hill.ellen

Thank you so much for your response and reassurance. I have to admit that the situation worried me and I feel happier with your answer. The feeding at the table was embarrassing as it is difficult to suggest to another dog owner that they should change a routine but I did suggest that the owners sit at the opposite side of the table so both dogs were by their owners and neither able to see that the feeding from the table while the other slept. Unfortunately the problem worsened when the grandchild arrived and usually both dog and children are very close but once they gave attention to the guest dog Belle reacted badly and I had to put her out of the room for everyone’s safety. Once again I didn’t know whether she was protecting them, was jealous or trying to send a message to the guest dog who seemed oblivious to her signals. Once the guests left she reverted back to her routine and slept for most of the day as if mentally challenged by the whole situation. Do you think after a little while we should invite other dogs to the house to ascertain whether it is all dogs or this one in particular that causes the problem? I feel it is all to do with her inability to stay under her threshold and remain balanced and calm.

Hi I can’t believe a month has passed since I started the exercises and unfortunately I have to admit with so much going on I have made little progress since November. However I am determined to get back in the saddle. However I discovered a new problem over the Christmas period which may or may not be related to her inability to relax. This came to light when we had friends visit with their older labrador. Belle, my dog, was not happy with the situation having the other dog in her space for three days. Her routine was thrown completely and possibly due to inconsistency and confusion over rules regarding food as the other dog was allowed to beg at the table whereas we have never allowed Belle to do this and it caused great problems between them. So much so that Belle started to growl and block when the other dog approached. It was difficult to know how to handle this situation as the other dog was larger but also more dominant but not aggressive so it was Belle who was marked as to blame and troublesome.Do you have any suggestions as to what action I should have taken to defuse the situation.

Thank you. I feel I am going very slowly but it is amazing how she can change so quickly. We should never underestimate their abilities. Today she went into another room and had a quiet half hour away from me. This is something that she rarely chooses to do and I am hoping it might be as aresult of the previous day’s training- let’s hope so.

I am so delighted I had to tell you how she did tonight. I took your advice and randomly moved around in circles for almost half an hour and she was perplexed. She laid down next to the door waiting for me to leave the room but when I sat down for a short time she gave up and settled back in her bed. I got up again and she followed so I did the same random circling. She gave up before me and settled down. The third time I got up - now over an hour since the first time, she didn’t even look up never mind get up. So happy with her response. I am looking forward to more fun tomorrow - thank you.

Hi today I put some of your points into practice and saw an improvement. I varied the time intervals mixing up long and short stays out of the front door and got up to 50 with her staying quietly in her bed then I went out the back door and walked past the window and although she was looking puzzled she stayed until I returned after a few seconds. I worked at moving around randomly when she followed me but I have to admit I gave up before she did but later in the day when I went upstairs she followed me to the foot of the stairs and waited for me to return knowing that I was going nowhere. It felt like progress today.

Hi not a great day today. She had her walk and a treat while I was grooming her then I needed to do some work in the garden where she could see me. I asked her to settle in her bed in the kitchen and moved outside. She started barking at the window but not howling as she would do when I leave. She continued to bark so I ignored her and when she became quiet for a few seconds I praised her but she then started again. I took this as her being demanding as her bark was different and not as distressed. When I eventually came in she settled down and relaxed. I did a small amount of brain training and treasure hunt games with her during the afternoon and she was fine although she is still following me everywhere even when I try to change direction and purpose to distract her it rarely works.

You are definitely right about her predicting the time as she seems to know when it is a training exercise rather than the real thing and will allow me to go so far and then she gets worried. She has never taken to a Kong as she doesn’t seem to be able to get the treats out and then she gets frustrated and barks at it! I will mix it up and slow it down today.

Since my last post I have read a few of your posts and can see that she suffers from isolation anxiety rather than separation anxiety which is easier to cope with I believe. I have continued the small step training today and she allowed my to get to the door, go outside with me counting to 10, 20, 30 and finally trying 40 but then she was waiting at the door although not barking. She then ran back to her bed in the kitchen to get her treat - am I becoming too predicated? Just in case, I stopped the training, gave her praise and threw a few treats for her. She then settled down next to me for an hour or so. I think this could be progress.

Thank you for your reply. This morning I took her out for her normal walk and after a short break I started some basic training from your course. She took very well to the airplane game, the eye contact and touching the post it notes - all under 11 secs. So after another little break I went on to asking her to stay and moving away from her for very short periods. This all went well until she heard me open the door and she got up from her settle/ stay position to follow me so I went back to just moving around the house and that worked well, I will continue to lengthen the exercise tomorrow but a good start.

Since writing the above reply I have read through the links you suggested and I can see immediately that I need to start again with much more patience and understanding of her threshold. I will endeavor to follow your suggestions and let you know how she does. Thank you again for your advice, it is much appreciated.

Thank you so much for your prompt reply. I will do my best to answer your questions to give you more understanding. My husband and I are retired so we are with the dog for the majority of the time so she has never been used to a regular routine of absence. She has always been upset when she is left her in the house alone even when we are working in the garden. She paces and howls if she loses sight of me through the windows. She will allow us to leave her as long as she is not alone but it doesn’t happen very often. On the few occasions when we have had to leave her alone for a short time we have videoed this and she paces and howls consistently. We tried to confine her to one room but that was worse as she was frantic and weed. We have consulted a behavior specialist who gave us a programme to follow similar to what you suggested leaving her for short intervals then progressively getting longer. She allowed the training to take place with praise and a treat but when we left the house she again reacted badly. She will ignore treats and Kongs when she is upset but is very responsive to treats with scent work and other training when we are with her. We have never tried medication preferring to try behavior modification instead. She will settle in her bed easily with us each day but tends to lack confidence when alone. She can’t find her own settle switch. Sorry this post was so long but I have tried to give you the full picture.

Hi I have a three year old cocker spaniel who is very intelligent and friendly. She is good with people and other dogs but unfortunately she is terrified about being left alone. We have tried leaving her slowly, minutes first and then getting longer but as soon as we leave she howls. The longest we have left her is 1 1/2 hours but she howled the whole time. Any ideas?