need some suggestions... I'm getting to the end of my rope here

Have you considered a companion pet for him?  Having the company could help.  Even if they are crated separately, but in the same vicinity where they could be close, could potentially help.  I don't know if your living arrangement could swing it, but I'm a big proponent of having a buddy around.

mudpuppy

There are a few high-fat commerical diets intended for endurance athletes, which I wouldn't suggest feeding to non-endurance athletes, then there are a lot of very high-carbohydrate foods (i.e. the 25% or lower protein ones, i.e. most commerical kibbles) which are excellent for feeding very active working or sporting dogs but tend to turn your average pet into either a hyperactive maniac or a bloated fat unhealthy dog.

Mudpuppy we don't agree on diet, never have and probably never will but I did NOT say to add carbs or fat (BOTH of which are an energy/fuel source).  I said vegetables.  They will provide bulk and nutrition but not spastic energy.

Our younger malinois was on xanax for awhile because of her SA. It was just enough to take the edge off of her - she had to be crated and tried to jump through windows previously. We also tried to exercise her to the point of tiring her mentally and physically before we would leave for work, but good luck tiring out a young malinois! Like I said, she eventually put her on xanax for awhile, basically so that we could live with her. We gradually weaned her off of it when she was clearly in a better mental state. When we weaned, we did it very slowly - 2 pills became 1.75 pills which stayed constant for a few weeks before we took her down to 1.5 pills, etc.

I've had panic attacks before, personally, and I cannot imagine what it must be like to go through those every day. Luckily for me, my panic attacks were triggered by a cause that I'm not apt to run into. However, if my trigger was something I encountered every day or very very frequently, I would gladly put myself on xanax until I found a way to cope. That was how I looked at it for our dog too - when she is in a blind panic, she isn't even capable of rationalizing what is going on or what she is doing (neither was I during a panic attack). It is kinder for her to help her get into a state of mind where she can begin to deal with some of the underlying problems (abandonment in her case) via a clear mind, even if that is with help from drugs.

Our other mal was just diagnosed with minor OCD via an obsessive licking on her leg. The vet said that this dog is so sensitive to my emotions that because I was stressed, she was stressed, so she took out her stress by licking obsessively. She had to be put on xanax for a short time to break the chain of behavior and keep her sane until I got myself sane enough that she wouldn't pick up on my stress. It wasn't ideal in my mind, but it sure beat her continually reopening and irritating this wound on her leg. She was much happier once she was on the meds...I don't think dogs see the same stigma in taking meds to help their mental health as we do. ;)

I had this problem with my Great Pyr.  She was awful to live with and escaped from her crate.  I did everything by the book but nothing worked.  She is very very food driven, but when she wanted nothing to do with it when it was in her crate.  She tore her bed into the smallest pieces ive ever seen when she was crated.  I watched her....she went into panic mode.  She scratched the hell out of the bottom tray and banged her head as hard as she could against the crate.  I knew she was hurting herself so decided to leave her out from that day on.  Locking her in a bathroom did not work, there was damage.  I then decided to shut all the doors to bedrooms, bathrooms, mudrooms etc. and leave her out and free.  I walked her for an  hour before leaving her alone as well.  Worked perfectly.  She is a large breed so the hour walk made her tired and she slept as soon as we returned from our walk.  Wonderful.  I hope you find a solution.

NicoleS

That's where I'm leaning too.. but I've heard long-term drugs aren't exactly the best thing. 

IMO that doesn't matter; I think quality of life is very important. I take medication for anxiety and my life is terrible without it. If your dog did better on the medication, then I think he would thank you for putting him back on it.

 You mentioned a behaviorist, but were they a *certified vet behaviorist*?  A vet behaviorist is goint to be up on the most current drug information, will know what behavior mod plan will work best, and may be able to give you further insight into what's going on with Sammy.  A "behaviorist" without credentials or a trainer isn't going to have the background or skills you need right now imo.  You may have to drive a while and pay $$ but it would be sooooo worth it for all involved.

CoBuHe

Have you considered a companion pet for him?  Having the company could help.  Even if they are crated separately, but in the same vicinity where they could be close, could potentially help.  I don't know if your living arrangement could swing it, but I'm a big proponent of having a buddy around.

I would LOVE another dog but landlord says no :(

Sammy comes with when we visit my folks, who have a dog, but it doesn't help.  In fact, having her around probably makes crating him worse, even if we separate them, and leaving him out, he chews lots of very odd and random things and I'm sure makes noise,we jsut can't record him there.   

I'm so glad we aren't the only ones who deal with this!  It seems to come and go in waves a bit -- he might be tolerable for weeks and then will slowly morph into something much worse.  We manage him, and it gets tolerable again.  It's very frustrating.  I  might call the vet today -- Sammy had a physical exam two months ago with blood work, and he's been on it before, so maybe they won't make me bring him in.  Although I'm not sure if the clomipramine is a good long-term choice; they might want to try something else.  Last time we knew we were planning to wean off after a bit so that might have affected the drug choice.  I will see what they say and how he is today.

Keep your fingers crossed today that when I come home from work, the dog is in one piece still in his crate?

ETA -- the behaviorist was NOT a vet, but I can't remember what she was certified in.  At the time, I probably wouldn't have known we needed such a person anyway.  I'll see how it goes this time around and keep that in mind.

 Given that you say this goes in 'waves' I'd suspect that something that goes on outside the house probably worsens this.  Either someone at the door or something outside.  So one of the "extra" things you might do (and I think probably drug therapy will be necessary -- and there are more than ONE drug to choose from as well as experimenting with doses to see what WORKS -- think about wean off MUCH later) --

but by "extra" -- I'd set the crate up in an area where you can then create a carpet barrier **around** the crate -- Like between the beds and then literally make some sort of a frame to go completely over the top of the crate and toss either a comforter or carpeting over that -- AND background music as white noise (and experiement and see which the DOG likes -- and be careful of stations with noisy advertising and "yelling" salespeople).  But to insulate Sammy as much as possible from outside noises.

This could EASILY all be triggered by someone banging on the door or making noise down/outside on the street. That then results in the frenzied panic mode.  It might help to get your head together with the landlord -- try to look on a calendar and think when this all ramped up *again* and see if the landlord knows of any deliveries or work that was done or anything that might have ramped this up so badly.

Im not too educated on these drugs because not that many people I see every day use them but I do know a few of our clients give their dogs Reconcile, and love it.  Its a daily thing that begins to work slowly from what I understand, and they have had much success. 

There is also Clomicalm, but havnt heard much about that. 

Kayla used to get out of her plastic crate and the door would still be locked, so I always wondered how painful that mush have been for her 40 pounds to sqeeze through.  But once out of the crate pulled up the carpet and padding in the whole living room and shredded it, pulled down and shredded the back door curtains, chewed all the couch pillows, ripped the door casing off half way up EVERY door in that room and there was a hole in the wall.  It seriously looked like a tornado hit it.... thank god we owned at the time. As mad as I was it made me feel horrible to think of what she must have been going through to posses her to do that!  Or how it was even possible for her to do it... a giant hole in the wall??  She did get better with age and time, and another dog.... but after a while of the other dog she was even ok alone.  Didnt use the crate anymore though.... I didnt know there were drugs for that at the time but I would have certainly thought her quality of life worth drugs that helped her feel better. 

Tank has issues with his crate too, he will be covered in unidentifiable yellowy mush and smells AWFUL, and dont know which end it came out of either.... I guess they just stress themselves out THAT much.  My mom will usually watch him so I havnt had to deal with it too often....

First off, I'd just like to say that you sound like such a dedicated, loving, patient doggy parent for your Sammy. I'm sure many people would not have worked with him as much as you and your family have. He's a very lucky boy!

That being said, I think you have tried pretty much everything I could suggest and recommend--which is pretty much meds, exercise, and consistent training. I'm sorry if you've already written this(I read all the posts but could have missed it), but how does Sammy behave in his crate when you and your family are home? If he's not comfortable being crated when people are around, chances are, he'll probably act worse when noone's around. Some dogs do better in a room, whereas some dogs do better in a crate. Since you said that Sammy rips apart rooms when he's given the freedom, I think that crating may be the better option of the two. Three years is a long time for him to be acting this way, and it's going to take awhile until he gets the hang of it, but I really think, and hope, that he can learn to relax when noone is around. Another option is to try and find someone that can care for him during the day as I'm sure that being this stressed on a daily basis isn't fun for your family or Sammy.

My neighbor rescued a GSP several years ago with really bad separation anxiety. However, after about a year of training and meds, she was able to finally keep her crated. The key for them was having a VERY consistent routine. For example, if the dog was going to be left alone, the dog would be crated with a specific toy, blanket, treat/kong, music, in a dark room, in the same spot, using the same good bye phrase "I'll be back". They started with slow time increments, leaving her alone for 2-3 minutes at a time, to 5 minutes, 8 minutes, etc. In addition, they covered their crate with a blanket as they found that the extra darkness seemed to help her feel more at ease. Since Sammy's already picked up on the locked/unlocked doors, I would definitely start training him around the sound of locked doors too.

Good luck, and do keep us updated!!

Thanks you guys for everything!

Obviously as Callie suggested it must also have an external component since yesterday he was *fine* -- we recorded him the entire 8 or so hours, and he whined some, but mostly he layed around and slept.

Although it doesn't correlate, the landlord or his people have been here (or so they say) a good 4-5 times in the past three weeks trying to fix something.  obviously they aren't very good at it since it's STILL not fixed, but it's not like we can ignore a hot water tank that doesn't work right.  they are just not being helpful.  but in the last message I asked that they come in through the garage and the basement to work down there, instead of the front door.  I don't actually know which door they use, but I asked.  We work long days and it's a far drive so it's not really feasible for us to be home when they come, esp since they say they will come sometimes but never do.

But after seeing the video, I would be hard pressed to see more than a few minutes of "anxiety" -- which would make me all the more sad to do drugs, but on those days when something does get up his butt, he's just full-out crazy dog!

I'm trying to think of ways to *insulate* as Callie says -- problem with that is during the summer, even with the a/c that doesn't work very well, it's easily 80-85 degrees in the upstairs and it just doesn't circulate.  So long-term I couldn't cover him with blankets and such or he'd roast.  But I'm sure Josh could rig something up to give it a try while it's still cool outside.

Rather than put on a radio station we put itunes on randomize.... it's not the best mix of stuff, but it's familiar to him since we listen to  music around here as well.

I've had a busy couple days at work, so since he was OK yesterday I'm not in the immediate rush. but if not today then maybe tomorrow get ahold of the vet for at least a conversation and see what he thinks. 

 I'm not sure how open you are to it (it can seem a little weird) but something called TTouch has really good success with handling separation anxiety.  It's a system of touches and physical exercises that aim to bring the dog (or any other animal) back into physical balance, based on the idea that any tension in a dog's physical structure can manifest itself in behavioural problems.  I was very skeptical at first but bought a book about it because I vaguely know the author.   I've only tried a few techniques from it but they've all worked very well and very quickly.

There are books and DVDs on it available from Amazon, and you may also be able to find a trained local practitioner.  

I'm willing to consider quite a bit, at this point!

Which book do you have, there seem to be several editions on Amazon, do you just recommend the newest one?  I'll check them out, thanks!

 The one I have is called "Unlock Your Dog's Potential" by Sarah Fisher.  I checked and it doesn't specifically mention separation anxiety, but her website does and links it to overall tension, so doing the exercises to relieve tension (basically all of them are for that purpose) will ease the SA. 

I know you say you "can't" get up any earlier during the week, but I think you should try it for one week JUST to see what happens.  Getting up at 4 a.m. for a week surely will not kill you -- and you have a SO that you can swap days with so that one of you gets to sleep in until the normal time each day.

I'm just curious to know if an hour of HARD CORE exercise/running/fetch would have an effect.  If you maintained this routine for a week and saw a positive change maybe it would be worth it to you to go to bed a bit earlier in order to have time to properly exercise your dog in the a.m.

I know that doggy daycare is not a cheap option, but many people find that even just one or two days a week greatly helps their dog.  It might mean giving up a few dinners out or other entertainment, but it might possibly save you time & money from cleaning up what your dog destroys.

This surely must be a very frustrating situation for you.  I have nothing against discussing medical options with your vet, but I do feel it would be most successful combined with lots and lots of exercise.  Exercise you do with your dog in the evening has *zero* effect on his needs in the a.m. and throughout the day while you are gone.