Separation Anxiety help and advice...

*JackBurton*

So it appears that Kaeda is suffering from Separation Anxiety. The past two days, I have tried to slip away from house for a few hours building up to me returning to work this Saturday. Upon my return, Kaeda has Urinated and defecated in her crate.

From the humane soc. webpage: "Signs of Separation Anxiety"
The behavior occurs exclusively or primarily when she's left alone. <--check
She follows you from room to room whenever you're home. <---check
She displays effusive, frantic greeting behaviors. <--Does licking me to death count?
The behavior always occurs when he's left alone, whether for a short or long period of time. <--Sort of... if I walk to the laundry room outside or the mailbox this doesn't happen.

So first off, I have not punished her after doing this. Nor have I ever place her in her crate out of anger. I do feed her in her crate, but food is only placed in there after she has already entered.

I have been trying to do small quiet departures and returns. How have you guys worked out anxiety issues?

Thanks

sujewel

How long do you leave her alone? Remember, she's a puppy and needs to relieve herself every 2 hours. I would say it's difficult to absolutely say she has separation anxiety from just the defecating and the urinating. She's a puppy so being overly excited after you've been gone is pretty normal. The lack of independence can also be a behavior of overall puppiness.

My female Akita had separation anxiety. In her, this manifested in chewing up drywall, electrical wires, being generally destructive and crying for the entire time we are gone - no matter how long or short the period of time.

Having said all that, Akita have a high tendency for separation anxiety. There are things you can do for separation anxiety and I can certainly get into that, but I would first like to know exactly how long she's been left in her crate.

*JackBurton*

Thanks for the quick reply. Leaving her alone for too long was a major concern of mine. The longest she has ever been left in her crate alone has been no more than 2hours. <---In this case nothing bad happened. The two times this has happened has been at less than 30mins and she was taken for a bathroom walk before I left. Below are the steps I took before I left the house:

Went on a walk --went potty.
Few mins spent in the house after walk
Placed her in crate spent a few mins walking around the house letting her hang out.
Slid out of the house with any major fanfare.

Supervised she has been in the crate no more than two hours. Strike that she has slept in her crate at night -in which case she only wet her crate once sleeping through the night up to six hours.

sujewel

Does she have a routine. Make sure you feed her at x and y hours everyday. I remember Mika would pee and poop a few time within a walk if I didn't walk her for long enough.

However, you really need to build up her tolerance of your absence. Start small. Leave for 5 mins and come back. Repeat, repeat, repeat, etc. Then go up to 10, 15, 20, 30, etc, etc. Basically, what you're building in her mind is the idea that when you leave, you DO return. In addition, leave her toys that will keep her preoccupied - Kong toys are great for that.

Also, I remember seeing a crate in one of your pictures....How big is that crate? An oversized crate will allow her to compartmentalize - an area for eating, an area for sleeping and an area for pooping. I know it's financially inconvenient, but it is important to have a crate that suits her current size or is just slightly bigger.

Good luck, this is a very difficult behavior to overcome. It takes a good deal of patience and time. Keigo, my male only took a few months to get over his separation anxiety. Mika never overcame her fear. We got her Keigo, lol. But not for nearly 2 years....so I know your pain.

*JackBurton*

sujewel, thanks for the comments. The crate is huge but has a wire wall that can be used to shrink the size of the crate. Her area is 36"x24"x30" and she weights 17.5 lbs. Do you think I need a smaller crate?

I will try to come and go more often today and see how it goes. I will keep you posted.


We do feed her the same time each day. She goes on a potty run when she wakes up and after each meal. So far we get her out on a walk two more times so four total.

CrimsonO2

Is the crate covered or bare?

*JackBurton*

I'll take a photo of the setup - and post it in a few mins.

sujewel

When Mika was small and I had our puppy foster Koji (porkchop), I was literally walking them every 1.5 to 2 hours! So more like 12 times in 24 hours. Some days, more. Babies just can't hold it! Koji especially peed and pooped more often than Mika did.

The dimensions of the crate sounds huge to me, but how long and tall is Kaeda?

As for a crate cover, that's definitely a good point, Jesse. Dogs do like small, dark spaces. The crate should feel intimate and safe for her. Having said that, Mika was not crate trained, her separation anxiety was so severe she really never wanted to be physically separated from us. She didn't even want to be in the crate if we were sitting next to it.

dlroberts

Sorry to hear about Kaeda. Separation anxiety, if that's what it really is, can be very tough to deal with since it only occurs when you aren't around to do any training.

I agree that the crate sounds too big. I know it seems cruel, but when you are crate training your puppy, their crate should be just large enough for them to lay down, stand up, and turn around. Anything more and you are giving them the opportunity to compartmentalize like Barbara mentioned.

I wrote this email a while back to a new Shiba owner who was experiencing similar problems. You might find it useful.


As for the separation anxiety, Joey does have mild separation anxiety. He cries for about a minute after I leave and will destroy anything in his crate (so it remains empty). I do have some advice for you though:

1) JOIN THE NIHONKEN FORUM!!!!!!! (www.nihonken.org) The people in the meetup group are very nice and a few of us are knowledgeable, but the collective knowledge of the forum is invaluable. This is the perfect type of thing to ask on the forum.

2) Patricia McConnell is a renowned behaviorist and author. Her pamphlet "I'll be home soon" is a must read for owners of dogs with separation anxiety (http://www.amazon.com/Ill-Home-Soon-Patricia-McConnell/dp/1891767054/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229099653&sr=8-8) I also recommend reading her book "The other end of the leash". Its probably the best general dog book I have ever read (http://www.amazon.com/Other-End-Leash-What-Around/dp/034544678X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1229099653&sr=8-4)

3) Never give in to it. If Kira is in her crate and going crazy, ignore her. Only approach her in the crate when she is calm. If she so much as starts to whine, turn around and walk away until she settles down a bit. Does she behave that way when crated while you are around or just when you leave?

4) Never greet her when she is excited. When you come home, if she is excited, ignore her. If she paws at you or jumps up on you, turn your back. By greeting her when she is excited you are reinforcing the fact that you being gone is a bad thing. Give her a few minutes to calm down before you greet her upon returning home.

5) Practice leaving. Go through your normal routine as if you were going to leave the house, but don't actually leave. Start small, like putting her in her crate and then jiggle your keys and let her out. Do that a few times. Then progress to putting on your jacket. Then to opening the door. Etc. Do this a lot. Like 2-3 sessions of 5-10 minutes a day. The point of this is to desensitize her to the cues that indicate you are preparing to leave.

6) Distract her before you leave. Do you have a Kong toy? If not, get one. Give her a peanut butter (or other yummy treat) filled Kong 20 minutes before you leave. Then go about getting ready to leave while she is distracted. Do not leave the Kong with her when you leave (its a choking hazard).

7) I assume you already have a strict potty schedule if she's doing so well with potty training, but just in case....make sure she always goes out immediately before entering her crate and immediately after coming out. Also, if you know she will be crated for a while, pickup her water an hour or two before you leave and make sure she pees before you put her in her crate. It might help if she has an empty bladder.

That's just a few things off the top of my head. Separation anxiety is probably the most difficult thing to deal with in dogs because it occurs when you aren't around to do any training. A lot of people have good success with these types of training techniques alone. You may find down the road that things aren't progressing as nicely as you'd like, at which point I would suggest talking to a behaviorist (I know a really good one if you want a reference). Also, keep Dr. Fann informed of her progress. There is drug support for this type of thing (doggy prozac) but that should be a last resort.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions and, more importantly, let me know how the training goes!

*JackBurton*

Here is a quick update (Crate photo is to come later): I shrank the the crate down to its smallest size which gives her enough room to standup, laydown, and turn around. I got all my stuff ready to go out 30mins before I did and paid little attention to her. Went for a quick potty walk, and then pretended to leave for about 10 mins. Finally I slipped out the door to walk across the street for 30 mins of grocery shopping.

Things I noticed: My car keys and the front door set her off. If I take the spare key and just shut the heavy metal screen it doesnt bother her. It is clearly the front door. She slept-played without any accidents from 10pm to 630am. Her first hello akita babble came at 630 on the dot.

I am going to try again today. I slept all night in an old tshirt - and plan on putting that in the crate with her.

Harlow

You've already gotten some great advice. I can only say, Keep up the good work! Separation anxiety is a tough thing to deal with. Stay consistent and don't be afraid to get professional help if you feel things aren't going well.

Zinja

Hey @JackBurton, sorry to bring up an old thread... What's going on with Kaeda? How's the training?

I just found out my dog suffers from separation anxiety and will become very destructive if I'm not home.

@brada1878, what happened to Kona?

Zinja

Bump... I'm having a hard time curving Eevee's anxiety and fear of crates and would love to see positive outcomes!

Zinja

I have a question to the foster parents. Statistically, a rescue dog is more prone to separation anxiety than from a breeder. What are some stories from a dog with nervous tendencies and what steps did you use to curve the behavior? Were any of them successful? Did you have to use medication?

Thanks in advance.

*JackBurton*

Hi sorry for the delay, I just noticed this post. The simple answer is that she grew out of it. I worked on coming and going and rewarding. As time went on she cried less and less. If memory serves me correctly, about a week after this post my issues were over. Kaede is three years old now, she'll bark at strangers but rarely cries anymore.

When I moved out, I learned that one of my neighbors would hit the screen to get her to stop. I think that only scared her even more.

Zinja

That's great! At first, Eevee was fine for the first three days with Ninja and when I left her by herself.

The fourth day she began chewing the door molding. She is also somewhat afraid of her crate, but she hasn't caused any damage when I installed a gate in front of the door. She did chew two of her leashes though.

I'll keep crate training and desensitiing her. I am using dap, thunder shirt, calming drops, and classical music. Four weeks in and I think shes getting slightly better.