separation anxiety

[Little Leah]

I try putting in my dog at night last night, and a few nights before. I even left her at my parents place. My dad didn't listen to any reason whatsoever so I decided to take her back here in my apartment. She seems to be very happy, but she does not want to admit defeat it seems. She is a pug mix. She seems to actually enjoy the crate but she doesn't enjoy being away from me. I left her in there while I was away in the living room, still after half an hour she is whining her eyes out and it sounded also like a monkey screeching. Everything else she is sooooooooooooooooooooooo well behaved in, but this one thing it worries me a bit. My friend beforehand had stuffed her in her jacket EVERYWHERE she went, and then me not knowing took her off her hands and now I got a pup who can't stop whining because she wants to be around me. This will grow to be a huge issue as I am going back into college in the winter or fall depending on the program I am entering. I don't want ot have to worry if she is terrorizing the place or scratching on doors and causing a huge ruckus. Sorry for the long letter just thought I should explain my situation in a bit more detail.
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[EndOfFashion]

How old is the Pug mix? What is it mixed with? Pugs are notorious for being "velcro dogs" - they are very attached to their people and want to be with them all the time. It doesn't help that your friend used to take it with her everywhere.

What we learned with our Pug is that you basically can't give in. He would cry and whine whenever left alone, but of course we had to go to work so after a few weeks he learned it did no good and now he's fine. If you Google separation anxiety, you can find a lot of good tips - like DO NOT make a big deal of leaving the house or coming back home. In fact, it's good practice to ignore your dog for about 10 mins before leaving and 10 mins after coming home. He will stress about you being away if you make it seem like a big event. Our vet actually had a lot of information about separation anxiety (she even had an information package with some tips) so it's definitely worth asking your vet about it.

Anyway, your dog may not have full-blown separation anxiety. We were sure Milo had it, but other indicators include eliminating in the house when left alone, being destructive (or even self-destructive) when left alone, etc. Does your dog exhibit any of these behaviours when you leave, or does it just cry?

[Little Leah]

No, all she does is just kinda dig away at her pillow up front and whine non stop. Last night I admitted defeat as I wanted to get some sleep >.<. She just wants to be around people as all. I don't think it's full blown, but at the same time it may be. I never dealt with a dog with separation anxiety this bad before. My dog beforehand had it slightly, but he was ok after a week. She's 6 months right now. I was using the method of leaving a clock ticking in front of her face, she seemed to want to sleep as she was yawning. I also tried being as relaxed as possible, but at the same time it was 1 in the morning and I was almost at wits end. As much as I may love this dog, I just can't decide on what to do now. She was ok at my parents place, only probably because they let her have free reign, when I said to them leave her alone in her crate to cry it out. She cries non stop, how she can I don't know. I am thinking of when I go next to my vet of asking what to do, what she thinks is best.
Thanks for the ideas.

[EndOfFashion]

It doesn't sound like full-blown SA - our Milo was exactly the same. He was also 6 months when we got him, and he also came from a friend. He would literally scream when left in his crate, we were sure he had separation anxiety. But we learned that many puppies that have never been crated will cry like that when put in their crate - in most cases it's normal. We almost gave up, because we didn't want the other tenants to complain - he was REALLY loud.

Pugs are notoriously difficult to crate train. We gave up trying to crate train him; instead, we potty trained him by keeping him confined to the kitchen. He would still whine at the baby gate but it wasn't as bad. Could you try that? The other thing that really seemed to help was - when he was reliably housebroken - letting him have almost free rein of the apartment. That way he had the company of our cat. I'm not recommending that you get another pet right now - exhaust all other options first - but I'm just saying that in my experience, having our cat around comforted Milo.

Forgot to ask - are you using a wire crate or a plastic kennel crate? Sometimes dogs feel more comfortable in the plastic ones because they feel more den-like.

[Little Leah]

Were using a wire crate, I was thinking it might be too big for her. As I said she is good in every other area except being left alone. Potty training isn't too hard for her, it's the fact we leave her alone.

[EndOfFashion]

Can I ask why you're crating her? If she's housebroken, could you confine her to a room (like the kitchen) instead? I realize that she'll probably still cry when you're gone (Milo would cry if he was kept in the kitchen and we were in the next room!), but I found he would calm down quicker if he wasn't crated...

All I can say is - perseverance. If you're using a wire crate, maybe try draping a towel or blanket over it so it feels more enclosed. But just remember, every time you give in and comfort her or let her out of her crate when she's crying, you're reinforcing her behaviour - and it will be that much harder to deal with in the future.

BTW, did you get her used to her crate before shutting her in it? Would she go in it willingly if the door was left open? It might help to get her to really like her crate - with the door open - before crating her. i.e. give her really special treats in the crate, create positive associations...

Also - have you posted any pics yet? I would love to see photos of your little Pug mix! (I'm a sucker for Pugs).

[Little Leah]

Yeah I tried doing that, I left it closed but unlatched for a few minutes and comforted her. I am trying the leaving method. I just left her in her crate for the 10 minute trial. I do have pictures I just have to upload them, the uploader seems to be taking a while.

[EndOfFashion]

Is she okay for the 10 mins? Because if she is, then you're already doing great! You'll just have to keep steadily increasing the amount of time you leave her in her crate.

Definitely talk to your vet about it, she/he may have some good tips, and should be able to tell you whether or not it's SA. And definitely upload some pics when you have a chance - the people on pets.ca are crazy for pics.

[Little Leah]

Yeah, she whined a lot less when I put her in for the ten minute interval, still cried though a bit myself.

[EndOfFashion]

lol you cried? Why? Don't feel bad about it!

If she's doing well in the 10 minute intervals, just keep increasing them (like maybe 5 minutes more or so). Don't go to the next "level" until she's totally fine at 10 mins, 15 mins, etc. After the 10 mins is up, only let her out if she is not whining. You're already doing a lot better than we could do with Milo, lol. I promise, she will eventually get used to being alone!

[Little Leah]

I am so glad she is a good little learner. She already knows fetch learned it the first day we brought her to my parents place. She knows sit stay needs a bit of work, I wanna teach her to dance on her hind legs cause she can stand on them for a long period of time heh. Oh yeah and we also did put a blanket over top. I still let her out when she was crying. She seems to be getting more relaxed the more I try and put her in there. It's a nice little den, I'd enjoy sleeping in there if I was a dog myself heh. She is such a doll.

[muggsmom]

Some suggestions:


Feed her in her crate.

Everytime you give her a treat, throw it in the crate so she has to go in to get it. Same with toys.

Put something in there with your odour on it.

NEVER give her any attention while she is whining.

DO NOT let her out while she is whining. Even if you catch her between whines to let her out, does that make sense. She has to be silent when you open the door.

Make sure she has gone to the bathroom before you put her in.

Muggs had severe SA, and it took me months to crate train him, but we did it. Now he goes in no problem.

Good luck!

[EndOfFashion]

Sounds like she's adjusting well It's normal for young dogs to feel anxious about being left alone in a new place - that may be all it is. After Milo got used to being left alone, we left him with my family for one night so we could go out. He cried something awful, even though he was fine being left alone at our place. Maybe it's a Pug thing, lol. Good luck with everything and keep up updated!

[Little Leah]

Thanks guys for all the ideas. I am gonna give them all a try, and keep trying and trying and trying .

[Frenchy]

What's best for a dog with separation anxiety is to get plenty of exercise in the morning before you leave. And to leave them something that will occupy them for a while. Like a frozen stuffed kong (I put peanut butter in mine and let it in the freezer overnight) I give it to Nelly before I leave for work.

Nelly is a great dane who has separation anxiety. She has destroy things in the house before ,,, well actually destroyed parts of the house too

she would be ok for a while and then will start the destruction again ... all depends on the stress in our household I guess.

good luck with your girl ! You can do it !

[EndOfFashion]

Exercise does do wonders! Poop her out before you leave. As for the kong - we used to leave Milo a frozen kong stuffed with peanut butter, but as soon as he could sense we were leaving, it lay there completely forgotten. However, it is definitely a help once you're gone, to keep her distracted - especially if she's in her crate.

[Little Leah]

FREEZE THE KONG why didn't I think of that one? i got a free one yesterday from the vet and my bf and me bought one to boot. So we can put both in stuff it with peanut butter and freeze it. That may peak her interest. I mean when I give it to her before going out she goes insane with it.

[Little Leah]

If anyone does want to see photos of little leah you can add me to msn, it should be on here on the side.

[dullmau]

one of my dogs is a terminator for everything at home so i head for a crate training. It's very effective and she seems to feel safe and warm at her crate.

For most of time, she've only spent her time in a crate when eating and sleeping and i take her out when i go out for work. But in the next couple of weeks i may not be able to stay with her during day time and i don't know if it's alright to put her in a crate for the whole day till i come back at night.

Any advice on this?

[Little Leah]

After reading numerous posts, it seems to me that you should do what I plan on doing and get a kitten the same age as your dog, just so they can grow up together. I called my dad up but instead my mom ahd said jsut get a kitten, get it neutered, make sure it's a male because from what I heard female cats can be very territorial. That way you won't have to worry about ever leaving it alone. Make sure to put the litter and food somewhere only the cat can put it, not high up jsut out of reach of your dog. get a tabby their quite inexpensive.

[EndOfFashion]

Think long and hard before getting a kitten...maybe you should try giving it some more time for things to work out. It may or may not help your dog's separation anxiety to get a kitten. We believe it helped our dog to have the cat around, but we don't know for sure if it was a result of our efforts to work on his SA or not. In fact, we didn't get our cat for that reason (actually, we had the cat first!). Also, if you plan on going this route, you definitely do not have to get a kitten. Our cat is 4 years old - he came from a shelter (he was 3 years old when we got Milo, who was 6 months). Consider giving an older cat a chance, good shelters/rescues will be able to tell you which ones get along well with dogs. It might be better to get an adult, stable cat to help your dog calm down instead of a frisky kitten.

Has your Pug mix ever been exposed to cats? Pugs generally get along really well with other species of animals, but if your dog is mixed with a terrier or something, it may not go so well. Could you maybe introduce her to a friend's cat or something to test the waters?

[hunnybunny]

My dog suffers SA but i knew this was the case in generel with the breed, i have tried everything , he even won,t stay calm with familly who he has known since a puppy , the last time we tried , he nearly went threw the window !!! i do think some dogs are more prone to 'true' SA and it can be a nightmare.
Hope you can help your dog with his , a friend of mine who has a pug had awful probs and ended up getting another dog for company and her dog was then ok .
Mine would prob settle with another dog i.m not sure, but can,t afford to get another dog anyway.
Good luck with your dog , sorry i couldn,t have been more helpful .

[Little Leah]

well I came to notice it isn't full blown sa at all, but rather she is just being a puppy and wants attention, lots of it. every time i leave her she whines, any other time when people are around she's like gimme attention NOW. she has been around my cat once, she was quite hyper around him at my parents place but they got along fine at night when i brought her over there. she slept with him just fine. i am looking around on kijiji now seeing around. making sure most definitely the cat i get is declawed and fixed, they can be territorial if there not fixed or declawed i heard. thanks for the warning, i may have them separated at first just in case to be safe.

[EndOfFashion]

Yeah, that's what I thought! It's easy to mistake it for SA because the dog sounds so pitiful - we made the same mistake with Milo. It's definitely a puppy thing, she may grow out of it. But hopefully the cat will bring her some comfort.

About the cat though - I see you live in Hamilton. You should go over to the Hamilton-Burlington SPCA. They have sooo many cats there. They share the building with the Hamilton Animal Services; there are so many unwanted cats in Hamilton that the HAS have to put a number of cats to sleep three times a week. Or you can check out Toronto Cat Rescue - they rescue cats from Hamilton Animal Services, and can drive the cat right to your house. These are some of the cats at Hamilton Animal Services:

http://www.petfinder.com/shelterSear...ort=&preview=1

The ones marked "urgent" are on the list to be euthanized. There are SO many kittens there. I don't mean to give you a sob story - ultimately it's up to you where you get a cat - but you would be doing a greater deed by rescuing one of these cats instead of supporting a potential backyard breeder on Kijiji.

It's a really good idea to make sure the cat is fixed! A rescue would take care of that for you. As for the declawed thing - it's not true that un-declawed cats are territorial. Our cat isn't declawed and we have no issues. Actually I've heard that declawed cats can be more aggressive and more prone to biting because you've basically removed their natural defense (to scratch). But that's something you should double-check. I do believe some cats come into rescue already declawed, so that's something you could like into, too.

Definitely separate them at first. It's best to make the introductions very slow, just in case. You can find a lot of great tips online about introducing a cat to your dog. But it's great that your dog did well with your parents' cat! That sounds like a good sign Well, good luck with the search. And definitely keep us updated!

[Little Leah]

Thankies again for all the tips. I am not sure how she is gonna react to a new kitten. I may end up adapting one from the spca. I'll definately keep ya guys updated on how she ish doing, and will be doing with the new cat/kitten.

[ownedbycats]

Little Leah, please think very carefully about getting a cat declawed. Declawing is very cruel. Cats use their claws the way you would use your fingers, to hold things and pick things up. Claws grow constantly, so it isn't a matter of just taking off a claw they actually amputate the cat's equivalent of knuckles. Not having a means of defense can make some cats very scared, causing them to bite. As well, if the surgery goes wrong, it can do something to the nerves in the foot so the cat is in constant pain for the rest of it's life, guaranteeing it won't be good company for anyone. Would you feel like playing and cuddling if you were in constant pain?
Our family has three cats and a puppy. One cat had grown up with a dog, one we don't know about, and the third had never seen a dog in his life before we got Sunshine. None of our cats have been declawed. Despite the fact that they will occasionally swat Sunshine (Misty swats anytime the puppy comes too close) they do it without injuring her because they retract their claws. I've gotten in between the cat and the dog when this happens and although the smack hurts, it invovles no claws. Tell the shelter or wherever you get your cat that you have a dog. Introduce the two there and see what happens. A warning swat or two to let your dog know the cat won't be bullied isn't the end of the friendship, it is just setting limits. A grown cat may do better with a rambunctious puppy than a kitten, who is more likely to get hurt.

[Little Leah]

My cat Jasper got declawed and he seemed fine. They only cut off the bone if they do it wrong. All they do is clip the nail off, not the bone. It's a common misconception. I looked into it. A lot of people are just very misinformed. Well my parents now gave me an idea of a shock collar. It's the most humane device ever made in this generation.
When my dog will bark it will send a mild shock to their system, nothing bad. My dad said like you know when you get a shock when you touch metal it's like that. So every time they start barking their tail off it sends a mild shock to their system. I contacted a kill shelter just yesterday and am waiting on a call right now to finalize everything. It seems this lady has a flood in her house right now and isn't calling to finalize.
So my final decision is that I am gonna get the shock collar. Luckily I can get one free from someone I know . So no worries about that. Go to your vet, your vet should say it's a common procedure for cats to be declawed, especially if their going to be indoors. It's only dangerous if you decide to let them out and then they'd be left entirely defenseless against their pray.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by Little Leah

So my final decision is that I am gonna get the shock collar.

shock collar for a dog with anxiety ???? you'll only make things worse ! holy crap !


Go to your vet, your vet should say it's a common procedure for cats to be declawed, especially if their going to be indoors. It's only dangerous if you decide to let them out and then they'd be left entirely defenseless against their pray.

Of course your vet will say this ! They are making money of declawing cats. But you know what ? Some vets are now refusing to do it , you know why ? Because it is inhumane !!!

[Little Leah]

My vet did it and my cat was perfectly fine just fine. He is happy, content, and romping around teasing my dog. He still isn't completely defenseless. I saw him kill a fly even after he got declawed. It isn't inhumane. Some vet's that do do it screw it up and yes get the bone, but they just clip their nails. Look on wikipedia it will say it's a humane way of saving your furniture. I have decided to get the shock collar as it is humane, totally and completely humane. Dear lord I bite my nails, one time my whole nail came off back when I had a real bad biting nail problem, that's besides the fact. They no don't come back, but my cat's just fine. He's always upstairs just purring away on my parents bed and happy.

[Little Leah]

I guess their wrong there too. I read it up, and their all just horror stories that yes are true. But statistics mean nothing most of the time. You have to go to your vet and ask them the good part of declawing ie your furniture will be saved and you don`t have to have them using a pole or have them claw at you. From what i know there are no behavioural problems which I just read, my cat can be quite cuddly, and just doesn`t like being in new places like any other cat.