Seperation Anxiety. HELP!!!!!

Hello there .

I have a four year old staffy who is suffering from very bad separation anxiety. As soon as I leave him alone in the house he wees and poos and then he eats his mess and throws it back up, he's starting to lose weight and I suspect its because he is eating his mess and it can't be doing his insides any good. He doesn't mess when I am at home ever only as soon as I leave him.

This behaviour has only started within the past 6 months (I moved from a house with a large garden into a first floor flat). I don't think he is coping very well with the change. I believe he lacks confidence as he follows me from room to room when at home and insists on being as close to me as possible. I do have another dog so when left alone he is never truely on his own.

I don't know how much longer I can cope with this behaviour and I am only praying that someone on here can offer me some advice on what I can do to help stop this happening. He's fed on iams so a good quality food and is run for approximately 30 mins a day in the week and longer on weekends. I have spoken to a dog trainer and her only advice was to remove him from the room when I get home and clean the mess and ignore that he had done anything, after trying this for a month it has made absolutely no difference.

I am willing to try anything .

Thanks Jodie xx

Do you have a crate for him to stay in ?

http://www.staffy-bull-terrier.com/crate_training

Sorry but half an hours exercise per day is not enough, is there any way you can increase this to 2 x 1 hour walks per day ?

The link below should help with the separation anxiety:

http://www.staffy-bull-terrier.com/separation_anxiety

No I don't have a crate, I have done quite a bit of research about crate training him but I don't know if he would cope very well being locked in such as small space.

He is run in the half an hour until he cant run anymore so he sleeps for a few hours after this, I will definitely try to increase his exercise to see if he improves.

Definitely increase his exercise, he needs at least 2 x 45 min walks a day, more if possible.

You could try, when you are in, leave him alone for a couple of seconds, then go back to him, gradually increasing the time, that may help.

You could also try leaving him with a stuffed kong when you go out.

I always give Darcy a good hour walk before leaving her usually in the morning and a kong stuffed with sweet potato, I don't leave her any longer than 3/4 hours and she's walked again in the evening for another hour or so. I think drastically increasing his exercise will help Hun hope this helps.

well he walks with me each morning to my sons school which is about a hour round journey but I don't really count that as exercise as he is walking on his lead. Then usually he is run around 11.30am, will try taking him for an eve walk even if its just on his lead. He is only ever left for 5 hours (cant help this as I work 5 hour shifts)

I have tried leaving him for short periods of time when at home and he messes instantly as soon as he is in the kitchen with the door shut.

I cant try a kong as my other dog is left with him and they would fight over food (my other dog is extremely possessive over food)

I wondered if I tried caging marley would it be a good idea to cage my other dog in a separate cage or still leave her free in the kitchen or cage together ?

I don't use a crate but at my mums Daisy goes in a crate while my mums dogs run free, if she goes out for a couple of hours.

I agree with increasing the exrecise and it's a shame about the food aggressiveness. Have you tried a lavendar oil to help keep him calm?

Well if I crate him they would then be able to have food toys to occupy him as they wouldn't be together to fight over food.

No I've never heard of using lavender oil. Where would I get this from and how do you use it ?

I haven't used lavender oil myself but some handlers have had success with it.

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t26773-lavender?highlight=lavender

Not sure where you would get it in Wales though. Maybe a petshop or ask your vet.

Sorry to hear you're both going through this To be fair, the trainer should have been advising on a topic as complex as separation anxiety, you would need to contact a certified behaviourist for that kind of behaviour.

Just a few questions; how many are there of you in the house hold? Do you do all of the walking/feeding/general care? Has he ever been told off in regards to soiling in the house? Do yo allow him to follow you around in the house? Does he do every time you go out, no matter how long for?

Sorry to say, iams really isn't a great quality food. This is our list of recommended foods http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/dry_food but many members feed raw. I also recommend Nature Diet wet food trays and I know others have said good things about james wellbeloved.

I have contacted a few behaviourists and have also spoken to a behaviourist at a local rescue centre for some advice and tips.

There is me, my five year old son, Marley and we also have a pug.

Yes we all walk and take care of him.

I will be honest and yes I have shouted at him (it is so frustrating when he is well cared for and no apparent reason for him doing this, I know before anyone tells me this is the worst thing I could do)

Yes I let him follow me around the flat, (ive left him in the living room before when I have popped for a bath and he has done it within a space of 15mins). He will do it whether left alone for 10 mins or three hours.

I have never had any problems with iams, he is extremely fussy and I have tried other brands and he will go days without eating because he just doesn't like it and I wouldn't want to feed him on wet food alone.

I have increased his exercise dramatically and he seems slightly more settled now where I am trying leaving him in the kitchen for extremely short periods of time and going straight back in to help him realise I will always return.

I have brought some serene um calms drops to add to his food to see whether they help in any way, I haven't used them before and wondered if anyone had an experience using them ?

Jodie

Thanks for a detailed reply lovely Have the behaviourists/rescue centre been of any help at all?

Okay, only reason I ask is that sometimes if only one person is feeding/walking/playing with etc the dog can get fixated on them.

Well, it's better that you're honest and everybody makes mistakes or loses their temper at some point in training. You're human! Is it a regular occurrence that you tell him off for this? I've had a few dogs come into my kennels that have eaten their own mess as to "get rid of the evidence" so that he owner wouldn't be mad at them.

So he messes even if you leave the room, just to go upstairs for example? Have you tried leaving him with a tasty kong or special treat when you leave the room?

Glad to hear his exercise has increased, this should help in general to get some energy out of him, and allow him to go to the toilet away from the house.

I've never heard of the drops. I've heard good things about bach flower remedies for dogs with anxiety, though again have no experience, but friends do. Have you ever heard of thunder shirts?

They have given me some tips on how to settle him, like leaving him in the kitchen before I actually go out so he cant see me getting ready to leave and start to fret, I keep going back in but ignoring him so he gets the idea that the kitchen isn't a bad place to be left. They advised more exercise which I am doing. I know that progress isn't going to happen over night and I know it is something that will take a lot of time.

No Max (my son) gets dragged along on all the dog walks and he regularly feeds them treats and helps feed them meals.

Yes I have heard of that so when I come in I remove him from the kitchen and clean up the mess so he cant sense that I am angry with him.

If I close him in a room he will mess, I live in a flat but if I put him in my room and I sat in the living room he would mess. I feel he lacks confidence and doesn't know what to do when im not with him. I wouldn't leave food down with the dogs because Betty our pug is very possessive over food and I fear they would fight over a kong, I have thought of separating them when out and leaving treats but I think this would make him worse as he would be completely alone or think I have taken her out without him.

No I haven't heard of either of those things.

Okay well that sounds helpful at least, my last foster dog would mess if you shut him in a room alone, and screamed the house down when I left him to walk Biscuit (had to walk the separately) but he as very foodie and felt secure in his crate, so whenever I left he had a frozen long stuffed with nature diet in his crate with the door closed. He soon learnt that me leaving meant good things (he also only ever got kongs when I was leaving so it was a special treat that he wouldn't usually get) Could you possibly get a crate for him! You would need to crate train him before using it but he could also go in the crate with a treat for short breaks during the day to learn to be away from you and settle down. Obviously you should never leave a dog in a crate for more than 2-3 hours and they should have a decent walk before being put in there.

Does he eat other dog's mess when out walking or just his own? The reason I asked about the food is that (as you probably already know) dog foods that use lots of flavourings often come out smelling similar to as they went in, so dogs feel it's okay to eat it again! Iams use very cheap animal derivatives to make up their meat content (beaks, feet etc) so use a lot of artificial flavourings to make up for this.

If you could get a crate so the dogs could be in the same room but safe to have food/toy treats while you're out that may help? Biscuits crate is covered in blankets to make it very den like, with lots of bedding inside too, she loves it in hers

That's a really good idea about crating him and then they could both have a treat, I only worry he would freak out being locked inside a small space although it is worth a go. What do you fill the kongs with ?

He is 4 is that to old to be crate trained ? Would I leave Betty run free in the kitchen ?

He only eats his own mess and only in the flat.

I always thought iams was a good dog food it's pretty expensive compared to some dog food that is available extremely cheaply.

What do you advise I feed him on ?

A dog can be crate trained at any age I took my dog in as an adult stray and crate trained her no problem! As long as he's trained properly and patiently the crate shouldn't be scary for him, canines in general love dens and as long as it's big enough for him to stand, turn around and lie down plus a little extra he should be comfortable. When I get on the laptop tomorrow I'll send you a crate training plan. My foster boy was very hot headed and energetic and even he liked the crate and he was impossible lol!! Yep, leave Betty in the same room as him with a bed to settle on, preferably where he can still see her.

Kongs can be stuffed with anything! The posibilities are endless lol! Biscuit likes banana and peanut butter for a special treat, but generally gets nature diet food stuffed in it, think you can get it from pets at home or general pet shops, and if you need it to last longer you can freeze it for an hour or so before you need to give it to him.

I don't actually feed dry food as my girl has allergies and is really sensitive to grains/fillers, so I feed a combination of raw and nature diet. I'm on my phone at the moment, but I think I sent the forums recommended dry list in a previous post up a bit further. I always fed my kennel dogs on Arden Grange to get the weight on them, but this can be quite rich and upset tummies! A friend has had great results from Fish4Dogs too