I thought the tips about calming puppies were awesome! I, too, have worked with dogs a lot, not in fostering, but I have been a groomer and worked for 2 vets. We own two adult dogs who can have some separation anxiety problems when we are away from home on vacations and such.
I recently adopted my dog, Gambit, from an animal shelter. They found him with his mum and litter mates when he was around 12 weeks old. He is now supposedly around 7-9 months old. When I first brought him home, he would cower and hide from everyone and any noises. I'd sit under the table with him and pet him, with the hopes of calming him down. He would hardly eat during the first week, then on the second week I had some issues come up and he had to stay at my aunt's, now he spastically pees, is very rambunctious, and freaks out if I or my aunt get out of his sight.
I got a kennel for him, and he seems to take that better than having free range, but he still has all these other issues and I'm worried for him. Also, I kept his name the same as the shelter, but he doesn't seem to know it? That's very concerning to me because, he's almost a year old and yet he didn't get enough human interaction to learn his name? I also have to relocate him again. He's coming to live with me at school as an ESA. I'm scared all this moving is gonna mess with him.
I think he will be fine, he will still be with you and you will be there to help him adjust to his new environment. As far as the peeing goes, puppies outgrow their bladder rather quickly and sometimes when they get to excited they will pee accidentally. The key thing to remember is anytime they have been asleep the very first thing they will do when they get up is pee, so if you take them outside every time they will get into that habit and as they grow older will be able to hold it for longer periods of time so you won't have to take them out as often.
I adopted a rescue, 3yr old female Catahoula. I've had her now for almost 2 yrs. I was told that she was in a puppy mill, obviously by the math it was before she was 1yr old. At first she was pretty timid and shy, she chewed up a lot of stuff and had some odd actions or reactions. It was very difficult keeping her, but she settled down and relaxed, it got much better. She is awesome and a great dog. She gets along with my 6yr old male Rottweiler very well. For around the last 6 months or so she will run outside everytime I go downstairs or to the garage.
It wasn't really a big deal until she would do it when it's cold and snowing or raining and just sit in the corner of the yard. It got to the point where I made a door for the dog door so she can't run outside, at this point she will follow me to the basement or garage, happy, but partly reluctant tho. I'm sure it's separation anxiety, but to develop it now? Help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thx.I started fostering a black Lab/Boxer/Pit Bull mix 3 weeks ago. I believe she has separation anxiety which has been causing me anxiety throughout my day at work. She can tell when I'm getting ready for work and she follows me from room to room and when I'm just sitting watching TV she makes sure she is right next to me or on top of me.
I've tried to make it less noticeable when I'm getting ready to leave for work by waiting until I have her locked in the bedroom before putting my shoes and coat on. But she's a pretty smart dog and she knows when I'm about to leave and she tries her very best to not go into the bedroom. I leave the TV on for her and a sound maker. She cries for a while and eventually gives up, but lately her crying has been louder and lasting longer. Since I got her 3 weeks ago, almost every day I have come home to poop on the floor in the bedroom. The other day she had pooped in the bedroom before I ever walked out the door to head to work and this was 10 minutes after I had let her outside.
How do I help her be less stressed when I leave for work and how do I get her to stop pooping in the bedroom? She is 5 years old. She was used as bait in a dog fight with 5 other dogs. She never has accidents in the house when I am home and she is very well trained, minus her accidents while I am gone. Thank you.
Maybe she needs to be kenneled or have anther puppy for a friend?
Make sure you feed the dog at the same time every day. Take the food away between meals. Extra food may cause an accident
Make sure you take the dog out at the same time every day as well.
All accidents must be thoroughly cleaned up so that the territory is not marked.
If you catch your dog in the act,
immediately clap your hands to startle him. It does no good to do this after the fact.
I am just looking for ideas that worked for you to get him or her to stop crying, scratching the rug, and the door every time you left.
I have a 10 month old puppy that has separation anxiety. I just rescued her 3 months ago. We have 3 other dogs that are older than her. She has eaten every dog cot we had along with an entire couch and she pees and poops when we are gone and when we go to bed even though she can go out 24/7.
They all go into a very large area in the basement at night and when we leave. I take them all out the regular door regularly when I'm home because she won't go out on her own the way the others do and she will just pee in the house instead of telling me she has to go. I love her, but this needs to stop or my husband is going to divorce me.
This seems like just plain anxiety, not really separation anxiety.
Your dog sounds like the omega in the pack. She doesn't want to go out when the others do. When you take her out you empower her, but as the low dog on the totem pole she feels unwelcome otherwise going where the others do.
You already have three dogs. What made you decide to take on another? In the wild, an unrelated puppy would not be allowed to join an already established pack. The puppy would be run off or possibly killed since the dominant female did not give birth to it. The dogs are only tolerating it because you say so, but it certainly feels the stress of not belonging.
Perhaps your puppy would be happier in a home with no other dogs, or a very elderly one.
Trying to provide a home for a rescue is admirable, but it needs to be the right home for the right dog. This doesn't seem like a good match to me.
My dog had severe separation anxiety when we adopted him. His loving owner doted on him until the husband broke his hip, was taken away by medics in an ambulance and had to move into a nursing home that would not take large dogs.
I have a new puppy. I got her 2 weeks ago and she uses the puppy pad most of the time. However when I leave the house just to check the mail or whatever reason for a minute or two, she will poop in front of the door right where I would step when I come back in.
I would take her with me, but she barks at everyone who comes near me and I'm working on that as well. I went to the store yesterday and she stayed with my adult daughter. My daughter said she sat at the door and cried for me the whole time I was gone, she would pick her up and try to calm her down, but she would fight her to get away and back to the door waiting for me.
How can I stop her from pooping in front of the door like that? And how can I train her to be calm until I get back? I don't like her being so sad when I leave. She is crate trained, but I don't want to put her in there for a minute or two. Any advice? She is only 6 months old. I should also mention she is a rescue dog that was first taken to the shelter where she was rescued from a no kill rescue, then adopted only to be returned as she was too playful for the elderly couple. So she has abandonment issues I'm sure.
It sounds like she has separation anxiety. I had that problem with my dog when we adopted him. You need to desensitize them to you walking out the front door. That means you pick your keys up and walk around with them. Open the door and immediately come back in. Come up with a "be good" command that you say when you leave but other than that don't make a big fuss about leaving or returning (the more fuss you make the more she'll think it's a BIG scary deal).
It REALLY helps if you take your dog to obedience training - one of the things they work on is staying when you walk around a corner so she'll learn to trust that you'll be back - plus she'll learn other polite behaviors (like not barking at strangers) AND the trainer is a huge help if you have any questions about problems like this. I dug up an article that has the same steps that my dog trainer gave me. It seems silly and is a fair bit of effort but it REALLY works.
My dog used to whine and poop and even trash the house whenever we left the house when we first got him. It took about 2 months of re-training (and doggy prozac in his case) to see improvements, and about 6 months until he was "cured", but ever since. he's been an angel when we are gone and a lovable family member for for 6 years. I'm so glad I put the time into him.
I have a 2 year old brindle American Stafford, and she always wants to be around someone. When I leave for work, she looks at me as if I was going to take her with me. I can be gone for only 15 minutes and when I return, she will have pooped on the floor as if she is getting back at me. She seems to be pretty upset that she was left alone because she would chew up everything in sight. What can I do to stop this behavior?
By Eddie from Staten Island, NY
First of all, dogs don't "revenge poop." That's a common myth about dogs. Your dog has separation anxiety. That means she gets stressed when she is not with you. What you are seeing is nervous or stressed behavior, not spite.
As for what to do: I could probably give you some advice but I'd need to know a few more things: Who else lives in your house? Is your dog alone when you go to work? Does someone else, like a housekeeper, ever come in?
There are a few too many variables for me to know what to tell you right now.