DonnaLandthrip

Would love some advice on training an anxious dog. Wallace is a 3 year old cockapoo with separation anxiety. He chews the bars on his crate, escapes from the crate, and scratches up the front door. I have tried a blanket over the crate, feeding him in the crate, special toys and treats for when I leave the house, etc and nothing has been successful. The vet prescribed medicine for him but that isn't ideal and hasn't worked very well. I purchased the Brain Training program because Wallace is incredibly smart and I thought increasing his mental stimulation might decrease his nervous energy. Unfortunately, he is terrified of the sound the clicker makes. He ran away shaking the first time I used it with him. Now, even though I have thrown the clicker away and am only using treats and verbal cues, he runs away from me as soon as he senses that I am trying to train him. What this looks like: He gets excited and runs over when I get the bag of treats but after I ask him to sit (a trick he has known for years) or do any trick more than once, he associates this event with the clicker and backs away from me. When I put the treats away and go to sit on the couch, he is comfortable again and comes over to sit next to me. It seems like I have made my dog afraid of training. I would love any advice about working to alleviate this new fear of his as he now seems to be more fearful than he was before. I feel as if I cannot help him if he's afraid to do what I ask because he associates it with a scary sound.