Separation anxiety help-> Exercise in the morning?
So, Eevee's separation anxiety has been pretty intense the past two days. She chewed at the door frame more than normal. I try to have her tired before leaving the house and it seems to be working. We have a vertical bar dog crate that sometimes blocks her from the door. She does not do any damage to the house when she cannot reach the door and just damages the dog gate, which is preferred. When she is really tired, she will just sleep the whole day and not open the gate.
I honestly have been slacking on taking a long walk/jog with her in the morning, mainly because it's still dark outside before I leave for work. Eevee doesn't play with toys but will play with Mochi when she sees us toss a few frisbees around the house. I'll try playing with Mochi in the morning and hopefully Eevee will follow through.
I usually exercise in the morning before work so if there is an activity Eevee and I can do that requires both of us to work out, that would be great! Any ideas?
I would go jogging but I don't feel comfortable running in the dark.
We have tried using the calming drops but I do not like giving her a lot of medication, plus it doesn't seem to be working as well as exercise. We tried using DAP and thundershirts but the end result is always her tearing down the dog gate and chewing at the door. Ideally I would have her in a doggy daycare but it's so expensive. I've also tried to crate train her but she always chews at the bars and actually detaches the welded parts.
Eevee was okay when I got Mochi for a few months but she has relapsed the last few days. Mochi is crate trained and stays in the crate while Eevee is free to walk around the house when no one is home.
I honestly have been slacking on taking a long walk/jog with her in the morning, mainly because it's still dark outside before I leave for work. Eevee doesn't play with toys but will play with Mochi when she sees us toss a few frisbees around the house. I'll try playing with Mochi in the morning and hopefully Eevee will follow through.
I usually exercise in the morning before work so if there is an activity Eevee and I can do that requires both of us to work out, that would be great! Any ideas?
I would go jogging but I don't feel comfortable running in the dark.
We have tried using the calming drops but I do not like giving her a lot of medication, plus it doesn't seem to be working as well as exercise. We tried using DAP and thundershirts but the end result is always her tearing down the dog gate and chewing at the door. Ideally I would have her in a doggy daycare but it's so expensive. I've also tried to crate train her but she always chews at the bars and actually detaches the welded parts.
Eevee was okay when I got Mochi for a few months but she has relapsed the last few days. Mochi is crate trained and stays in the crate while Eevee is free to walk around the house when no one is home.
Comments
I adopted Eevee where she was in the shelter for 6 months after being an outdoor only dog for five years. Her anxiety was really bad in the beginning. We slowly curved the behavior and getting Mochi made it non-existent. I believe I will be in for a treat when I get him. She doesn't chew on anything besides the door frame. She used to chew the window sills but that hasn't happened in months.
@Nekopan I have not tried to take her to a bet for this yet. We used to have a vet behaviorist but she moved out of state. I'll seek an appointment with my vet soon if this gets worst.
@tjbart17 We set up a camera and recorded her crying at the door for 10-30 minutes then she would run upstairs, lay down at the foot of my bed, then run downstairs, stare at the door for a few more minutes, then finally lay down in front of the window sill until we get home.
The camera also shows her breaking the gate within minutes of me leaving and chewing, pawing, and crying at the door within minutes of me leaving. I had to come home an hour late one day and noticed she freshly chewed the door because it was still wet. Poor girl.
Side note: they used to have screw in plastic guards on the corners of walls in my old elementary school. Wonder if something like that would protect your door frames? Maybe a recording of you talking to her playing while you're away could ease her anxiety? I call my chihuahua (via my parents) and talk to her on speaker to ease her anxiety while I'm on trips.