Separation Anxiety?

[Quincy's Slave]

So someone who I consider knowledgeable about dogs told me that Danes are prone to separation anxiety. I haven't found much reference to that in anything I've read. Hubby and I both work from home, which is a blessing and a curse and we are a bit concerned about how much time Oliver will be with us and then what happens when we want to go out without him. We're still working on the crate training, getting a bit better but we've had some issues still.

Any experience with Danes and S.A?

[Desertnate]

I think it may be dog dependant. I'm not sure if the breed has the issue more that others. Just lake every other thing with our danes...big dog = bigger issues.

In my case, our pup handles us being gone pretty well. At night she's crated and during the day she gets gated into our kitchen breakfast area if we're at work/school. She's of course happy to see us when we return, but she doesn't go nuts while we gone.

One thing we have seen is when she can't be with us when we are home. If I am in the front yard and she's in back and can see me, or when some family members are upstairs in the "dog free zone" she'll whine, groan, or bark a couple times to express her displeasure at being seperated. After saying her peace, she'll lay at the nearest entry point (stairs/fence gate) and wait to ambush us with loving when we return.

[Jehn]

Ludo FLIPS if I just take the trash out. Totally freaks. When I have to run errands and I put him in his crate, he's fine until I close the front door. Then he FLIPS! He doesn't hate his crate. I can put him in his crate and move about the house with no issues. I often crate him and move about the house, then start preparing like I'm leaving the house. That's when he becomes super alert to my activities. Before he can get super anxious, I let him out. Trying my hardest to train him that "sometimes mommy leaves". This has been the most difficult part of training so far.

[LoveMyJax]

My last dane, a rescue, had mild separation anxiety. He would sometimes tear apart bags, blankets, etc. if I left him. I just didn't leave that kind-of stuff around and all was fine. He didn't find another outlet to express his anxiety.

My new puppy initially showed some anxiety (he's 9 months now) but it was something that I got on top of right away. I wanted my puppy to be ok when I'm out of sight. If I spent every waking moment with him, I essentially would be helping to create the separation anxiety. I put him outside, and he cried and cried...I didn't know what to do. I could see him, but he couldn't see me. We eventually worked through this. Just a couple months ago, while camping, I found out that Jax barks when I walked out of sight, even with my boyfriend with him. When we got home, we worked on this. I tied him in the front yard, always had him in sight, but wouldn't return until he stopped barking. In very little time, Jax was just patiently waiting for me to return while checking out the scenery.

Those are just a couple of examples. 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

[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!

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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

[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

[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.

[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.

[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!

[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.

[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.