Coping With Our Rescue Dog’s Separation Anxiety

Being the parent of a rescue dog is a wonderful thing, however, their past tends to resurface which can be uncomfortable for both the parents and the dog.

My rescue dog’s name is Joe and he spent seven years alone in a dirt dog run. He had no shelter and had to experience rain, snow, and sun all alone. He was cold, hungry, lonely and afraid, and had nowhere to turn to. Today, he lives indoors with our other three dogs. He has a big sofa he loves to sleep on and he has plenty of food and water.

Fear

Despite having everything a dog could ask for, Joe is fearful of loud noises, new people and objects, and a slew of other things. He is especially fearful when left alone, even with three other dogs in the house.

Now, he acts out. He’s even tore his dog crate apart, broke a window screen, hopped a 5ft wall, and ran away to look for me in the busy streets of LA while I was only away for an hour.

Joe is 10 years old and a rather large dog. I didn’t think he could jump that dog. I can’t imagine how afraid he must have been to do so. Luckily, he was apprehended by a stranger and was home within the hour.

The fact that being home alone, even for a short time, brings such distress is heartbreaking, however, we can’t stay at home all the time.

Solutions

To help him overcome his fears, we started with getting a stronger dog cage. He managed to bend the back door of his last cage and it was no good afterward. First of all, it was obvious that we had to invest in a much sturdier dog crate. The regular kind wasn’t secure enough for him. He was able to bend the door back, and somehow he knocked it open while bending it, rendering the crate unusable.

The new crate was a bit expensive and is rather ugly, but it’s what we have to do to keep him at home. Besides putting a large lock on it, we put a blanket over it to make it a bit cozier. We accomplished this through crate training with lots of treats and love. Now, he loves his crate and sleeps in it all night.

Leaving him alone

It’s not easy to get him into the crate when we’re about to leave, so we put him in about a half-hour before. We give him no hints that we’re leaving and give him a few treats before we leave. He also responds well to his leash and doesn’t mind doing into the cage then. We do not use force, and we reassure him constantly. The cage has wide bars so I can pet him and help him relax. Then, I turn on the TV so he hears the sound of people talking, and more importantly, I leave the lights on.

Progress

After four months of living with us, Joe has shown tremendous progress. Now, I can leave home without putting him in the crate. I’ve even set up a camera to watch what he does. These are baby steps since I only leave for a few minutes, but with time, I expect he’ll overcome his separation anxiety.