Medicating Separation Anxiety Dog?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
i have an almost 2 year old yorkie. he has separation anxiety(sa). the symptoms are mostly barking and defecating. i tried crate training but he WILL defecate in there so now i use a play pen with water, a litter box, dog bed and plenty of chew toys. but his anxiety is so strong that there is a 50/50 chance he won’t use the litter box and he’ll be so anxious he won’t drink or play with his chews (i recorded him for a couple of days).
i had him sent to a behaviorist who did a few tests on him. his anxiety is a severe case but unlike a lot of SA cases he is ok if he not completely alone (ie with another person who is not me or another dog). he will whine a little at first but he gets over in a matter of minutes where he’ll usually bark off an on for hours until i get home. (usually 4-5 hours). the behaviorist said he would either need to be medicated for life or there was a possibility that getting a second dog would help. i was told that he would need a high dosage which could change his regular personality as well. but another behaviorist said to never get another dog to cure SA.
what should i do? i don’t want him to change too much if he’s on meds. he’s a wonderful boy aside from the sa. but if i do get another dog i don’t want the dog to possibly learn SA from him. i wanted another dog but i wasn’t planning to get one until about the spring of next year. by then i figured i’d have my current dog all better. i wanted another small dog because i live in an apt. i was thinking of a papillon. as i hear small dogs are a little more prone to sa.
Related Papillon Training & Care posts:
the trainer at our shelter recommends that folks talk to their vet about medications AND read the book I’ll Be Home Soon.
I think you have two options
Either leave your dog with someone while you are gone or find a behaviorist who can work on desensitization and counter conditioning techniques with your dog.
With a little experience with SA i can give you some suggestions. Your dog may need tranquilizers to help him relax if your case is really that extreme. there really are no side effects. Try to get him used to being alone. If you can, keep him outside when you’re home. when you go out keep noise on in the house. when you leave, keep the tv on loud or the radio so he feels you are still there. you can even try dog training to separate his dependence on you. Hope this helps.
My dog, Gemini had SA.. I got her when she was 6 weeks old and she lived until she was 17 .. Gemini was very attached to me from day one, she suffered from SA when I wasn’t at home with her and it didn’t matter if anyone else was here or not, the problem was I wasn’t here. So here’s what I did … (I understand that you have a smaller breed dog,Gemini was a shep/malamute/wolf mix, so you might want to modify this) I got a very large stuffed bunny it was easily 4′ tall, and I took one of my recently worn, unwashed, tee-shirts and put it on this bunny. I sat the bunny in the place I sat on the couch.. and left the house for short spurts of time. I started by leaving for 2 minutes then gradually increased the time .. and each and ever time I came back in, Gemini was lounging on the couch curled up next to or on that bunny, resting peacefully! The bunny had my scent because it was wearing my shirt and I guess this kept Gemini calm. I don’t know if that will work for your pooch but you can try it before you start medicating.. maybe you could just leave your shirt in the playpen with the pup, if you don’t want to leave a big old stuffed animal in the pen with him.
I am not an advocate of medicine. I can change personalities and has other side effects. I think getting another dog won’t help things long term.
This is a training issue. Proper crate training will help eventually. Put your dog in a crate that he has just a little room to move in. Don’t crate your dog in something were he has too much room, he will see it as somewhere he doesn’t want to be instead of a safe place to be while your away.
Another problem you may be having is if you only crate your dog when you leave. This way he will only see it as a bad thing. Crate him for 10-20-30 minutes when you are home. If he cries ignore him. Only let him out when he is quite, relaxed or even when he is asleep. This will help him learn that crying gets him nowhere and being calm and quite is the best thing for him to do.
Try to stay calm when you leave. If you feel anxious when you leave/crate your dog he will pick up on that anxiety and think there is something to be upset about.
Another idea is to let your dog have a special toy treat that he only gets when he is in the crate this helps turn a negative experience into a positive one.
try bach rescue remedy, you can buy it at any natural foods store, and some other places to. it works very well for any kinda of anxiety’s, isn’t very expensive, and is not a drug. you can try to putting it on a treat or even a few drops in your dogs water bowl. this really helped one of my dogs w/ firework issues, and is also one of the best natural treatments for panic disorder in us humans- i think it is worth a try before you put your dog on hardcore meds. it won’t change his personality traits that you love one bit
goodluck!
…If you show weakness to your dog, the dog instinctually, in his own head, takes over the role of leader whether he wants the role or not, because there must be a strong leader and an order in a dog’s pack. Humans often give the dog mixed leadership signals, which throws the dog off balance, confusing his psyche, causing many of the psychological/behavioral problems we see in dogs today….This is also the number one cause of separation anxiety. In a pack, the leader is allowed to leave, however, the followers never leave the leader. If your dog is instinctually seeing you as their follower and you leave him, it causes so much mental anguish that a dog often takes it out on your house or himself….http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/hum…
The dog won’t “learn SA from your other dog”. But it may be unwise to get another dog if there are already leadership issues. Small dogs are more prone to SA because most small dogs aren’t treated the way dogs should be treated; their owners let them get away with things they shouldn’t. The breeder you got the dog from is a perfect example. If you take a good look at your own situation, I’ll bet you’ll see things you let your little dog do that you would never let a big dog. It is a shame that a BEHAVIORIST would recommend DRUGGING a dog for LEARNED behavior.
(Small Dog Syndrome – Dog believes he is the pack leader to humans)http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/sma…http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/separationan…
Yorkshire Terrier
….It has true terrier heritage which needs someone who understand how to be it’s leader….They will become demanding and dependant and need a lot of human attention…They can also become over-protective, and become neurotic. Yorkies are easy to train, although they can sometimes be stubborn if owners do not give the dog proper boundaries…The problems only arise when owners, because of the dogs cute little size, allow them to take over the house. The human will not even realize it…if you have any of the negative behaviors listed above, it’s time to look into your pack leader skills. These are truly sweet little dogs who need owners who understand how to give them gentle leadership. If you own a Yorkie who does not display any of the negative behaviors, high five for being a good pack leader!http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/yorkshireter…