Separation anxiety or boredom?

Molly Moo

Molly Moo

New Member
Hello All, I joined yesterday and am looking for some advice on my cocker spaniel Molly. She’s roughly 18 months old and we have had her since September 2017. She came from a house with 3 other dogs and is currently the only dog in our house.

Myself and my partner work full time so are out of the house for most of the day. We have a dog walker go in to walk Molly at lunchtime but she seems to chew everything. The sofa, coffee table, any electrical item she can get to, windowsills, skirting boards and if you leave anything within reach of her, she’ll chew that too.

Some friends with dogs seem to think she has separation anxiety, however she chews things when we’re with her so I’m not sure if it is that or just boredom?

Does anyone have any advice on how I can stop her chewing things? Or help to try and work out if it is separation anxiety or boredom?

Thank you in advance
 
Molly Moo said:
Some friends with dogs seem to think she has separation anxiety, however she chews things when we’re with her so I’m not sure if it is that or just boredom?
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I'm sure she does have some separation anxiety when your away. She's still young too at 1.5 years so she probably gets bored at home too. I would begin by restricting her area at home while you're gone. This will help control damage and prevent her from harming herself (e.g. ingesting wood splinters). You could limit her with a crate or closing her in one room. Second, substitute a chew toy when you observe her chew on something she's not supposed to. Correct her with a "no!" and give her the toy.

Dealing With Normal Puppy Behavior: Chewing - Dumb Friends League

 
Your dog looks like an English Cocker Spaniel. I can't speak for American Cockers but I have talked to people with spaniels and it would seem that in general, they need their people. My experience and observation has been that English Cockers need to be engaged with their people---even the laid back ones---they need a lot of interaction with their people. My suggestion is to play with your dog for an hour or so in the evening and maybe some obedience classes together to give the dog more to do. Buying dog puzzles or hide-and-seek with a favorite toy is a good way to engage their minds.
 
Yes, I agree with Mel. Dogs are social animals and it's not natural for them to be alone for long periods of time. Some breeds are definitely more needy than others. My neighbour takes hers into work with her to avoid this issue, but then it is an office job and she's her own boss so she can do what she likes! Do you have a friend or relative who would be willing to babysit for at least some of the time?

There are safe chew toys you can buy, like the Kong. And we give our puppy an antler which he really gets stuck into but then he's still teething.
 
I take Callie, but she's not w/me (normally) while I'm working. I've been working on a horse farm, so I'll take her and stick her in a stall. I hate doing that. I'm done June 1st, so that will be good.
 
Eighteen months is a little young to be let free in the house most of the day. Do you have a larger crate you could keep him in or is there a small area that could be made puppy proof? Maybe you could put an antler or some sturdy chew toy in there with him. He does sound a little bored but some dogs really do love to chew and providing something suitable to chew on could help.

Have you considered maybe sending your pup to a doggy daycare a couple of days a week? My son has done that and I have a friend with a very active boarder collie that does it too. My son’s dog goes Tuesday and Thursday and he does tend to be tired the next day. Maybe something like that and using the dog walker the others days would help.

Best of luck and I do hope you find a way to keep both you and your pup happy.
 
Hello, thank you all for taking the time to reply. Molly has kongs and antler bones and other treat toys that we rotate so she doesn’t get used to the same ones all the time.

She hates being in a crate, we’ve tried her after she got spayed as the vets said she was being too active and her wound wasn’t healing properly but she didn’t cope well in there at all. We’ve started putting her in when we eat as she steals food from plates or hands, a habit that she came with from her previous owner.

The house is all open plan so there is no where to really restrict her to a small area. We tried blocking her in the kitchen but she spends the day walking along the cupboards trying to get over the work top (we have a camera on her so we can see what she’s doing) and she’s more stressed in there and she is also ruining the kitchen cupboard doors from her scratching.

We have tried looking into a doggy day care and unfortunately these are too expensive for us to be able to afford. The ones we have found are £25 per day. There are some day cares that are in people’s homes but unfortunately they are either not in our area or the ones that are are full and not taking new dogs.

I will continue to search for a day care at the homes as these are significantly cheaper. We would need this Monday - Friday as she has now started on the dining chairs as she has nothing else left to chew that she hasn’t already.

I’m at a little bit of a loss at the moment and don’t know whether the kindest thing for Molly is to try and find her a lovely family who are around most of the day to be with her 😭
 
you havent had her very long. How much exercise is she getting and what kind of mental stimulation is she getting?

also, how long are you gone? There's a difference between being gone 8h and 12+h.

At that age, I'd say she needs at least a 20+ min brisk walk before you leave and when you get home. What does the dog walker do when she's there?

I'd start by spraying stuff you dont want her to chew w/bitter apple or something similar. and confining her. crate, xpen or small room, she should not have access to so much stuff to chew. It can be very dangerous for them.

FWIW, I too have a chewer. He does have anxiety- we were his 4th home by 18mo. We never leave him outside of his crate when he's alone. So, I feel your pain!
 
She goes out for a 45 minute walk every morning before we leave for work. We can be gone for maybe around 9 hours.

The dog walker takes her out in the car and walks her in different places to where we walk her and she takes her with other dogs. When she brings her home she leaves her with the kongs that we have prepared for her that morning.

We also leave her a couple of different types of kong toys.

We do training with her in the evenings, we’ve done basic tricks, playing with treats under cups for her to find etc.

I’ve just joined a Facebook group on enrichments so have got some ideas off there for her that I will look into.

I’ve been reading into crate training and trying to introduce that to her but she just scratches to get out whenever she’s locked in, even if we’re sat there. She does calm after a while but if we leave the room she frantically stratches and I’m worried she will hurt herself or stress herself out too much.

We have sprayed the furniture with the spray that is supposed to stop them chewing it but she still chews so it’s not worked for us.
 
Forgot to add that at weekends we are with her the majority of the time, unless we pop out to do the shopping and we take her out for long walks to new places for her to sniff around, that seems to tire her out by the time we get home.
 
I have used a pen for all of my dogs. It keeps them contained but with enough room to move around and do the toilet if they need to. Seeing they are all the rage these days we bought a crate for Tiree but he wouldn’t even go inside it and to be honest if I were a dog I wouldn’t either.
 
You have my sympathy....it sounds like you are really at your wits' end--I would be, too. I am quite sure that Fiona would have had problems--big ones---if she had to be alone while I work 8-10 hours a day. We are lucky that she stays with her Aunt Patty who simply adores her. Here is something that you can try that is relatively inexpensive: Buy a horse lunge whip....not a carriage whip---a lunge whip.....zip tie a favorite, sturdy toy to the end of it. You now have a giant flirt pole for your dog---my cocker will do anything to play with this toy---anything at all!! The idea is that the dog will chase it at a dead run as you move it in circles around you. It will give her A LOT more exercise and maybe buy you a little peace. You can run with it and with keep it just ahead of her with a little practice and when you get tired, you can just move it in circles----we use it to exercise both dog and human....lol. Have you tried clicker training her to a mat? You use shaping to train the dog to the mat, then add the command and then try moving the mat into the crate with the door open at first. It might help change her mind about the crate. This kind of conditioning takes time....it is not an obedience trick. I would try to find an elderly retired person that really likes dogs and might like to have a canine companion during the day (my sister is retired)....but not have the expense or responsibility of actually having a dog.
 
BTW...my sister told me that as much as she loves Fiona---she could never deal with a dog like her by herself, because she requires so much attention, stimulation and exercise.
 
Mel, what a good idea! My only problem w/that is, I might get dizzy! I'll have to look for my lunge whip today. I don't use it that often, so this would be a good use for it. Might be good for hubby as well since he has back problems and can't play w/her that much.
 
People look at me like I am nuts when they see us with the flirt pole but it is hands down, Fiona's favorite toy. I have to keep it in the trunk of the car otherwise she drives me crazy to play with it. We usually start with an off leash run to warm her up then do some training, then when she knows it is time to play with this toy, she races back to the car and looks at the trunk because she knows what comes next. At the end of the play session, I use it as a leash and she has never let go of it not for a squirrel, people, other dogs---nothing will induce her to let go of her Magic Toy(that is what I call it). You should have seen the look of horror on the cashier's face when I went to local feed store to buy the whip. She asked if I had horses and I told her "No, this is for my dog," with Fiona standing beside me, of course. I quickly explained that this was to be a toy and not a training tool---at least not in the way that you might think.
 
dizzy said:
Mel, what a good idea! My only problem w/that is, I might get dizzy! I'll have to look for my lunge whip today. I don't use it that often, so this would be a good use for it. Might be good for hubby as well since he has back problems and can't play w/her that much.
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Dizzy, after you get a feel for it, you can use it without turning in circles---just swing it behind you kind of over your head. You can use it to reinforce impulse control by making the dog sit and walking away (at first with the business end held in your hand and then later dragging it on the ground). I make Fi stay in whatever stationary position I think needs worked on and then walk like 50 feet away and then release her to the toy or walk back to her and call her to heel position followed by the release. The advantage of the lunge whip for me is the amount of exercise that it provides....as Manuel said ".....a tired pup is a happy pup...." It has all sorts of uses for training and play. We do have an inside flirt pole, too...she finds it just as motivating and goes nuts for the whatever toy is on the end of either of the flirt poles.
 
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