Separation Anxiety

I'm going through the same thing right now.  I hear you.  What I'm trying to do is make Marty as happy as possible (not crate him, so he can look out the windows and things).  I have him muzzled currently, but I'm going to try not muzzling him this weekend while I sneak out of the house and listen.

Do you have a crate?  Try feeding him in his crate and make it a wonderful place to be.  Crate him to eat and for brief periods while home so it is not a shock to be in the crate.

crating him is not really an option, as he does sleep in his crate, and he likes it, but if he is so anxious when left alone in a room, with his crate there, i cant see how leaving him in a much smaller place will help.. or am i mistkaen?

does a muzzle stop him from barking sara? i was thinking of those collars that spray a liquid? is it cruel?.. i know it still wont cure his problem..any one else have a suggestion please?

LOL its not cruel...Harley sleeps in his crate and whenever we leave he goes in his crate.  If he isn't under my chair he is in his crate.  I leave the door open when I am here and put him in at night or when I leave.
If he is in the crate he cannot tear your house apart.

If it's just barking, it isn't seperation anxiety. Lots of dogs bark non-stop when left alone. It's a distress signal ("hey, come back, you forgot me!") and it can also be boredom (many dogs find barking fun and interesting). Marlowe was barking and we got a neighbor complaint.

Our solution there was to actually un-crate him because he can be left in a dog-proofed space and be fine. But the reverse can also work, and our other dog, who really does have SA, will always be crated. Having a dog is all about creative problem solving and experimenting! We've actually tried Marlowe in several rooms of the house to try to find the one he's most comfortable in and least likely to get into stuff in, I set up a webcam to watch his behavior to see where his favorite spots were and how he spent his time and also to make sure that he wasn't barking anymore.
 
One thing we do for both dogs is right before we leave, we give them frozen kongs. This breaks their focus on us and distracts them from the fact that we're leaving and they're not coming with us. By the time they finish their Kongs, they're full and worn out and oh, look, no one's home. Okay. Zzzzzzz.

Most dogs prefer being in a crate once they get used to it, because it is cozy and "denlike". Both of my boys run right in whenever I am leaving the house. I put them in their, because I don't have to worry about anything being torn up when I get home.
 
Houndlove's suggestion of giving them something to do (ie frozen kong) is great too. There's another poster on this board who hides treats around the apartment, so his dogs can run around and find them after he leaves. Anything that will keep them occupied.

The muzzle does stop him from barking, but I'm not going to advocate the use of it.  He hates it, I hate doing it.  It's meant as a temporary, urgent fix to get me through this week, so I can spend more time this weekend figuring out what's going on with him.  If I didn't have three exams and a sinus infection this week, I would be working on it right now, but we're going to start trying to figure this out tomorrow after he gets microchipped.  I need to see if he either hates the crate or hates being left alone, and figuring out *why* he barks.

firestorm, i never said its cruel

anyway, tnx for the suggestions.. i have tried giving him a frozen kong but it didnt make much difference

i will try putting him in the crate.. he does actually like it but I very much doubt (knowing him) that putting him in an enclosed place will in any way help him.. doenst make much sense.. and yes , i know they like these kind of places.. but when i leave him in his room he does have his crate there and doenst use it.. so forcing him to use it will prolly not help

so basically.. i dunno i ll just try and think of something.. found an article on the net where u can start by just closing the door, then leaving him for 2mins , etc etc..

tnx for the help.. plz do post if u can think of more stuff, i ll try keep u updated.. will use the crate idea today, and kong tomorrow, and maybe kong+crate too

In order to stop the barking you have to realize that its a behavior thing right now.  So you need to try to change the behavior.  There are two different ways to do this, positive, and negative reinforcement.  For the positive:  try to get him into his crate and whenever hes in there and quiet, reward with a treat.  If he barks, put on the muzzle and say no.  Over time the dog will realize that barking results in a negative action, the muzzle.  Id also put him in a seperate room while you're at home to work on the training too.  If he barks, come into the room, say no, put on the muzzle.  If he can stay in the room and be quiet, then you go in and reward with a treat.  The key is to not let your dog see you when you leave the house.  So eventually he won't know if you're still in the house waiting with a muzzle in your hand or not.  Over time he'll realize that when in the crate and youre not there to be quiet.  The key is to be consistent.  First it s/b 5 minutes, then 10 min, then 20, and keep building up till you can be gone the whole day.  While this training is going on, apologize heavily to your neighbors and let them know that you're working hard on training.