Dog Community

Seperation Anxiety

Posted : 4/24/2006 12:29:55 PM

My husband recently went back to work after working from home for about a year and 1/2. Our dog Justus is more "his" dog and they are more bonded than Justus and I. Since my husband went back to work Justus has been going to the bathroom inside. It's getting ridiculous. I'm assuming he's acting out because my husband isn't here with him all day. I pay as much attention to him as I possibly can to keep him occupied but I guess I'm just not good enough for him right now. I know he's not doing it because he has to go because we take him outside several times a day and a lot of the times he does it right after I put him back inside after he has just gone to the bathroom. Most of the time it's when i'm taking the other dog out since I cant walk both at the same time because Justus is about as much as I can handle on my own. i open the blinds so he can see me take the other dog but by the time I get back in he's gone to the bathroom on the floor again. My husbands been back to work for almost 3 weeks now and this is still going on. It's starting to really tick me off. What do you think I can do to help Justus stop this? I have considered giving him one of my husbands shirts that has been worn or something like that but I'm afraid that might make it worse. Any help is appreciated.

glenmar

Posted : 4/24/2006 12:32:51 PM

The easy solution is to put him in his crate when you take the other dog out.

Next you should work on training him to leash walk better so that you can handle both dogs together. I'm not very big and I can walk 150 or 160 lbs of GSD together....

forpaws

Posted : 4/24/2006 12:35:36 PM

I would also ask hubby what his routine was with this dog and follow it until the adjustment is made.

Kristin

Posted : 4/24/2006 12:50:41 PM

Justus doesn't have a crate. He had a box when he was a puppy but when he became potty trained we never used it again. now he's far too big for it and a bigger one would take up way too much space in our little apartment. He also doesn't just do it when I take the other dog out. he's done it when i'm standing right next to him less then an hour after taking him out.

As for the trying to train him to walk better... we're in the process of that. We've been in the process of that for some time now. He stays fine and even with distractions we can walk very far away from him and he wont move but as soon as you put that darn leash on him he goes nuts. I've been begging my husband to get him a short leash but he has yet to do it. My husband can handle him fine but I'm not used to him. I never walked him until my husband went back to work. He trained him using the "with me" command and he just totally ignores me. And I use the same tone as with other commands and he listens to me fine with them. But the "with me" is just going right over his head. He's an exteremly smart dog but the walking thing is our one problem area.

faol

Posted : 4/24/2006 2:49:05 PM

I'm reading a book in which the author says something about separation anxiety that changed my perspective of it.

The dog is not thinking "where is dad?"
He's thinking "Where is my child!!!!???"
Well, it bears thinking about.

Maybe it's just a matter of establishing yourself as pack leader. In the meantime, you could get a head halti, like Gentle Leader, that should allow you to handle two dogs.