Seperation Anxiety?

[HuskyCouture]

so Embry has started these separation problems after about 3 months old. I can't leave him alone EVER without him freaking out, unless he's reallly tired which is why i bring him to the dog park everyday before i go to work so it'll be easier. my dog trainer told me it was my fault because i get excited when i start to leave? which is not true, i've stopped making eye contact with him about 10 minutes before i leave since apparently that helps, which is doesn't. i can't even go to the bathroom/take a shower without him laying on the bathroom floor while i do so. It's getting kind of ridiculous. My trainer also told me to buy him a few toys, preferably kong toys, which i did and it only works for about a minute. Once I leave he starts to dig up the carpet, which he completely ruined (and we rent ) and he howls for hours. has anyone else had problems like this with their huskies, what did you do to stop the behavior?

[Mazz]

I guess we have been pretty fortunate with Zoya. She has not been a problem for us in this area. We have a 5 x 10 kennel off the laundry room that she goes into when we have to leave. We simply say "kennel" and she goes downstairs, enters the kennel, and sits. We keep toys in there for her (nothing she could tear up or choke on) and we give her a kong filled with PB, then close the gate.

Our son moved back home about a year ago, and his Aussie, Koda, and Zoya are best buds. Having two dogs, seems to take the edge off. They play off each other and they keep each other occupied. Don't know if your situation would work to have a second dog. If so, you might want to look into that as an option.

Is Embry crate trained? Often times, when they are crate trained, they find solice when they are in their crates. It's their private space. You have to be sure not to use the crate for punishment though, because doing so defeats the benefits.

[HuskyCouture]

i wanted to get two puppies when we got Embry but my boyfriend didn't think we were ready for another, i'm going to try and convince him that we should get another after embrys a little older

I tried crate training Embry when we first got him, but he is TERRIFIED of going into the kennel, and he starts biting on the bars, and I don't want him to hurt himself and me not be home to help him so I gave up on it. I even tried like putting treats in the kennel to lure him in, but he won't get his whole body in there

[Mazz]

Well, I don't blame you on that one. As you probably are aware, most of the members are in the UK. Middle of the night there right now. Tomorrow by this time, you'll probably have some better recommendations and other options you can try. Like I said, I've not had this problem with Zoya, so I'm no expert by any means on this issue.

[HuskyCouture]

yeah hah. thank you for the suggestions though:)

[SiberHusky97]

You have to teach your pup that it's ok to be alone for short periods of time. Separation anxiety (I think) happens when you spend too much time with the dog, and the dog doesn't ever get to be alone and have his own time.

They kinda get used to that, and don't want to be without their people. Can't blame them though, as people are the same way if you think about it (think of a stay-at-home mom that takes her kids for the first time to a daycare)

The best way to teach your husky that it's ok to have alone time, is to crate train him. Dogs love to have their own private quiet little space, but of course, a crate does not appear very inviting at first. What I like to do to make crates more comfortable is to cover them up with old bedsheets (gives the doggies privacy) and put a comfy blanket or old pillows on the crate floor. I wouldn't recommend a floor cover if your pup was still being house trained, but this is a different topic.

Anyway, so you've made the crate more comfortable, now it's time to teach your dog to fall in love with it. Start with the crate in an area where you would sit during the day normally (say livingroom) From now on, start feeding Embry only in his crate. Maybe start by putting the bowl at the entrance of the crate (leave the door open) so he can just stick his head in there and eat. After a few days of doing that, put the bowl a little further in, until you can put it all the way inside and Embry gladly walks in to eat.

Always leave the door open at first when you do this. When Embry can eat comfortably in the crate and doesn't seem stressed out about it, start closing the door for very brief moments. Progressively increase the time you keep it closed. say you start with 10 seconds, 30 s, 1min, 3min, etc...

Hopefully after a while he can eat a whole meal in there with the door closed and he won't mind it. If you feed him treats that take a while to eat, like bones, stuffed kongs, etc. make sure you only give those to him when he's in the crate, that way he'll learn to associate the crate with good things. When he's comfortable with that, maybe put him in there while you watch a TV show or something.. and he can still see you etc.. then maybe you can put him in there and walk out of the room for a few seconds, then come back and let him out..

This is just an idea of what you could do to get him to accept the crate as a fun place. No dog would like it if you just shoved him in there and he had no idea what it was, but it's very possible to get him to like it. My husky used to hate the crate (in fact he chewed a hole through the metal bars at the previous owners that had him) but now he goes in there constantly to take naps whenever he feels like it (we keep the door open)

With Embry liking his crate, it will be possible for you to put him in there sometimes during the day, just so he can be alone and not constantly following you around..Hopefully that will help his anxiety problems. (you can also use some plain benadryl to take off the edge but it doesn't work for all dogs)

[valkyries]

When i got Odin as a pup 8weeks old he was never ever alone for the first year, we had lodgers so there was always someone home.

When my lodgers moved to the states this ment Odin had to be left for the first time ever.

As with Embry, Odin hated the crate he never got used to it, so we gave that up he as never chewed any thing so was pritty safe, any way for 6 month he would cry when left alone, he's never been a very vocal dog so no howling or barking and no damage to the house, but he cried and started to look so sad when he knew we were getting ready to go work.

I found this upsetting to leave him, we sorted out our shifts at work so one of us could be home, but this was not always possible.

In the end we did get him a playmate a rehome Loki, once she arrived Odin was the happy go lucky babe he used to be.

lol we ended up with a 3rd Thor another rehome and we have no problem leaving them now, they just don't care now they have each other.

pluss none of them are crated, we folded up the crates and put them away to be used for camping.

yes we are very lucky in the fact they do no damage, they sleep and play. getting playmates was the best thing we ever did, but this is not always possible for some people.

I wish you luck and hope you find away to help Embry through this xxxxxx

[jayt]

I'm watching this thread closely. We're having some problems with separation anxiety as well though my pup is only 3 months.

[Sarah]

my boy Kimba was terrible for the first few months that we had him - as soon as we brought Kaiser home though all the crying stopped, he's a lot more independent now

[Rachael]

We found getting a playmate helped loads. Chloe hated being left alone in the house, whether in the crate or not and would cry and howl the whole time we were out. We also don't have very understanding neighbours, and they were going crazy over the noise. We got Holly and now we can leave them both alone and they just either play or sleep. They don't chew anything other than the training mats or kitchen roll if we leave it somewhere they can get to it

[valkyries]

Odin was alot better when we got play mates for him, best thing i ever did for him xxxx

[carla84]

Getting a second dog was the best thing I ever did. Lola hated been alone, and destroyed things. Once I got a second dog she has became a completly different dog. She has lost all her bad habits she use to nip at peoples hands when they pat her because she was always so excited. Having a second dog has calmed her down a lot no more howling or crying. The two of them are so happy together and cant be seperated or the anxiety kicks in !

[shanetez1]

lol embry sounds like me but the other way round i crave my dogs attention instead get a friend for embry you know you want too

[HuskyCouture]

hahah the breeder i got embry from, his mom just had a litter of pups and they're reduced down to $300 and I want to take one home so bad, but my boyfriend won't let me

[krzykal]

When we had phoenix he was a nightmare for first few months hated being on his own at one point i couldnt go out the room to bathroom but it did get easier, i did my best to ignore his crying etc we have a older dog but he used to play for a while with phoenix then toddle off to bed lol so we decided he needed a friend who could play at same level as him , but we was going to wait until he was older as i worried about having the experience etc to have 2 huskies hmmm we now have 5 so be warned they are addictive