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Old December 2nd, 2008, 01:46 PM
Mgue Mgue is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Winnipeg
Posts: 78
Well here it is - time to crate Ozzy all day, and his separation anxiety is at an all-time high. I thought it was just with me, but he's done it with my fiance and his parents' absences too. Ozzy spent a few days at my fiance's parents while we were out of town, and they left Ozzy inside the house when they were outside in the yard. Even though he could see them, he barked, whined, and soiled their house! So his attachment issues go beyond me.

Our biggest problem is that he barks, whines, howls, and cries - excessively and almost constantly the entire time we are gone.

This begins within 10 minutes of us leaving. It occurs despite a long walk, being fed & watered, having toys in the crate, and being given a treat, having the TV on, and not making a big deal of leaving.

We NEED to be able to leave this dog at home alone during the day. But right now, with the barking, that is not an option.

So we have to leave him at my sister-in-law's house in a crate. This is a huge inconvenience for us, to spend an extra hour per day transporting him to a strange house to be left alone. PLUS if he was at our home he'd only have to be crated for a maximum 8.5 hours til I got home, and at her house, it'll always be 9.5 hours.

We have tried SA techniques, like leaving for a few minutes & returning. He did well on it for up to 10 minutes, but only when he was out of his crate. If we put him in his crate, he eats the treat we leave him and then begins barking (within 10 minutes of leaving). As mentioned in a PP, he will be able to jump any standard barricades to block him in a room and could get into things & hurt himself.

PLUS the big issue here is his barking. Whether we leave him out of the crate or not, he cannot BARK like he is doing in our condo.

Obviously we can't live our whole lives carting our dog around from place to place so he is never alone. So, we're desperate and at a loss - this could mean having to give him back to the shelter because he can't be left alone and we are over-extending our family's graces in helping us.

We're going to the vet today to get anxiety medication (hopefully) even though he is only 6 months old. It kills me. And I don't know if it will work. I'm mostly needing to vent, but any advice is appreciated too!
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