ignoring the dog, and then put everything down, take everything off and go on about our day.

With the ripping and tearing and freaking out, it really helped us to use a dog crate, they will whine, and won't like it, but it keeps the dog safe and from harming themselves by getting into something that can harm them.

I don't know what your friends have tried, but let them know to have patience.

We also ignore our dog when she "asks" for attention, and make sure to reward her when she goes off and plays on her own.

Like, The dog walks up begs, pushes your hand, jumps, barks, whines, etc. Cross your arms, look away, and wait for the dog to give up (this can be trying) when the dog wanders off, wait a minute let them settle, then go over and pet the dog.

If you see the dog playing with a toy on its own, reward it.

it helps re-enforce that doing things by itself, is good, and gets them praise from mom and dad.

I don't know if theres anything they're doing now, or if theres any other advice they'd like.

I know when I brought my dog home she was so SA I couldn't lay down and close my eyes without having a dog on my chest crying until I woke up..Now, she's fine to chill in another room lounging on the couch like a dog should be able to without freaking out.

Your cousin should work with a vet and a certified trainer or behaviorist. Very often dogs needs both temporary medication plus a serious behavior modification program to overcome separation anxiety. Using a dog day care can help while they work the situation out.

Her vet may know of a good trainer/behaviorist in their area.

I think your cousin is on the right track by focusing on de-sensitizing her dog to her leaving. I like this link as a starting point.
http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/separationanxiety.pdf
I think it contains everything that I would mention except that I would use caution with a crate. Some dogs that have severe SA get worse and not better if they are put into a crate.
Best of luck to your cuz!

I forgot to add that,

The crate worked for my dog, we're now crate free two years later, but in some cases it does make it worse.

(I'm not sure how it worked with my dog, her first owner abandoned her in a crate to die until the second owner found her)

I should also reccomend re-inforcing pack structure, my dog does poorly if we loosen the structure, she needs a firm foundation or she starts to get nervous. I used NILIF tactics, she works for everything she gets, she sits and waits for food until I give her the okay, doesn't beat me through doorways, doesn't lead me down the sidewalk.

If the dog knows for certain that their people are on top of the pack and take care of everything, they can be calmer.

In a dog world, the strongest most reliable dog leads, so getting upset or stressed is negative, it shows the dog you aren't strongest or capable, and you end up with a nervous confused little mess, because your already nervous dog, will try to pull through since they believe you can't. (like the mother frantically looking for her 2yr old reference mentioned)

Stability and a strong house set up is key. and I only would reccomend medications in very extreme cases, SA can be worked through, it just takes time and patience. (it took us at least 8 month to clear up 90% of her behaviors she still has some velcro dog tendancies, but nothing insane or intolerable)

I had this with one of my dogs, he ate everything, sofa, tv zappa, shoes, infact enything he could get his teath into, he would also howel all the time, someone told me to leave the radio on, it worked from the very first time I did it, so it may be worth a try and costs nothing.

My oldest dog Sofie has Seperation anxiety. I got her at 6 months and she lived in a home where the people were there 24/7. She chewed through two door jams in the house and tore of a plastic vari kennel, even ripping the metal windows out. She just has nubbings for teeth because she was intent on destroying any doorways. We also had to electrify our fence around the yard because if I left the house without her she would try to jump the fence.


There are a few things - they can try medication. Alprazolam and Clomicalm.

Exercise is a MUST. If they have a tread mill - run the dog on it before they head out for work. If they don't have a tread mill take the dog on a run, ride a bike, anything to tucker the dog out. A tired dog does not have time to be anxious.

Crate training can help, they can do it at home... feed the dog in the crate... practice expaning the amount of time the dog spends in the crate while they are home. Something like this would need to be increased gradually, starting with crate training while they are home with the dog... slowly week by week increasing the time spent in the crate.

It does get better with Age. My dog is 13 now and although she sometimes relapses and starts panting and licking the door... for the most part she's okay.