My dog

[tigerlily11]

I have a peach of a dog. Hes a cross breed and well behaved but when we leave the house to go shopping or something he has a fit. he seems to know half an hour before we are going and starts to shake and whine. When we leave the house he barks cronically. We have to have a whip and chair to get out the door. We have a radio on when we go out to keep him company and we've tried ignoring him before we go but it makes no difference. We also have to remove the door mat because he digs it up and wrecks it.
When we return the floor is covered with drool. Its like we left a tap running.
He has access to food and water if we gone for anything more than two hours. We have also tried toys but he ignores them.
We can't let him have access to any other rooms of the house except the hall stairs and landing, otherwise he digs up bedding and drools over everything.
Does anyone have any other suggestions for calming him down.
Thanks for your time.

[pmjblue]

how old is he, and how long have you had him? what do you do with the whip and the chair when you go out?

[winny]

It sounds like a big case of separation anxiety. There are several ways to try. You could try leaving for literally 30 seconds and coming back so he gers the hang of you will come back. Does he do this if you shut him in the house and say go into the garden or into another room. If he does then you need to start at the brgining and sort the minor prob first. You could get ready to go out several times a day then not go to desensitise him from the routine (it worked with mine and a walk I wandered around picking the lead up and so on and now we can actually get ready for a walk in calmness)
One other option is a cage. Please dont be appauled as if used correctly they can be great and save your dog alot of stress.
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Animals-and-Nat ure/Pets/Question357673.html
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Animals-and-Nat ure/Pets/Question357673.html
Try reading this one. Basically your dog is panicking because it worries where you are a bit like if your child is out of sight you would panic as he thinks it is his job to look after you add how can he do that if he cant see you. If you can teach him a cage is a happy safe place to be and you will always come back in one piece it will calm him.
You have to work slowly thoughn as your dog is obviously very upset. Slowly does it.

[Bigeye74]

We have this problem with our dog. We shut her in her cage every time we leave the house for more than 2 minutes. She shows no signs of anxiety when in her cage. We are gradually increasing the time we can leave her out of her cage too.
The downside of a cage (with a big dog) is the mount of room it takes but it beats the repair bill you'd be facing without it.

[winny]

You might find big eye in time you can leave the cage door open and go out then use the same bedding but loose the cage and the dog will learn to be happy without but it may not it is worth a try once you have established a calm dog routine.Again slowly does it. My friend managed this with her dog well.

[Bigeye74]

winny
we have been building up slowly, starting with closing the bedroom door with her on the outside. She got in the first couple of nights but we calmly put her back out. The main problem is that she can open all the doors so the big move of leaving her cage open is going to wait until i get round knobs on the door.

[winny]

Well done big eye keep up the good work. Good luck.

Sorry tiger lilly pinching your thread but bigeye is proving all is not lost. Patience is a virtue. Good luck

[tigerlily11]

First thank you for all your help.
First pmj he's 6 years old. For the first 2 years of his life I had 4 children round the house so some one was always there. When the household slimmed down to one child and a new home he was ok at first. It only the past 2 or 3 years hes been like this. I thought it was the old house as it had a rather nasty atmos to it but although hes not quite as bad here in our second new home hes still whiney and tetchy. The whip and chair cos he jumps up and barks to try and stop us going out.:)
Hes about medium sized.
I'll Try Winny's suggestion first about pretending to go out and the I'll try the cage as a last reort really. They are a bit on the pricey side for my budget and I hate the idea of closing him in. But if all else fails then we'll see if I can stretch to one.
Thank you all again for your suggestions

[Bigeye74]

Just to make you feel a little bit better about the possiblity of closing him in, wild dogs and wolves tend to sleep in caves so being enclosed, if you introduce it right, is comforting. When I put my work clothes on now she goes in there of here own accord and is quite content. We never use the cage as a punishment.

[winny]

Dont know if you have them in your area but car boot sales are great. I picked up a nearly new cage for my gsd (so quite big) for �12 so if you hunt and dont leave it till the last minute you can pick up a bargin. Also try local rescue or breeders sometimes they loan or lend them out.

I forgot when you leave make sure you give him a treat and when you return (and this will be hard) do not fuss him as he will see this as a oh im sooo pleased to see you i was scared out there on my own attitude. So ignore him till he has stopped leaping about and relaxed then call him for fuss. It all underlines that you are a big girl and he does not need to worry about you as you can decide for yourself when you want to do stuff.
You have to turn the tables on him so you are in charge not him then he will chill. This is sometimes hard as it involves ignoring him and fussing him when you say not when he nuzzles for it as then he has what he wants not what you choose.
If you have had 4 children you will understand the you can have it when i say not when you demand it theory im sure.
Good luck.

[pmjblue]

still dont understand the whip and chair theory though! I agree with winny that you should try going out and coming back in and keep extending the time that you go out for from a few minutes, building him up. Not that I dont agree with cages, but if he is getting so upset, that may just make him worse. If you do get one, try putting him in it when you are there with a few treats, and he may get used to it - if you leave the cage open, he may just go in of his own accord, as a lot of dogs like to think it is 'their place' for a bit of peace and quiet. One of my absolutely hates being left on her own and literally eats her way through the house, but is fine when she has her 'sister' with her.

[tigerlily11]

the whip and chair was just a joke reffering to the sort of equipment lion tamers used in bygone days.