Bad behaviour, seperation anxiety

rissajane

rissajane

New Member
Owned by
1 cocker
My Milo has always been a generally good puppy. He stopped chewing furniture and shoes, and learnt to go outside when he needed to go. Occasionally he used to Number 2 in thr house, but always peed outside. Now he will poop outside but pees all over the place, huge puddles. He does it if we are gone most of the day working, which is almost understandable, as thats about 10-11 hours hes alone. Until he started peeing in worse places.

This is the part where I introduce seperation anxiety. Milo has taken to crouching down and shaking uncontrolablly whenever anyone is about to leave. He will chase from window to window to window and stare until the car disappears. Sometimes he will also howl and whine, which goes on for quite awhile.

Now while we're gone, he pees on our beds if the doors are left open or he can get them open on his own.

I dont know what set this off. He used to be ok with being left alone. I'm not sure what an appropriate way to handle this is. We scold him for it, and have taken away his toys. We keep him in the room with whoevers home, which for me means locking him in my room with me. This also means he whines to be let out of the room and can do so for quite a long time. I wonder if anyone has any tips about how to handle this and help him learn again.
 
How old is Milo? 10-11 hours is too long for a puppy to hold it. Is there a way for someone to come home during the day to let him out?
 
Is your puppy crate trained? If the puppy is in a crate it will be unable to pee on your bed and they don't like to use the bathroom in their crate. However 10-11 hours is way too long for a puppy to be by themsleves.
 
Crate train, crate train, crate train.:thumbsup:

No puppy of mine is ever allowed free run of the house unless reliable house-trained. That included adult rehomes.:)
 
Manuel, thank you for the links. We have been trying low-key departures and arrivals. Hadnt thought of desensitization though. The problem is with schedules, we dont really run on one here.

Amanda, Milo just turned a year old. He was quite good at being left alone when he was younger, just isnt now. He got out of the habit I guess, when we were all working shorter hours. We all work long hours, and my mom has the only car. She works a half hour away in the next town. Unfortunately, there is no one else around we can ask.

Karen, he used his crate when he was three to six months old I think. Then my mom got sick and he slept with her most of the time, for comfort and company. He hasnt really liked going in it since, so retraining may be the way to go. Its usually not quite 10 hours, usually just nearly 7, unless my brother and I have the same shift, and then it is around 12, unless my mom has shorter shift.

Juanita, (you responded as I was about to hit submit reply, thank goodness for email alerts) crate training seems like the way to go now. We just have to get him in and now howling about it. I'm not sure how to do that ....
 
I would have to agree on the crate training.My girl didnt like it and would cry.I put the cage in our room with us.She slept through the night,but would get up early and start again.I'd let her out,put her back in and go back to sleep.She now wimpers if shes in the kitchen during the day to go out.It'l just take time to get back to using the cage.And for me, i ignored her cries at night,shed eventually settle down.I have to deal with submissive peeing with her,and didnt wana yell at her making it worse.Shes come along way.Shes only 5months old now though and cant imagine going through a backslide behavior like you are.Persistance is key,and trying to have somebody home shorter inervals so theres no cage messes.good luck!
 
Make going into the crate a good thing, never use it for punishment. If you chose to use a crate when you leave then, when you put him in the crate give him something that he only gets when going into the crate something special...a stuffed kong...a special "safe" toy...a bone. Since he is left for long periods of time you might want to concider using a safe room with no carpet, such as the bathroom or kitchen. Use baby gates to keep him in. Supply a comfy bed, and the same "special" items mentioned above.

When you leave make it as low key as possible, don't buy into an anxious behavior on his part. A treat and a hug and go. Watch the tone of you voice, it tells them a lot.

You can not scold him for going potty in the house if you do not see him in the act. He will not know what he did wrong. He will only know that he was excited to see you and then you were angry. That can make him anxious about you leaving.

Good luck
 
Another thing to try in addition to the above. If he gets anxious when you get your keys - pick up your keys and carry them around with you without going anywhere, same with putting on shoes or whatever triggers his response to your leaving.

(I didn't look at the links manuel provided so you may already know the above)
 
DJ's Three said:
Make going into the crate a good thing, never use it for punishment. If you chose to use a crate when you leave then, when you put him in the crate give him something that he only gets when going into the crate something special...a stuffed kong...a special "safe" toy...a bone. Since he is left for long periods of time you might want to concider using a safe room with no carpet, such as the bathroom or kitchen. Use baby gates to keep him in. Supply a comfy bed, and the same "special" items mentioned above.

When you leave make it as low key as possible, don't buy into an anxious behavior on his part. A treat and a hug and go. Watch the tone of you voice, it tells them a lot.

You can not scold him for going potty in the house if you do not see him in the act. He will not know what he did wrong. He will only know that he was excited to see you and then you were angry. That can make him anxious about you leaving.

Good luck
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Think this is spot on! My critters know I'm leaving by the routine not just the keys in my hand. But my guys get their frozen stuffed kongs every time I'm gone for anything over an hour maybe. Since I vary what goes into the kongs it's always a surprise for them. Mine are all crated when I go to work with the possible exception of Monte cause he's proven to be very trustworthy on his own. Never thought I'd buy into the crate thing but it's been a lifesaver for me and mine. I wouldn't have a house left if Mozie was left loose! His very first day at home...I went to the grocery store and wasn't gone 15 minutes and he had 2 miniblinds torn down and disemboweled on the floor, 2 throw pillows completely dissected and strewn all over the living room. If I had given him 8 hours I'm reasonably certain my couch would have been found in three separate rooms! Leave the radio on too or the TV if it's where they can see it. I use the radio on an oldies station with not much talk. Soft soothing music.
 
Another big believer in crates, here too. I have two upstairs and another two downstairs in my work space -- my dogs love their special places. The doors are no longer closed, except for Annie's at night.

More than eight hours is far too long to leave any dog on a regular basis, and more so for a cocker spaniel. Cockers are "people dogs" and want to be with their humans as much as possible.
 
My dogs get left for 10.5 hours a day. I leave the house at 6:45am and get home at 5:15pm. This would make me a HUGELY inappropriate home by anybody's standards, but the people that know my dogs and I know that they handle it fine. When they're puppies, they don't go that length of time without being let out . . . I get friends to help me out. However, as adults, if they want a roof over their heads and food to eat, they have to learn to deal with it. I am VERY fortunate that I have a huge (St Bernard-sized) crate that Jack Jack and Grace hang out in - it is literally large enough for them to roll around and wrestle in. Farley goes into a regular vari-kennel, but he is not crated as long as the younger dogs, because he hangs out in the house until my dad leaves for work (which is on a very different schedule than my job is).

HOWEVER - most of the time - anything longer than 8 hours is intolerable for any dog, including Cockers. My dogs are totally fine with it - they race into the crate in the morning, and they're always well-behaved and happy to see me in the evening. We got for walks and have daily training sessions, so that they don't go crazy with boredom.

Linny can vouch for the good mental state of my dogs, as Billy lived under my "regime" for almost 2 years before he went to Mary Ellen, and he is just fine.

For dogs that have issues being left alone, confinement works. It doesn't have to be a crate - you can use an ex-pen, a small room, or whatever works. Ensure that your dog has something to DO - like a Kong stuffed with peanut butter, yogurt, canned pumpkin and kibble or cookies or whatever. When you get home, spend some time on basic training, trick training or fun games (the Dog Brick from Nina Ottosson or whatever). Make feeding time fun, by using a treat toy like the Kibble Nibble from Premier, so that the dog is using their brain. A tired dog is a good dog . . . this is a very important thing to keep in mind.

I hope this helps a bit.
 
Dot, I read the same thing about the keys. My GF had a dog that had severe separation anxiety. Someone always, always ,had to be home otherwise the dog would bark for hours on end. Sadly, it ruined her marriage.
 
A couple of other things to consider in addition to the great advice others have given:
Exercise: Take Milo for a walk every morning before work. This lets him release his energy in a positive way every day with you, and leaves him with less pent-up energy while he's alone.
Obedience Training: Your vet most likely can recommend a good class in your area. You can also search here to find one: http://www.apdt.com/
Behaviorist: Group and/or private in-home lessons with a behaviorist can help too.
Pet Sitting/Dog Walking Service: If you are unable to go home at lunch and spend time with Milo, you can hire a service to do it. Sometimes all you need is a family member, friend, or neighbor to help too.
 
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