Separation Anxiety?

[Quincy's Slave]

Thanks everyone. We are still trying. We've done the slow boat method and can build him up to playing and eating etc in his crate. If we close the door and sit in the room, he loses it. Leaving the room is something else again! The biggest problem is after he has his little meltdown, we have to start all over again with the crate and getting him comfortable in it. He's not destructive at all so there's no problem with him ripping up things. Kongs are of no interest to him. I've tried applesauce, peanut butter, hot dogs, little cheese bits, squished liver and he just doesn't care. He's a bit lazy and doesn't like to work for things

We start puppy kindergarten on Saturday and we're going to talk to the trainer about putting him into 1/2 day daycare immediately and build him up from there. We need a break and he needs to learn we will come back!

We are having good success with his basic commands and that's exciting for us!

[LoveMyJax]

I totally agree with the slow crate training and crating while you're home. I didn't have any real issues with crate training, but over a couple of days, I gradually trained Jax.

I'd suggest putting him in his crate, with a high value treat, and shutting to door. Do not leave him, stay in sight. If he cries, let him. The MOMENT he stops crying / barking (even if to just take a breath) open the door and let him out. When you start to make progress, work towards a little longer without crying, and then let him out. Then try leaving him in the crate, walk out of room for a very short time, come back in...when he stops crying, let him out. Work towards leaving the room and only entering the room when he gets quiet. If he cries, let him. The moment he's quiet, enter the room, let him out. Extend the time you are out of the room, then walk out front door, then take a short walk, then run an errand...I think you get my idea.

It is a process with a lot of little steps, and it may take you a little while since you are already dealing with issues. but it may work. and like cyndi says, don't let him out when he's crying...be prepared, and wait for the 1 second of quiet and go from there...

ETA: It's also important to not acknowledge the pup when he's crying / barking. Not even an "it's ok" or "quiet" or "shhhh." Any response from you is positive reinforcement to his crying. It's ok to say "good boy" when he's quiet and you let him out...but nothing until he's quiet.

[thisiscyndi]

My point is...in my opinion, which some may not agree with, I believe that we often contribute to the potential for separation anxiety. If you work from home and are constantly with your pup, gradually get some time apart. Send him to doggy daycare. Leave him in the crate while you go for a walk or dinner. Find things for him to entertain himself so that he isn't always under your feet, needing to be entertained. You have to get him used to time away from you now, or you may have a really hard time later on. Of course we all want our pups to love us, follow us around, be sad to see us go and excited to see us back; but, I really think a dog needs some independence to be happy and well rounded. The will be happier, we will be happier, and we will have a better relationship. JMO

I agree with this 100%. We sometimes create seperation anxiety where there wasnt any or make it worse by our actions.
And those that are crate training puppies - if you are going the tough love route you absolutely must not let them out when they are crying no matter what. You are only contributing to the problem. They must learn that they will be let out when they are quiet and calm. You have a very small window before the pup becomes big enough to seriously injure themselves and develop really bad seperation anxiety if this is not handled correctly. If you cant handle that, then you should be crate training with the slow desensitizing method instead.

On the other note -- leaving an 11 week old puppy outside unsupervised because you cant handle them crapping inside? You shouldnt have gotten a puppy then.

[fets]

If he's tearing up the sheets and pooing/peeing on them, take the blankets out of the crates. It sucks to leave them alone in a crate on just the bed-pan, but it works. Once you think he's calmed down, do a test run with a crappy blanket. If he rips it up, take it away again. I wouldn't leave any toys or bully sticks in there now either. I don't leave toys at all, because I'm terrified he'll choke and I won't be there. Although, a mega frozen kong might be a good idea for your guy. Also, if your pup is not full grown, I cannot stress the crate divider enough! My main point is, he can't destroy anything if there isn't anything to destroy. I do leave the TV on for him (ESPN, b/c I rarely see dog commercials, Animal Planet would be a bad idea LOL) or you can leave a radio on so they have some mental stimulation.

I also think it's a good idea to cover the crate w/blankets, make it like a den. I actually use two big body towels on each side, and a blackout curtain on the back. I overlay them FLAT and tape them together on the top side, then lay a heavy sports blanket on top to weigh them down. Then I weigh it down with some of my crap. The towels are thicker, so they block out light better than sheets, and they are less likely to get ripped up (it's difficult for a dog to grab them through the crate). Macho has never gotten his. Obviously be there with him when he gets used to it. Then it's his cozy place, and there are less distractions for him to get upset about while you are out.

If you don't crate while you're at home, start crating while you're home. If not they associate the crate with your leaving!

When you come home don't let them out of the crate right away. Go put your groceries away or something. Don't celebrate them getting out of the crate and your being home. Then calmly let them out and go for a walk to let them use the bathroom and get out the energy. Now that I leave him out of the crate more, I will say hi, but continue to walk into the next room to put my things down, then sit on the couch and invite him next to me. I was bad and did not do this at first. It's hard for me not to celebrate seeing him, because I miss him as much as he misses me (I show his picture to everyone, including other dogs). Plus, it's so fun to have them come greet you! However, your emotions influence their emotions. His party celebrating my return became a problem. I changed my behavior and that party has decreased significantly! Now, after I pet him on the couch, he will run to get a toy and do his impressing dance, but that's about it.

Macho is also a shadow while I'm at home. He'll be dead asleep and then get up and follow me. Dude, I was just grabbing a stapler, I didn't want to wake you up!

If I leave and I leave Macho OUT of the crate (even if other people are home), he howls like a wolf! I have NEVER seen him howl except for on camera. He'll bark when I leave, but he is much calmer if I leave and he's in his crate. If I walk out of the house, especially on foot (like to go for a run), Macho goes nuts. He doesn't rip up anything, but he roos and howls. LoveMyJax, I really like your advice and am going to try that by walking out and hiding behind my car. I will also tell my parents if he gets upset when I leave to ignore him until he quiets down, then give some loving. Reinforcement!

[BigLittleSmall]

Today we went out for about 30 minutes

Try leaving for less time at first. 30 minutes may not seem like a long time to you, but to a puppy whose whole world just walked out the door (and they don't *know* is coming back) .. 30 minutes may seem like an eternity.

Try putting your pup in a crate, give him a frozen Kong or even a Kong Wobbler to distract/entertain him, then leave the room (without any fuss, just turn around and leave don't comfort or console or say goodbyes) for 5 minutes (make sure he isn't pitching a fit before you come back in though), then come back into the room (no greeting, no fussing, no nothing) open his crate and let him out, and walk away .. don't play with him or talk until you are away from the crating area, then ask for a sit, treat, then praise.

He needs to learn the routine of what happens in the crate when you leave .. then once he gets that 5 minute routine down pat, up it to 10 minutes, then 15, then 20 .. you get the drift.

Not making a fuss before, after, or during crate time helps keep them calm and not expecting something dramatic from you.

[Amly]

You cannot leave an 11 week old puppy outside while you are gone. There are far too many things that can hurt or kill your puppy. Essentially you are leaving your baby in a crib because it pooped or peed! You cannot expect an 11 week old puppy to be 100% potty trained. Leaving a puppy outside by itself is plain irresponsible!!! If you want yard art, get a bird bath!

I completely agree. 11 weeks is far too young to be leaving outside alone without supervision, and I have also read several times that Danes shouldn't be left alone outside period. I think that it will actually contribute to separation anxiety and make your potty training efforts move backwards if you continue to leave your puppy outside. While potty training you really need to be patient and put up with the set backs, and be consistent. Leaving your puppy outside because of potty accidents is not something that your puppy will understand. They will however, understand the routine of, out of crate, outside to potty, back in the house. They actually pick up the routine rather quickly at such a young age. 9 times out of 10 there will be set backs, and accidents. Leaving an 11 week old puppy outside is just asking for trouble. Safety wise, health wise, and training wise alike. You may need to put in extra work by cleaning the crate several times a week, cleaning a few accidents off of the floor if not properly supervised, and dropping everything you're doing to take your puppy out constantly until it understands that this is what it needs to do, but in the long run, the effort put into potty training is going to make EVERYONE alot happier. Dog included.

[Tucker's Mom]

You cannot leave an 11 week old puppy outside while you are gone. There are far too many things that can hurt or kill your puppy. Essentially you are leaving your baby in a crib because it pooped or peed! You cannot expect an 11 week old puppy to be 100% potty trained. Leaving a puppy outside by itself is plain irresponsible!!! If you want yard art, get a bird bath!

[TheGreatDane]

Boy we are having such a hard time with this. We can get him in his crate to play, eat, have treats but we soon as we close the door he just loses it. Today we went out for about 30 minutes, we put him in crate with his "bully stick" that he loves, he was super involved with chewing it and not paying any attention to us so we thought we might have some success. We come home and get out of the car to hear him howling and shrieking and our neighbors across the street are laughing at us. We found him covered in diarrhea and just so beside himself with stress. He had to have a bath, his bully stick was so gross we threw it out (15 bucks down the drain) and it takes him a good hour to settle down and stop whining and crying.

We're at our wits end, love him to death but we do have to leave him alone at times

We are having the exact same problem with our 11 week old puppy. I could not handle him craping everywhere so he has been going in the backyard when we leave but I know I can only do this for a little longer while the weather is nice. It's definitely very frustrating.

[Greenmagick]

I do think danes are probably on the more prone side than some other independent breeds but nothing crazy....SA just happens sometimes.

If you are worried, read up on it and do as much as you can to discourage it.

A good book would be "I'll Be Home Soon" by Nicole Wilde.

[Loki Love]

We come home and get out of the car to hear him howling and shrieking and our neighbors across the street are laughing at us.

Ugh... lovely neighbours :/

I don't have any advice, but hang in there - I can only imagine how frustrating it is. I'm sure others will be by shortly with some advice

[Quincy's Slave]

Boy we are having such a hard time with this. We can get him in his crate to play, eat, have treats but we soon as we close the door he just loses it. Today we went out for about 30 minutes, we put him in crate with his "bully stick" that he loves, he was super involved with chewing it and not paying any attention to us so we thought we might have some success. We come home and get out of the car to hear him howling and shrieking and our neighbors across the street are laughing at us. We found him covered in diarrhea and just so beside himself with stress. He had to have a bath, his bully stick was so gross we threw it out (15 bucks down the drain) and it takes him a good hour to settle down and stop whining and crying.

We're at our wits end, love him to death but we do have to leave him alone at times

[Mohitto]

I work from home, and I'm also starting to notice this issue.
He's generally fine at home, and I can leave him if I have to run out the house (I only give him his stuffed Kong when I'm leaving so that helps). I can also leave him sleeping in my office while I wonder about the house, he will see me leave but doesn't make a fuss or try to follow.
The problem arises when I try to leave him with other people. Like at puppy class when we "pass the puppy" he just keeps looking for me and doesn't enjoy his interactions with the other pet owners at all. He also doesn't like if we over to someone elses house and I go inside and leave him with my fiancé, he whines until I come back.

I am going to try puppy daycare, to see if that helps.

[jrturk]

Danes are known for really wanting to be with their humans, so it makes sense that they freak out a little if their human leaves.

[Jehn]

The strange thing is, I can go out in the back yard with him and walk inside and he could care less. I'll watch him from the door and he'll just go on with exploring and playing. No cares in the world. It's only when I'm outside and he's inside that he flips. It's like he's "oh crap! Mom is leaving without me!" He'll do that when Kevin goes out too from time to time. I think he's more used to seeing him leave because he goes to work every day. I leave the house daily. Sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes a couple of hours and he still reacts horribly when I go. It's sad and frustrating. Also, at night. No problems there either. He sleeps in our room on his own bed. He may whine a bit because he wants up on our bed, but he knows when it's time to sleep he needs to be on his bed. He does very well with that. I'm at a loss! I guess I may need a trainer to come into the house?

[oceanbluedanes]

I think it depends on the dog.

Athena spends about 99% of her time with me (at work, at class, at home, at pet stores, out to eat, in bed etc). She is totally fine if I leave home, she goes to her crate on command and never complains even when she knows I'm leaving. But she also has the other dogs for company when I'm gone. At work, she is fine staying in the office if I need to walk out but she does watch for my return. However, she does NOT like me to leave her with another person (on leash) so we are working on that. I did have a mini emergency in class last week where I had to hand her off to a stranger for a moment and I thought she was going to go nuts. But she did ok. I didn't go out of sight and she watched me but she didn't freak out...

Belle does totally fine at home alone. She does bark when I walk out the door (one or two roo's) but it's mostly in protest. She does shred sheets and some stuffies but it's not due to SA since she does that next to me too.

Both girls are my shadows when I am puttering around the house. I cannot even so much as get up to go fold the clothes in the dryer without them both getting up and moving camp to whatever room I'm in. They could be in a dead sleep, snoring away. The second I walk out the room, they are following. Sometimes I tell them to stay if I'm just darting into the other room real quick because I hate to see them get up from being all comfy for all of 3 seconds!