[Update] Alcoholic Dog’s Recovery Is Going Well!

[faithandlove8]

@darkevilspirit That poor boy. I couldn't believe when I read your first post that people would do something like that. I hope they can never own another animal again.

It sounds like he has pretty bad separation anxiety (the whining, crying, intense need to welcome you back). Obviously you have bigger issues to worry about right now, but you can try doing controlled separations and leaving him with a kong filled with yummy treats/peanut butter/wet food while you are "out" (possibly just outside the door monitoring from a webcam setup). Since you have another dog I'd advise keeping them in separate areas so the other dog doesn't get to eat the treats. I know there are lots of people more experienced than I am with separation anxiety so hopefully they can chime in!

 

[darkevilspirit]

@faithandlove8 Yeah,he definetely has seperation anxiety disorder... well, either that or the fact he's now in a strange environment and instead of being in a small house with 10 people he's in a medium house with 2 people, he might just never have ever been somewhere without people before? Even if they were scummy people,he didn't know better?

I don't know when I'll start to work on this issue. At the moment I want to get him internally well and not needing alcohol... but at the same time I don't want to 'indulge' the seperation issue and therefore imprint this behaviour on him. Such a hard call. At the moment I just want to pamper him and give him everything he wants >_

 

[candycane088]

@darkevilspirit Have you considered crating him? He might like that safe space. We used to crate my dog any time we weren't at home, and if I left the apartment just to take out the garbage or something and didn't crate him, he would freak out and bark and scratch at the door until I came back (30 seconds later). When we put him in the crate, he'd flop right in and relax and couldn't care less that I was leaving. Like the poster above suggested, you could start off by leaving him in the crate with a really good treat to create a positive association and then go on from there.

 

[darkevilspirit]

@candycane088 He can't stand being in confined spaces... I don't know if maybe he has been abused before? He also doesn't like being tied up. He is actually fine waiting in the car when I go into a service station to pay for fuel etc., but maybe that's because he spent so much time in the car on his way back to my home state with me originally. I have tried the crate, as I own a couple, but no luck unfortunately :-/

I wonder if maybe leaving the door open, and moving his bed and some toys in their might make him feel differently?

Also, he burrows himself under blankets, into a cocoon. Sometimes I can sneak out of the bedroom and he will notice I've gone, but not freak out, as he will be sitting on the bed waiting for me to come back. That's maybe promising?

Sorry for the string of thoughts, but this isn't something I've given much thought to given the more immediate issue. Though now it probably IS time to start looking into getting him less anxious when away from us.

 

[candycane088]

@darkevilspirit Aw, poor guy! You could definitely start with the door open and his bed and toys (and lots of fluffy, washable blankets) in there. Even better if he starts to go in there even when you're home. Sorry if I'm telling you something you already know!

 

[darkevilspirit]

@candycane088 No, thank you so much for the ideas... all are welcome! He's not too big on toys, he seems to prefer playing with other animals or people. I don't think he's ever had a toy before :-/ He will play tug of war with pieces of rope though... both with others dogs and me! I've been trying to have my other dog (impure boxer) play with toys in front of this guy so maybe he'll learn what a toy is, and that they are fun!

Maybe having the kitty's and the other dog sleeping in their, so their scents get on it and he sees them in their coming to no harm will help too!

 

[safaristan]

@darkevilspirit We have a girl with separation anxiety, it's not easy to deal with. We prioritised her training for it as it was the worst of her bad habits when we adopted her. Obviously for you, the weaning comes first, but here's what we did to help her when you get to that step.

We set up a nanny cam and started doing "structured leaves". I gathered everything I needed in advance, then waited until she was calm and walked out the door (chucking treats behind me) and locked it. I went around the corner and counted 2 mins, then went back. I did this about once an hour throughout the day, or more often if she settled down quicker. Once she was comfortable with that (not howling), we upped it to 5 mins, then 8, then 10, etc. I spent many days/weeks in a local café sipping coffee and watching the nanny cam so I could rush home if she started to get upset. The aim was to stop her escalating so that she was comfortable when we weren't there.

It was a lot of training and was very upsetting for her, so I would recommend not sweating it yet. Simple recommendations we got that would work for dogs that are less wound up than ours included turning on the TV/radio before you leave; ignoring the dog completely when you get home/acting like it's no big deal; or leaving them with treats/kong when you go.

Best of luck with everything!

 

[alvinc]

@candycane088 Does he love food time? Really food motivated? Put his food near the crate. Slowly move it in the crate. Dont close the door or anything, but he could turn his tune. Good luck! You're both doing great!

 

[darkevilspirit]

@alvinc He certainly does love food time, and has some treats he especially likes, so if needed I can use those! Thank you for your compliments and advice, it all is helping me help this guy, and knowing so many people here are rooting for him gives me the motivation go as much above and beyond for him as humanly possible!

 

[susannah63]

@alvinc Yup, to get my newly adopted dog with an unknown history to associate happy, delicious feelings with his crate, I started feeding him in his crate. Well, kinda. He has to get in his crate and sit, then he gets the food in a bowl outside the crate.

 

[glorytogod01]

@darkevilspirit I also have a dog who can’t stand crates (no traumatic backstory) but we’ve had very good luck with leaving her in a closed room with a kong. It’s enough space she doesn’t freak out, but not enough to get into trouble. She also doesn’t chew on anything (...that doesn’t smell like food) so there’s no worries about her destroying the room. So that’s a potential option for you.

I am so happy to hear the update btw, that was a distressing situation to be in. He’s so lucky to have you!

 

[darkevilspirit]

@glorytogod01 This guy is able to have the whole run of the house while I'm out, but am I right in thinking that some dogs (or dogs in general) have less anxiety if they are in a smaller space? But it's just a matter of getting the space not too small and not too big i.e. a crate may be too small but the whole house too big, and thus a single room is the 'best' solution?

 

[glorytogod01]

@darkevilspirit Some dogs do yes! It might be worth a try. The other thing is that most dogs do best with a routine—so pick something and stick with it for a few weeks. Everything the same from the moment you start prepping to leave to the moment you come back. The more he learns that departures just mean naptime and that you always come back, the easier things get. I do second (or third) other recommendations that he end up on anxiety medication. I’ve seen it work wonders.

 

[darkevilspirit]

@glorytogod01 I assume there are other anti-anxiety meds for dogs other than the stuff like valium?

For example, I know their are plenty of medications for humans that have anxiety that instead of taking them as soon as they get the anxiety, they just take the tablet at night and it helps the brains chemistry get to a level where their anxiety threshold is raised?

 

[glorytogod01]

@darkevilspirit The one I know off the top of my head is trazadone, which is taken every day. I’m not sure what the options are in Australia, and I’m sure there are more than that. Yes, in principle there are medications that the dog just gets every day and that allows them to be less anxious by default—they’re still capable of being anxious, it just takes more to get there. But we’re at the point where I’d say ask a vet, I don’t know a ton about medications.

 

[darkevilspirit]

@glorytogod01 I'm taking him in to my vet friends clinic tomorrow for a standard progress check (i.e. for the vet to just look him over, see how much weight he's put on, etc.) and I might discuss that with him then.