Clingy dog!

[Marie12]

I have a 2 year old cocker spaniel who is very needy and can never get enough attention/love/fuss. She hates it when we go out without her. She barks, jumps up at the doors and gets really stressed out. When we get back her fur is always wet and she is panting for ages afterwards. What can I do with her?

Dog training might be an idea.

dogs, like children, can suffer from separation anxiety. One thing to try is to go out for short periods, don't make too much of a fuss of the dog, just say bye and walk out the door, stay away for about two minutes or so, then when you come back make a tremendous fuss of the dog, repeat this but stay away for longer and longer each time, gradually increasing the time spent away from 2 minutes, to 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, half an hour and so on. It's very important to make a huge fuss of your dog when you come back, but to not make too much fuss when you go out as this can stress the dog, but the making a fuss when you come back will just confirm to the dog that you'll always come back. This can take weeks to achieve, but if you stick at it, this can be a sure way to achieve results. good luck.

tbh i wouldn't make a fuss of the dog on leaving and returning.
She needs to be able to live without you and making a fuss of her on your return will reinforce that you are the most amazing thing and she needs you alot.
I would give her something fantastic toywise as you leave, there are some toys that have treats in that the dog has to "work" for that may keep her occupied.
Agree with wannabe too that just keep coming in and out at varying lengths of time and just don't mae a stack of fuss of her at all for a while. She just needs to learn that you can just rub along and she doesn't need you too much.

When she is more confident you can start making more of a fuss of her, but be aware of how she reacts to this..
hth a bit

most behaviorists will advise to make a fus of a dog when you return to the house, it reenforces that you will always come back. agree re the food balls though.

hmmmm i am interested in when that advice has changed then...
we did a small behaviour component in my training at vet school about 15 yrs ago.
i went to the states around that time and spent soem time with 2 behaviourists there.
their advice was to just be as laid back as poss with the dog and get him/her used to being independant from you.

Maybe advice has changed more recnelty, must admit i am more ineterested in trauma and anaesthesia nowadays.
are you an animal behavourist wannabe? not trying to be contraversial and argue on your thread, marie12, just interested now

i've found a couple of links for you anyway..they seem to be recent

\link{http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/applied-ethology/behaviourproblems/anxiety.html\link1}

\link{http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/our_pets_for_life_program/dog_behavior_tip_sheets/separation_anxiety.html\link2}

\link{http://www.rspca-westhatch.co.uk/SeparationAnxiety.htm\link3}

HTH

I have to agree with oops here - by not making a fuss the dog should realise that being apart is no big deal to you and will reinforce that there is nothing to worry about. Making a fuss of a dog is seen as a reward, I would be very wary of rewarding a dog for exhibiting symptoms of seperation anxiety.

thanks for all your advice - will give your ideas a go!

That first link, the picture could have been our dog.

We have been given a referal from our vets to a behaviour therapist.
Our dog was beyond anything we could do for him. Sad really.

thanks especially to oops, those links were really helpful!

Our dog suffered from quite acute separation anxiety. We now completely ignore her from about 15 minutes before we leave the house. This means she's not getting loads of affection one minute, then has to go cold turkey the minute we leave.

We also leave radio 4 on quietly so that the house isn't suddenly completely silent.

A real break-through was the stuffed ball (Kong do good ones). Stuff lots of treats as far in as you can get them: it's basically occupational therapy, and relaxes them. Make sure you also leave something to chew like a nylabone, as this is also relaxing.

When we return, we absolutely always completely ignore her until she has been calm and composed for at least 5 minutes. This is a basic dominance trick, and lets the dog know they can relax. Dogs get worried when you go out if they think they are the pack leader. They can't take care of you when you're out of their sight, so they get stressed.

Our dog is now happy to be left for 4 or 5 hours.

HIGHLY reccommended reading: THE DOG LISTENER by Jan Fennell.

Hope some of this helps.

Thanks -will try it!