Many times puppies are mis-diagnosed with separation anxiety when they actually just need to be better exercised and better CHEW trained (See chew training instructions at http://www.dogdaysusa.com/chewinganddestruction.html.

In other cases, the dog may need more exercise, proper chew training as well as a true separation anxiety protocol which desensitizes your dog to the cues to your departure and then different length of your departures themselves. Often this is all you need to solve the problem, without the help of pharmaceuticals. Each case is different and it's worth reading as much as you can to make the right decision on how to treat your dog's particular case. See separation anxiety case study at http://www.dogdaysusa.com/separationanxietycase.html
Good luck!
Suzydog

My husband and I got out dog Bouncer from a shelter about 6 months ago, he is a border Collie, Alaskan Malamute, golden retriever cross and about 18 months-2yrs old. We had the usual house training issues when we first got him which lasted a couple of weeks and then he was really good. I would go to work (be gone about 6-7 hours) we would leave him in his crate and he would be fine. Then about 4-6 weeks ago he escaped out of his crate. He bent up the door and got out. The from then on when we put him in his crate (apart from at night) he would escape and be waiting at the front door when we got home. As when he was escaping he wasn't chewing up anything or destroying anything we thought that we could just leave him out of his crate. And this worked fine for about 4 weeks and then all of a sudden the other week I come home and he had ransacked the house. He didn't destroy anything of real value but he made a huge mess. So we have been shutting him in the basement where his crate is but everyday I have been coming home and having to clear up something. I can't and should not have to clear that room of everything but what can I do he just won't stop chewing things up and when he chews on something he chews on it until it has been destroyed. Please help I don't know what else to do.

Hi I have a 2yr old male black lab and a 3yr female black lab. they are both rescue dogs that have come to us with bad habits. both together chew our couch cushions, take socks from the hamper, chew door frames, and have chewed the arm off our couch and tore the stuffing all over the room.
we've removed all the items from one room that we keep them in when we are going out, this is the one they've chewed the furniture in. We've put them in the basement laundry room where they chewed the door frames to remove he babygates to get out...
we have tried putting chew toys with treats and peanut butter to keep them focused on them, however once all the chewtoys are empty, their focus goes to the furniture or anything else in their view.

what can we do??? we want to get new furniture and it's not even a consideration at this point due to their chewing.

thanks,

Kristine
orangeville Ontario, Canada

Hi I have a 2 yr old and 3 year old rescue labs. When my husband and I leave for work everyday my two year old, Trinity, starts looking for things to tear up. She is only left for about 3 hrs but she tears something up every day! Ive given her all sorts of toys, rawhides,ect. She carried an 18lb bag of dog food through the doggie door last week and ate all the dials and buttons off my iron! How can I correct her behavior or keep it from happening when Im not home? Thanks for all suggestions!

Hello,

I have tried all of the above mention tips already with our dog. Normally when I am not home, my husband and son are still home with her; however, it still does not calm her. She will sit by the door and cry if I am not home. Even if I am home, if I am in another room, she will cry or become destructive. She has ripped wholes in our rugs. Normally she becomes somewhat content if she is permitted to lay on my robe or something that smells like me while I am gone. The problem is I have no idea what to do to make her less attached to me.
I know she is more attached to me than the rest of the family because I am the one that tends to her (I take her for her daily walk, I run around in the yard with her, I feed her most of the time, etc.). I have tried to get my son to take a more active part in this, but most of the time he is the typical kid and I have to do it. I would get my husband to do more of this, but his work hours do not permit him to walk her for a good portion of the year as it is dark when he gets home.
Any suggestions?

Sometimes you've got a young pup who's showing the beginning signs of problems, other times you've got a full-blown case of separation anxiety. What follows is one of several behavior modification techniques you can use for a dog who is already showing separation anxiety:

During your time off from work (and your husband and son should also be recruited to do this), desensitize your dog to the cues to your departures by pretending you are about to leave and then not leaving. Get your coat, keys, purse, shoes, and go to the door, open it and then close it and take all those things off and sit down as if nothing weird just happened. Do this several times per day. You can break it up into just keys, just coat, just door, etc. to solidify the desensitization.

After you've done this and she has started to ignore your bizarre antics, do the same but also leave for 1 minute and then return as you normally would after a day at work. 20 minutes later leave for 4 minutes and return. 15 minutes later leave for 2 minutes. 30 minutes later leave for 7 minutes. An hour later leave for 2 minutes. Basically you are desensitizing her to your departures and absences at a variable schedule. Your departure times are not predictable nor is the duration of each departure. Gradually you will increase the duration but you must mix it up so that each departure isn't longer than the last. Get a tape recorder or video recorder to see if/when she starts to show stress. Keep your departure times low enough and increase them gradually enough that she does not start to show stress. If she starts to bark or paw at door, you are gone too long and/or ramped up too fast. Each dog is different, see samples below:

Dog 1: 1 minute, 5, 10, 3, 20, 8, 2, 30, 15, 5, 60
Dog 2: 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 12 seconds, 40 seconds (dog barked), 5 seconds, 15 seconds, 50 seconds, 30 seconds, 80 seconds
Dog 3: 5 minutes, 15, 4, 20 (dog whined & pawed), 8, 10, 6, 15, 7, 18, 13, 4, 25, 12, 30, 40.

If you make it to 30 minutes one day, start lower the next day; in other words, don't expect the dog to start at the exact level you left off at; start a little easier and see if you can ramp up further.

The preferable behavior modification scenario would allow you to be off work for 2 weeks and over that time gradually acclimate her to 6 hour separations. If you can take a day or two or more off, do so. However if you can't take time off just do what you can in the time that you can, do everything else (exercise, Kong dispenser, puppy-proof) and pray.

Never make a fuss when you leave or when you return! The best way to approach your arrivals and departures is to remind yourself not to even look at the dog for 5 minutes before you leave or 5 minutes after you get back, other than to potty her very matter-of-factly when you get home.

More separation anxiety strategies at http://www.dogdaysusa.com/separationanxietycase.html.)
Suzanne Harris, CPDT
http://www.dogdaysUSA.com

Hi,

My dog, Emmett, freaks out when I leave the house. The minute he sees me grab my purse, brush my hair or look like I am about to leave he will jump on me, bite me (not too hard but feels like it is getting worse), jump on the door, and try to block me. I have tried ignoring him before I leave and ignoring him when I get home, but it doesn't work. I have tried making him tired by walking/running him, does not work. I have even tried giving him a special treat when I leave. All he does is sit there with the treat and watch me to see if I start to go for the door. When I open the door I have to hold him back by his collar so that he doesn't run out of the house (if that happens it takes me about 20-30 min to get him back and he runs in the street!) Once I actually get out of the house, he is fine. I have the house puppy proofed, so he can't really get anything. He will watch me leave through the window and then either sleep, play with his toys or chew on his chewies. He does not bark or whine. He is a Yellow Lab that I got from a rescue when he was 9 weeks old. He is now 8 months old. I can't handle this behavior any longer. Please help!!!

Cant even handle me walking away from him. Much less leaving him in the house for even 3-5 minutes to walk to the next door neighbors house with out barking, going crazy and destroying all the blinds in the house. Im at a loss as for what to do. I've tried several tips you have given and they work pretty well.(As far as chewing on things etc) Even if i put him on the front porch on a long leash while i walk next door he acts like he will die without me. He barks and wines. I've tried putting him in the back yard even... He has broken the metal fence from pawing at it for so long and eventually gets out every time. PLEASE HELP ME. I love my dog so very much but I just dont know what to do with him.

In Sweden it´s forbidden to leave your dog alone for more than six hours, since a couple of years. How do you feel about this? Is it harmfull to leave the dog alone longer?