Hi guys! It’s been a while since I posted an update about Oliver. Well, where do I start? He is slowly improving and getting a little less overwhelmed by going outside. He is doing much better in obedience class, and we can almost get through and entire class now without him barking or growling at the other people or dogs.
We signed up for the next level class with another trainer at the same facility. We gave him ample warning that Oliver does not do so well with strangers, especially men. He put us in what we like to call the “naughty corner†(I, admittedly, occasionally refer to it as the dunce corner). In our lower level class, this corner is reserved for one of the two extremely anxious, aggressive pit bulls who must be put behind a screen so they cannot see anyone else. Because of this fact, I find it sort of humorous that our little ten-pound chihuahua is being put in the corner in our higher-level class.
Currently our classes are overlapping (fortunately only for 2 weeks) which means that Saturdays have essentially been renamed “Oliver†days. We have our 9 AM “Adolescent†class, a 12:45 toy dog play group, and a 4:30 “Brilliant Buddy†class, which is reinforcing and expanding upon the basic obedience lessons in the Adolescent class. Now that we’ve learned (though not exactly mastered) the basic commands, such as sit, down, stay, come, leave it, etc., our trainer is teaching us some fun stuff, such as teaching him a whole “put your paws up! BANG! *dog falls over, then crawls away army style*†Oliver is an expert crawler, apparently, and if he gets the rest of the whole “routine,†it’s sure to be a pretty entertaining party trick if nothing else!
Now to the not-so-great news. While Oliver is doing very well with obedience at home, and even doing halfway decent at class in the presence of all the other dogs and people, he has some problems when he is alone. He is VERY well-behaved when we are home and he has his people to play with and cuddle with, but he has some SERIOUS problems when we leave the house. In fact, his separation anxiety is so bad that I’ve left him for just minutes in the bathroom without me and he urinated on the floor. He gets so anxious when I leave for work that my girlfriend has to stand at the door so he can see me drive away or he’ll whine at the door almost indefinitely hoping I’ll come home.
I hate it, but we’ve resorted to putting him in a crate when we are both gone because we can’t trust him not to get out of an x-pen and go potty in the house. A few days ago, he somehow pulled the sheet we had underneath his crate into the crate and shredded it to bits! He cries and whines so loud on occasion that we can hear him on the sidewalk, which, given that we live in a condo, is extremely distressing to us, for fear that our neighbors may complain. We’ve explained to all of the neighbors that live directly next to or above us that Oliver is new to our family and hasn’t been adequately socialized in the past, so they have so far been very understanding. However, we don’t want to push our luck, so we are doing the best we can to address his separation anxiety problems as quickly as possible.
For those of you dealing with similar issues, hang in there. Most dogs’ emotional problems can be resolved with the proper techniques and plenty of patience. Patience, unfortunately, is not exactly my strong point, but I understand very well that it takes time to get a new dog fully acclimated to his new home, and even more when he is a rescue who comes with a questionable, potentially traumatic past like Oliver. While looking through his paperwork again yesterday, I noticed his weight upon entry to the shelter was a mere 4.5 pounds! To put that into perspective, in the month we’ve had him, he has filled out to a healthier overall size and weighs somewhere around 10-11 pounds. How horrible!
Whether undernourished by his former owners or starving as a stray, our poor little doggie is probably so thankful to have a family and reliable food that he doesn’t want to let his newfound meal tickets (me and my girlfriend) leave his sight! However, he HAS to learn to be on his own. We are not stay-at-home dog parents and can’t possibly be, so we have to teach our dog that he can be OK by himself, whether or not we are home.
We’ve both been doing a lot of research on the subject, and here are the tips to relieve dog separation anxiety we’ve learned that we are currently giving a try:
1. Don’t make a big deal out of coming and going. If you make a big deal when you leave – if you seem anxious or sad or make a fuss about leaving the dog alone – then your dog will pick up on that behavior and follow suit. Dogs are very intuitive and very good at reading behavior, and if you seem stressed, they will think they should be stressed too! The same goes for coming home. Don’t rush up to your dog and act SO relieved that you are home and with your dog again. In fact, the best advice I’ve found is to say goodbye long before you leave and then go about your business quietly, essentially ignoring the dog.
2. Find out your dog’s anxiety triggers and practice them when you are home. There are many little things, such as putting on shoes or a coat, grabbing your keys, or doing your hair that your dog may quickly associate with you leaving him by himself. These things can become triggers to an anxious dog, who will begin worrying as soon as you engage in these behaviors. To break his habit of worrying, start doing the same things you do when you leave, but don’t leave. Grab your keys and then go sit on the couch. Put on your jacket but don’t walk out of the house. I know it seems silly, but showing your dog that the things he stresses about aren’t always about you leaving him will help him relax when you are actually leaving.
3. Teach your dog to enjoy his own company. Anxious dogs often feel the need to be constantly attached to their owners. They may follow you from room to room, or insist upon sitting in your lap or sitting at your level on furniture. Not only does this behavior demonstrate dependency, letting your dog to be physically on your level allows your dog to think that he is socially on your level, too. Give your dog his own places to spend his time, such as a pen or room full of his toys where he can see you but can’t stalk you! If that idea doesn’t fly with you, try tethering him to a piece of furniture where he cannot get to where you are. Eventually he will learn to occupy himself with his own stuff, and the less he depends on you, the less he will worry when you leave.
4. Keep your dog off your furniture. This tip goes with number 3. As cute as it might be to have your dog curl up on your couch or as cozy a foot warmer as he may be in bed, keep him off your furniture! Your dog needs to recognize you as the alpha in the house. He needs his space, and he needs to recognize that you need your space, too. YOU get the furniture, he gets the floor. This creates physical distance between you and your dog, and will (like the pen/adjoining room in number 3) eventually teach him to occupy himself as opposed to pestering you all the time!
5. Give love, but exercise moderation. This is simple. Showing your dog affection is a great thing and helps him bond to you, but don’t spoil him rotten. If all you ever do is cuddle and pet your pooch, he will never want to live without you. On the one hand, this is great because you will have a very loyal buddy, but on the other hand it’s terrible! Who wants to be apart from someone who gives them everything they want all the time? No one! Cuddle him on the floor (in his space) for brief periods, and then return to the couch or bed (your space). Show him you love him and will always care for him, but that you need your time and he has to find stimulation elsewhere.
6. An active puppy is a happy puppy! Give your dog plenty of opportunities to exercise. Take him on long walks, play games, practice obedience skills and teach him new tricks. Dogs can learn up to 200 human words, which is a lot if you think about it! So go ahead, try teaching your dog silly stuff like standing on stools, walking on his hind legs, shaking paws, etc. The more mentally stimulated your dog is on a regular basis, the less bored he will be. Also, the more he moves, the more tired he will get! Lots of exercise will not only keep your dog physically healthy, it will also prevent him from getting overly anxious. Too much pent up energy can lead to destructive behaviors in even the best behaved dogs, and those who naturally tend to stress out need even MORE activity to help prevent these behaviors.
7. Take it slow. Don’t expect your dog to go from howling and chewing when you leave one day, to being calm and self-reliant the next. If you have the ability to take it slow on your own, leave for small increments at a time and lengthen the duration as your dog adapts. This can be difficult for those of us in school or with full-time jobs, so if you are unable to slowly work up to the desired periods away from your dog, try leaving him with a family member, a pet sitter or taking him to a doggy daycare. We are going the doggy daycare route for the time-being, so that Oliver can be more active and be exposed to more dogs and people, and so that he has something constructive to do while we are away. He is a high-energy dog, and a crate just isn’t a suitable place for him for long periods every day.
Remember, have patience, and never be afraid to ask the experts for advice. Read up on the subject online or talk to a local animal behavior specialist to learn more effective ways to deal with your dog’s stress or behavioral issues. Don’t worry if you don’t get results right away, especially if your dog is new to your household. It can take 6 months to a year for a dog to fully adjust to a new home, and that includes learning your normal routines and his “place†in your family.
Hope this helps! Oliver starts daycare on Tuesday, most likely, so we’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, he is currently tethered to his crate and passed out on the carpet. Seems like these tips might really help with our little guy! Guess we’ll see. I’ll definitely follow up on this post in the near future to share his progress!
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