# Separation Anxiety



## Lotus (Apr 16, 2013)

Hi,
I got a 7 mo old GSD and he's got some serious separation anxiety problems. When we first got him at 2months he had a crate that we put him in while we slept or just for training purposes.

We've...
- Ignored his whining
- Gave him his own space (not always giving him attention)
- Gave him his toys to play with
- Gave him attention when he's calm and behaved
*- Exercise him 2hrs a day!*
- Train him (stimulate his brain)

He never destroys things in the house while we are home. We've never gave him attention or rewarded bad behaviors because he would never do it while we're present in the house. Whenever we leave we come to a giant mess of things destroyed or thrown all over the ground. This is getting exhausting and expensive!

He has not been destroying things even a month ago but has recently picked up on this. He hasn't been neutered yet and we're getting him neutered this upcoming Wednesday.

How do we fix this issue?


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## Dbrooke407 (Apr 18, 2013)

If you can't provide 100% constant supervision, he needs to be crated. That'll help keep your house intact while you're gone!

One thing you could do is to crate him and leaves his sight. If he stays quiet, immediately praise and reward. If he goes nuts, wait for a break in his anxiety and immediately come back in sight with praises and rewards. You only need to be out of his sight for a few seconds unless he's crying. Do that for a few days and then when you leave his sight, count to ten in your head. If that's too long, count to 5. Gradually work your way up until you can leave his sight and him be okay with it. This could take quite some time to accomplish though! 

Another thing you could do is get him a companion. Probably not the easiest solution as you may not be ready for another dog. We used to have a dog named Gracie and every time we left the house we came home to the blinds ripped off the windows and shredded. We probably spent $1000 or more on blinds because of her anxiety of being left alone. One day my dad comes home with a puppy to surprise us. Gracie hated the puppy for quite some time, but she never ate the blinds or tore stuff up in our absence again! 

Yet another solution would be those calming pheromone things (I just went completely blank on the name). You can buy them at petsmart or online. They're supposed to be pheromones that calm and relax a dog, especially dogs with anxiety of any kind! Or you could be to discuss a medication for the dog with your vet.

Good luck with the pup!!


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## Dbrooke407 (Apr 18, 2013)

I'm a Dog Obedience Trainer and I'm very impressed with everything y'all are doing. Y'all are doing it all right! Sounds like positive reinforcement and negative punishment are being used. The two best techniques for training a dog!


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## Lotus (Apr 16, 2013)

Dbrooke407 said:


> If you can't provide 100% constant supervision, he needs to be crated. That'll help keep your house intact while you're gone!
> 
> One thing you could do is to crate him and leaves his sight. If he stays quiet, immediately praise and reward. If he goes nuts, wait for a break in his anxiety and immediately come back in sight with praises and rewards. You only need to be out of his sight for a few seconds unless he's crying. Do that for a few days and then when you leave his sight, count to ten in your head. If that's too long, count to 5. Gradually work your way up until you can leave his sight and him be okay with it. This could take quite some time to accomplish though!
> 
> ...


We actually have an older dog already - a 12 year old golden retriever. I think the age difference between the two is too big for them to get along because the older one seems to hate the younger one. We once set up a camera when we left and saw that when we leave, the older one normally just chills and lies down by the door until we return while our younger GSD gets into mischief all over the place!


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## Dbrooke407 (Apr 18, 2013)

Lotus said:


> We actually have an older dog already - a 12 year old golden retriever. I think the age difference between the two is too big for them to get along because the older one seems to hate the younger one. We once set up a camera when we left and saw that when we leave, the older one normally just chills and lies down by the door until we return while our younger GSD gets into mischief all over the place!


You may need to consider hiring a trainer that uses Positive Reinforcement and Negative Punishment training techniques (don't want them to mess up what y'all have started with that) to help! 


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## IllinoisNative (Feb 2, 2010)

At seven months, my dogs were never allowed to be unsupervised in the home. Too young, IMO. I find it's easier to prevent problems than to try to correct them once the behaviors have become established. For the first two years, if I couldn't watch them, they were crated. Period. That way they don't have the opportunity to destroy things. At seven months, he's still a puppy and can't be trusted.

Then I gradually started giving freedom, such as no crate at night but they were with me in my bedroom. If it is separation anxiety and not just teething/boredom, most of that occurs in the first thirty minutes after you leave...it's a panic reaction. 

What I did at two years old is crate my dog before I left (for a trial run to the grocery store) but I didn't latch the crate door. By the time he leans against and it opens, he's not in a panicked state and you're already gone. I left them out alone for an hour here and there in the beginning and graduated to all day.


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## Lotus (Apr 16, 2013)

Thank you for your replies. We are getting a crate and will try it out!


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