Extreme Seperation Anxiety

I am nowhere near proffesional but I do own my very much attached pitbull. My very first thought when I read your post was, do you exersice him VIGOROUSLY before leaving him in the crate? You obviously know how much energy these guys have and I dont know if you crate him in the morning after he has been resting all night but if so then that may be part of the problem. My girl gets so antsy if she hasnt had a good run in, she wont listen and is very stubborn until she gets it out of her system.
Is there any place in the house that you could get baby gates to corner him off,like the kitchen for example? It leaves them with less confining space and it would make it easier to doggy proof the room. Also I notice that if my girl dosnt have mutilple things to chew on then she goes after my stuff. She loves those nylabones that are virtually indestructable and they never really break up but they still have flavor. Also cow hoofs are a great enjoyment for them because they last long and you dont have to moniter them with it like with pigs ears. I also heard that when you leave, just give a quick goodbye and leave. If you make a big production out of it then they make it a big deal also. Good luck with your baby, he looks like such a lover!

Hmm, that is a good point... I have not tried exercising him in the morning... we do that when I get home.  I am willing to try anything, so I will see if it makes any difference in the next week or so. 

As far as gating an area off... that is a good suggestion as well, and one that I have tried, but have had no luck with.  Originally, he would just jump the gate (the way he does it is so cute too, he flies over it like a horse).  I then tried putting it up high enough that he couldn't jump it (or climb under) and he CLIMBED it!!! Then, I just blocked the entrance with the gate and something else (I can't remember what it was...) and he jumped on to the counter and over the "bar" into the living room.  *sigh*  What a little rascal.  I would love to just leave him in one room, but I am petrified that he will destroy stuff if I lock him in, say, the spare bedroom (that has a whole bunch of workout equipment, as well as an entertainment center, and a bookshelf for him to chew on).  And another crazy thing he does that I forgot to mention, is that he has to be able to look out the windows.  I made the mistake of forgetting to close the bedroom doors while he was left out of his crate and he destroyed like 6 sets of venetian blinds.  I am petrified that one of these days he is going to get tangled up in them and choke himself, so I have to make sure to pull them up (all the way up, as I found out yesterday-- evidently he jumped up and pulled them down).

Luckily Sphinx hasn't really resorted to chewing on my stuff (though he does steal articles of clothing/shoes-- just to have them evidently, because he doesn't chew them.  He just wants attention).  I make sure to give him a variety of toys, but he doesn't play with anything when I'm not at home (even when on the balcony).  I can tell if he has chewed up one of the cow hooves (he loves them too) and he rarely touches them unless I give him a brand new one right before I leave.  When I'm home, however, he is perfectly content to go chew his toys in the corner or run around like a crazy dog with one of his stuffed toys in his mouth. 

I learned that as well-- to not make a big deal... makes things much worse.  Also, since he would start howling, I used to go back inside to scold him... but I realized this, of course, is just showing him that his behavior is working. 

He is such a mystery to me.  Thanks so much for your suggestions.  I will try the A.M. exercise and see if it helps.  We are hopefully going to be moving into a house this summer, so I hope I will have some more options. 

Still open if anyone else has anything else to suggest (besides me getting my lazy butt out of bed earlier! haha).

Hi Jamie welcome to i-dog he is a cutie.
And those are big time separation anxiety symptoms he is exhibiting, some of the trainers, behaviorist will be along soon I'm sure.
I had the same problem w/ my female, the whole thing turned out to be an alpha thing w/her, she thought she had to watch the house and me, and the neighbors and anybody else in the world lol. You need to do NILIF nothing in life is free, she has to earn everything, and the ot poster is very correct a tired dog is usually a calm dog.
but I also did this w/ Trixie and though it is exhausting it really worked, but you must keep up the no fuss when you leave or come home thing.
[linkhttp://www.wagntrain.com/SeparationAnx.htm]http://www.wagntrain.com/SeparationAnx.htm[/link]
Good luck and you came to the right place.

Wow so much of how you describe him reminds me of Rory! I think that the a.m. exersice is maybe more important then the pm cause he has been resting all night and then has to go in the crate. It took me a while to get motivated to get up and walk her in the morning but now that we've got it down its kinda nice. Its quieter,it smells nice outside and I can tell she really loves it. There is a park right down the street that is fenced in and if we get there early enough I let her off leash to run......and run she does wihout any provoction.....I just get to sit there and rest, ha ha! Ooh and as for the cow hoof, my girl wasnt to intersted in them until i filled it with peanut butter, froze it for 24 hours and then let her have it. It takes them so long to get the peanut butter out and distracts them from worrying about you leaving. Peanut Butter is just fine for dogs but I only give the hoof with PB 1....maybe 2x a week cause too much of it can be fatty. It does get them to love their hoofs though! I also found that she likes the fake tires toys, it seems as if she chews through everything else to fast but these last a week or so. They are a lil bit pricier but very well worth it! My sis who has a pit also literally takes the shirt she slept in the night before and puts it in the room with the dog, the dog LOVES IT. So now my sis has a whole pile of nightshirts that she wears just for the dog......her husband isnt to thrilled about her wonderful bedtime attire but ohwell!

Hi and welcome, Sphinx is so pretty!!! I love those "baaaad" pits []!
 
How did you train Sphinx to be alone? Did you just took her in her crate and left or did you raise the time she has to stay alone step by step?
 
I would start right at the beginning with her, just as if she were a little puppy. This surely will take a lot of time but so she won`t lose confidence in you. All she has to learn is that you will came back every time.
Of course exercise is important, if she has to stay in the crate after a night`s sleep, it`s not only that she misses you but also is probably bored to death.
 
Leave her alone for just a few seconds, don`t make any fuzz about leaving, don`t say bye, just leave and come back after maybe 30 sec. but ONLY if she`s not whining, barking or sonething else. If she does, you have to wait til she`s quiet for at least 30sec. When you come back, don`t welcome her too much. She has to learn that it`s just a normal situation, nothing to worry about.
 
The best time for learning being alone is when she`s already a bit tired or at least when she was for a little walk already. To make it easier for her you could give her a bone or something to chew, no treats that can just be swallowed.
 
You can do this little lesson several times a day and when she knows that nothing bad happens, you can extend the period of time. But don`t do that too fast.
For dogs it`s unnatural to be alone though they surely have to learn it. But when she gets frightened because you are too fast it`s much more difficult.

Thank you so much for all the suggestions thus far.  Thankfully, right now, I don't have to worry about it as much because they are done painting so he is back out on the balcony.

I tried the walking in the AM... *sigh* We only walked for about a half and hour at a very brisk walk, but he didn't even begin to pant (but I was certainly breathing harder!!).  The problem with the AM exercise is that I am in the military and required to be at work by 7.  I have about a 25 minute commute to work, so in order for me to give him the exercise he needs I would have to get up at like 5.  I honestly would have no problem doing it, but I live in an apartment complex that I do not feel comfortable walking around in the dark.  I'm sure no one would bother me while I'm walking my darling "beast", but the idea of being out there alone scares me too much.

I am going to start this weekend with some serious training as far as accustomizing him to being alone (using all the tips I've gotten and all the research I've done), so wish me luck.  I would really like to get him comfortable with being alone inside so that I don't have to worry about him overheating on the balcony this summer.

I guess I am just still really confused about the whole crate vs. balcony thing... if he has such terrible seperation anxiety, why doesn't he care if he's left alone out there? I leave the blinds open, so he knows that I'm not home, plus he can hear the door open/close.  He doesn't seem to care in the least that I am leaving him, and like I said, he loves to be out on the balcony... it's just strange to me that it doesn't bother him but being in the crate is so traumatic... I've felt that there was more to it than just seperation anxiety-- that, since he was more than likely abused before I got him, perhaps he had a really bad experience with a crate?

Thanks again for all your help.  I added a couple of pics where he doesn't have his "war wounds" from trying to escape the crate.  My favourite is the one where it looks like I'm choking him and he's sticking his tongue out like he is gagging.  What a jokester.  []

Maybe you could give him a short brisk walk in the morning and save the more rigorous exercise for after work.  I walk my dog twice a day.  His morning walk (usually a bit less than 30 mins on-leash) isn't really tiring for him, but it lets him smell stuff and see stuff and he just seems happier to relax afterwards.
 
Do you have a kong for your dog?  I fill mine with yogourt and his morning meal of kibble, freeze it overnight and then give it to him when I leave.
 
My dog didn't have the issues that yours has, but he used to bark non-stop while we were gone.  After some trial and error, we found that the best thing for him was to be gated in kitchen, radio on, 2 frozen kongs, blanket in the corner, chance to stretch his legs outside before leaving him alone.  Anything else (crated, no kongs, no walk, etc) led to barking.
 
Also, maybe you could get more than one baby gate and just fill up all the space.  That way he can't jump over and he doesn't have to be crated.  Although my dog is crate-trained and will relax in the crate with a bone while someone's home, he barks non-stop in the crate if we leave the house.
 
Good luck!