Separation Anxiety: Moving into apartment soon

[annabanana777]

I have a 15-month-old goldendoodle who has bad separation anxiety. We'll be moving into an apartment soon where barking needs to be near zero. He loves his crate and stays in it without much fuss, but whenever he's in there and we leave the house, he would intermittently whine, bark, howl. I'm already putting him into the crate and taking him out calmly with treats. I tried making the crate more pleasant too dropping toys in there.

What should I do? Is a bark collar advised? If so, which bark collar do you recommend? I was thinking about using Dogtra YS600.

I was also thinking about trying this youtube video:

To sum it up, she bangs the crate whenever the dog whines/barks, but she claims it works very well. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, since I'm supposed to be making the crate a safe space.

I'm looking for a solution where the dog isn't dependent on anything. If I were to try bark collar or medicine, I don't want to use it long term. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[lolasrobot]

@annabanana777 Have you tried setting up a camera and finding out what happens if you let him stay out of the crate when you leave? Dogs with separation anxiety tend to have it exacerbated when they're in a crate. Our dog for sure still has anxiety when we leave, but he's WAY better out of the crate, but he's too anxious to do anything other than lay on the couch or walk to the door.

 

[annabanana777]

@lolasrobot Haven't tried that yet, thanks! The only issue is I'm worried he'll do something naughty while I'm gone like chew a wire. But i guess it's worth a try!