This is about my papillon girl. I've asked the all breed board, but my posts on her SA typically go unanswered. I've asked the pap list serve and was told I needed to medicate her, which I really don't want to do. So in a last attempt to hear from people's experiences, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask here.
Summer has separation anxiety (obviously). She's not the worst case I've heard of by a long shot, she's not destructive, she doesn't chew or destroy things. However, she will bark and cry while she's alone, she will try to claw her way through a door or a crate, she'll start shaking when I'm getting ready to leave, etc. I've tried multiple things with little success. Right now I'm living with my father and his dogs and she seems to be doing a lot better being left with another dog in the house instead of being alone. When I go back to school, though, it'll just be me and her again. I'm most likely getting another dog for other reasons but I know not to count on that alleviating everything. Even with the other dogs she will still bark when I get home, but a lot less. Just a few barks and that's it. It wouldn't be a big problem if we weren't in an apartment next year. She will also panic whenever I close a door between us. She has to be in the room with me or another person.
I've tried desensitizing her to my leaving procedure. Whenever I touch my backpack to go to class she panics. Class is about the only place I go that she isn't allowed to go. When she's crated, it seems worse. She hides and refuses to go in her crate so I've stopped using that. She knows a no bark now somewhat but still barks about a minute when I get home and goes crazy zooming around the house. I come in and ignore her until she settles down. She won't play with toys so I leave chews for her and I leave the tv on. She's exercised a lot multiple times a day, she is very bright and very high energy. I even tried DAP but didn't notice a thing.
Any ideas on what else to try?
Also, if you have tried medicating for SA, how serious was your dog's case? What does your dog take and how does it work? Maybe I'm overreacting about the medication thing but I imagine my little spitfire becoming zombie dog. It just doesn't seem bad enough to me to need such a drastic solution...
Any insight at all would be really really appreciated.
Summer has separation anxiety (obviously). She's not the worst case I've heard of by a long shot, she's not destructive, she doesn't chew or destroy things. However, she will bark and cry while she's alone, she will try to claw her way through a door or a crate, she'll start shaking when I'm getting ready to leave, etc. I've tried multiple things with little success. Right now I'm living with my father and his dogs and she seems to be doing a lot better being left with another dog in the house instead of being alone. When I go back to school, though, it'll just be me and her again. I'm most likely getting another dog for other reasons but I know not to count on that alleviating everything. Even with the other dogs she will still bark when I get home, but a lot less. Just a few barks and that's it. It wouldn't be a big problem if we weren't in an apartment next year. She will also panic whenever I close a door between us. She has to be in the room with me or another person.
I've tried desensitizing her to my leaving procedure. Whenever I touch my backpack to go to class she panics. Class is about the only place I go that she isn't allowed to go. When she's crated, it seems worse. She hides and refuses to go in her crate so I've stopped using that. She knows a no bark now somewhat but still barks about a minute when I get home and goes crazy zooming around the house. I come in and ignore her until she settles down. She won't play with toys so I leave chews for her and I leave the tv on. She's exercised a lot multiple times a day, she is very bright and very high energy. I even tried DAP but didn't notice a thing.
Any ideas on what else to try?
Also, if you have tried medicating for SA, how serious was your dog's case? What does your dog take and how does it work? Maybe I'm overreacting about the medication thing but I imagine my little spitfire becoming zombie dog. It just doesn't seem bad enough to me to need such a drastic solution...
Any insight at all would be really really appreciated.
)
