My Sheltie Has Anxiety!

K

kristynron

Forums Regular
My little love, Shanti, is 1yr5mo old. She has terrible anxiety. Someone called it separation anxiety but I'm not even sure if it's exactly that. She gets upset no matter who leaves. It can be a total stranger. If they are at the house and leaves she starts acting up. Every morning when my husband leaves for work, doesn't matter that I'm here, she goes crazy. She runs frantically in circles around the furniture, barking loudly. She is also known to pull threads in the carpet, and if she can get into the bathrooms she pulls out any tissue in the waste basket and shreds it. She used to tear up my throw rugs but thankfully she has stopped doing that. I love her dearly but I just don't know what to do to help her. Our other Sheltie, Maddy, never had these kinds of problems. Maddy is 11. Does anyone have any help or advice to offer? Thanks.

Kristy
http://www.seehere.com/kristynron
 
Kristy

Deffinately sounds like ,Shanti, has some issues.:eek2: Kia loves people and dislikes when they leave also but will not be distructive. She will whimper and be sad for a bit but I will play with her and her favorite toy tug of war.:lol: It gets her mind off of the guest that have left and she is back to her normal demanding self.:lol: Try keeping her occupied with play when people leave and see what happens. Good luck.:wink2:
 
I was worried about Romeo developing separation anxiety so I decided to get him to associate me leaving with great things (aka yummy treats which I would put in one of those treat dispensing toys - just to make it a little harder and to tire his mind and so I have enough time to get out of the door before he's done!). It seems to work. He doesn't care that I leave now, and he's seemed to transfer that to other people as well. He'd just sit and watch people leave, then get up and go back into the house without making a sound.

I also read somewhere that some dogs get destructive and develop this sort of anxiety when people leave because they think they are the Alpha and they get panicking when people leave the house (den) beacuse they can't go out too and protect their pack. This however doesn't really explain why your dog acts the same way towards strangers!
 
Koji has anxiety issues, but nothing like yours. My only advice...have you thought about finding a behaviorist to work with? It sounds like you'll need a lot of help and instruction. And I will say, this will definitely take a lot of time.

From what I know about separation anxiety, you need to show them that you're coming back. So you start out with just gathering your stuff. Then putting it back and praising. Then get to the door. Then praise. Then get out the door, close it, come back in praise. And keep working at it. Leave for a few mins, then 5, then 10, then 15, etc. Like I said, a LOT of work.

For mine, he's okay when we leave...as long as he knows no one is in the house. If someone is home, he acts up. He acts up when we come home, and go upstairs. But will be fine if we are downstairs, even if he can't see us. Since his isn't so bad, I've been told by 3 diff. behaviorists of sorts (one behaviorist, one trainer, and one "dog whisperer") that he needs to be run. A lot! so we put him in daycare once a week. Seems to help.

Anyhow. Good luck.
 
I have tried to associate our leaving with treats. It's hit and miss. I'll keep trying it though.

As far as a behaviorist or doggy day care, it's just not feasible right now. I lost my job in July and have not been able to find work yet plus I had to have surgery on my shoulder so that has delayed everything. One thing I've thought about doing is taking her downtown to the square. It's sort of like a big park-like area in the middle of our downtown area. I thought that maybe being exposed to all of the sights and sounds might help with her overreacting to every little thing. As an example a little while ago a plane flew over. Holy smokes out the doggy door she goes, into the yard, spinning circles as fast as she can go and running like crazy. One thing I can say, the pennies in the can have helped immensely with the barking though. I really think she would be great at agility but again, right now, money is an issue. Does anyone know if there is a point when I can't enroll her in an agility class, age wise? Thanks all.

Kristy
 
my skyler does almost the same thing!! he starts crying and running circles as soon as anyone gets ready to leave. most of the time it progresses to where he will nip at our legs as we go out the door, (he has drawn blood :mad: )or if anyone tries to go out the gate. I was told its because he thinks people are his sheep and he is upset that his flock is splitting up. what we do is before we leave we tell him to sit. he does it, but he shakes the whole time. I have also tried doing stufff that triggers the behaviour like ratteling car keys, and opening the door so I can correct him. doesnt seem to help though, at least not too much. we can generaly avoid getting bit now :rolleyes2:
 
I would leave and arrive home as matter of factly and calmly as possible. No big HELLO ROMEO! or BYE BABY!!! Be a goood boy!! I just leave the house, toss the treat (usually in one of those toys with the holes that dispense treats when the dog rolls it or drops it) on the floor, never making eye contact, and leaving. Then I stand outside and peer through the fence and do my goodbyes silently!!! When I arrive home, I walk straight past him and go through my mail never making eye contact again, like Romeo's not there, then when he's calm, I greet him.

I think the idea is to create a positive feeling with your leaving, but also to reduce the stress levels by making it not such a big deal.
 
Anxiety

I have a 3 year old Shelite that I believe has anxiety as well and reading this post makes me believe that there is still something I can do to keep him from going nuts when I leave.

His routine:
As soon as I grab my keys, he barks and runs to the laundry room door and just looks at it, waiting for me to walk over. Once I walk to the door and start to open it he starts spinning in circles until the door closes then runs toward the front door and waits for me to open the garage door before barking again. Once the garage door opens and I start to pull out in my car he jumps like a mexican jumping bean in the foyer and the window next to the door and just watches me leave down the street. As with the originator of this post, he does this for anyone, me or complete strangers. He used to eat the baseboard but have sinced kicked him of that habit. I am wondering if there is anything I can do this late into his youth or is it possible to kick him of this habit?

Thanks!
 
Separation anxiety is curable- a behaviorist would be a very valuable asset. My mixed breed developed separation anxiety within a year of my adoption of him. He would attack the window or door closest to where I had left. He also would pee/poo in the house within 10-15 minutes of me leaving. I was fortunate that the area that I was in then, actually had behavioral vets that I could consult. I took him to see one and she had us do a lot of work with associating leaving with treats and desensitizing techniques. I have since come to the conclusion that he knew that where we were living wasn't my real home since I was only there for school and that he was afraid every time I left that I wasn't coming back. He initially wouldn't eat any treats that I gave him when I left so when he did finally start to eat them, I treated it as a huge breakthrough. When we would go for weekend trips, I would have to put him in the car first so he was sure that he wasn't being left behind. So, once we moved back to my house, he improved even more. One very valuable piece of advice from the vet was to set up a video camera so that I could see exactly what he did when I left and after I left. and Happy was 5 when I adopted him and he's now 10 and way better about me leaving. so don't give up hope :smile2:
 
JessicaR said:
my skyler does almost the same thing!! he starts crying and running circles as soon as anyone gets ready to leave. most of the time it progresses to where he will nip at our legs as we go out the door, (he has drawn blood :mad: )or if anyone tries to go out the gate. I was told its because he thinks people are his sheep and he is upset that his flock is splitting up. what we do is before we leave we tell him to sit. he does it, but he shakes the whole time. I have also tried doing stufff that triggers the behaviour like ratteling car keys, and opening the door so I can correct him. doesnt seem to help though, at least not too much. we can generaly avoid getting bit now :rolleyes2:
Click to expand...

Skyler sounds like my Prissy - She is litterly "The dog from H___l" I have given up and just try to deal with her.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top