Could this be separation anxiety?

[Dahlia]

I was a stay at home mom when we got Sophie, then just 7-8 wks old. I am ALWAYS here, unless I run to the store for an hour or so, then she goes in her crate til we get back. If I go anywhere longer than that (visiting grandma, etc...) she goes too. Well, I just started working part time in the evenings 3 wks ago and she has been acting a little different ever since. Instead of running around and playing she lays on the couch most of the day (except for outside play time), she also has been hiding behind the chair a lot and eating, LITERALLY EATING stuffed animals! And if I don't feed her dinner before I leave and dh tries to give her her food, she refuses to eat it. The week I started back to work she had 2 accidents in the house, which hasn't happened in a long time, and it wasn't because she didn't get taken out in time.

It's not like she's being left home alone when I'm at work, dh gets here right before I leave, but I think she's just so used to me being here and she doesn't know what's going on since I've always been the one primarily taking care of her.

She seems healthy otherwise, not losing weight, still growing, normal stools, no vomiting (exept when she eats stuffed animals). BTW, I have put them all away and have been giving her dog chewy things to chew.

What do you think? Does she just miss me?

[Prin]

I think she's spiting you...

[SnowDancer]

She is just "voicing" her displeasure at the change in routine and at your absence of course. My Eskimo does not like it when I leave him alone with my husband - husband take note - and his predecessors, the mini Dachshunds and Beagle were the same - they loved him, but he wasn't Mommy - and they didn't suffer from separation anxiety - the Eskimo does.

[Dahlia]

Originally Posted by Prin

I think she's spiting you...

You're probably right! Maybe she thinks if she acts all goofy I'll get tired of it and start staying home with her again. I'm hoping she gets over it, it's a little annoying. Saturday morning she barfed up an ear off of her stuffed lamb, a piece of velcro, and a leg off of some purple stuffed animal. Gross!

[SnowDancer]

I think she will get over it, but you are probably going to suffer through the stuffed toy chewing for a while yet. My Eskimo is 15 months old now - well he is a Hoover to begin with - but socks and anything stuffed is fair game - including duvets. I hide what I can but it is a struggle. My Beagle gave it up after a couple of years as did my Dachshunds - although each Dachshund had his "fabric" of choice.

[Beaglemom]

Her routine changed, it will take some time for her to adjust. As for her eating her stuffed toy, well my beagle does the same thing. She always has. She is now 9 years old and she still likes to rip out all the stuffing of every stuffed toy given to her.

[kandy]

It has taken Hazel 6 weeks to quit whining on the once a week night hubby goes golfing. A couple of those nights, I had my son bring Parker over so she'd quit whining. She doesn't whine if Parker is there or if hubby is there. She could care less if I'm there or not. She has finally decided that it doesn't make him come home any sooner I guess. Last week she was all worn out from being at the lake for 4 days, so maybe she isn't really over it - she was just tired!

[Dahlia]

Well, she managed to find some more stuffed animals that were hiding in the bottom of the toy box and chewed off some of their ears, so I threw away the ruined ones and put the rest away. Then a few minutes ago she got a toy gun out and was crunching it so loud I just about went deaf. So I took that away and gave her her chew bone for the umpteenth time today. Grrrr. She hasn't chewed this bad since we brought her home!

[Prin]

GASP!!! You threw away stuffed animals? Were they of sentimental value to anybody? I know if somebody threw out my stuffed penguin, they wouldn't live to post the tale...

[Dahlia]

LOL, no, ds has a zillion of them. I didn't throw away any of the ones given to him by grandparents, etc... but I don't see the point in keeping a bunch of chewed up animals. Sophie actually swallows what she chews off so I'm afraid she'll end up with an intestinal blockage or something. The rest of them (and there's still plenty) I put in the laundry room to wash and I'll put them up in a closet or something until she's over this chewing stage. Also it's not safe to let my 11 month old play with chewed up animals either because he'll also eat the stuffing. I had to dig some out of his mouth the other day.

[nymph]

My pup Diego was also chewing like a little devil between month 4 and 5. He literally destroyed all his stuffed animals, shredded to pieces, stuffings everywhere. LOL

Now his chew toys are kongs, magic cube and nylabones only.

[Dahlia]

I'll have to get Sophie a kong. Right now she's using the Booda bones made from cornstarch but she eats them in half a day. She had some nylabones but wasn't too interested in them. What's a magic cube?

[nymph]

It's like a kong only formed like a cube (more like a ball to me). Interior is empty so you could stuff it. It's really tough like a kong and fairly bouncy.

I make kongsicles for Diego in hot summer days like this, and he LOVES it! You can be fairly creative in making the kong stuffings, I've used bananarama recipe, non-fat yogurt and carrots, non-fat yogurt and apples, non-salt peanut butter with his regular kibbles, etc.

[kandy]

How old is this pup?? I know that Hazel is really teething right now and she will chew up anything she can find. It could be that the going to work thing is just a coincidence and the real problem is the fact that the pup is teething - just a thought. I've bought Hazel a fabric bone specially made for teething puppies that you wet down and then freeze. I'm supposed to take it away once her teeth are strong enough to penetrate the fabric. I also bought a set of teething "keys" on a ring. The keys are meant to slowly wear down as the puppy chews on it. Hazel loves the frozen bone, but only chews on the keys once in a while. I do give her ice cubes quite often and she munches on those like she's in heaven!