[Help] 2 y.o. Mixed-Breed w/ severe separation anxiety

crystna26

New member
Hi all,

I adopted my baby a couple of months ago and she has been amazing every moment I’m around her. She likes to play when prompted and is so calm and well-behaved when I am home. She responds to basic commands and is beyond loyal.

The problem is that she has horrible separation anxiety.

Within the second week I had her she actually broke her foot because she jumped to the top of my window, took out the support, and got stuck in between the window sill and the interior window Don’t worry, I didn’t leave my window open to the outside, there are just multiple layers.

She has since healed, but she has taken a *ton of paint off my door, destroyed other bits of property, and gets into the trash nearly every day. She even gets pots off of the stove during the day if I forget to do dishes and brings them to my bed. About the only thing she doesn’t do is chew shoes, but she does grab them and lay them next to her.

All of this happens when I am not home. I have tried crate training her and she destroyed one relatively cheap crate and one very expensive crate but breaking and destroying the doors. How? I have no idea. My latest success has been using a Kong toy to keep her occupied. This has been huge and has stopped her scratching at the door and various other things, but she still consistently grabs the trash out and lays it on the floor. Even if I am gone for 5 minutes to do laundry.

I have tried to catch her in the act, but she’s too smart and knows if I didn’t leave, even if I get totally dressed, grab my keys, my mask and turn the key in the door. I turn it the wrong way and it’s just as loud, but that way I can walk in quickly to stop bad behavior as it’s happening.

I also have a pet cam and most of the damage happens quite quickly after I leave. Most of the time now it is once she gets treats out of her Kong toy and finds ones I have hidden around the house. As soon as she gets bored, all hell breaks loose. TV on, radio on, Kong filled with treats, she still goes wild.

Do y’all have any tips for stopping this? I rent and I already have to do repairs before the landlord finds out, I don’t want more to do. The trash and moving things around is really her biggest issue and I have had to clean it up nearly every day.
 
@crystna26 My dog has bad separation anxiety. She managed to slide open a cracked window and jump out the window of my second story apartment. Nothing worked. She wouldn’t eat a kong or any food while I was gone. She bloodied her paw trying to crawl out under the front door. She scraped the skin off her nose and sprained her ankle trying to escape the wire crate I bought for her when I travel. Finally I bought a 200+ crate off Amazon. It looks like a jail cell and has multiple locks.

The only thing that could even temper her anxiety was to make sure she went for a long walk before I left. A long walk and that she had pooped and peed. Also now we no longer crate her. We got a puppy 8 months back and when we leave we put her in our bedroom(she sleeps in the room with us) with him in his crate and she hasn’t had an accident or tried to escape. But we only do that if she’s gone to the dog park or had a long walk and used the bathroom. If she’s not tired I don’t trust her not to be anxious.
 
@crystna26 Definitely make sure she gets a ton of exercise before you go anywhere.

As for the crate, I would work on playing crate games. Don’t force her into the crate ever, just start making her associate it with positive things such as food and games. Then, slowly work on leaving her, even if it’s for a couple of seconds. You can also work on capturing calmness.

I would also possibly reach out to a trainer and your vet, both will have good suggestions.
 
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