please help with any advice at all you can, feeling completely desperate & not sure what else to do....
8 days ago we rehomed a boxer 10 month male from a boxer rescue. we've had 2 boxers before so are used to the breed, lost both to horrible sudden health issues & had all our hopes pinned on this little chap. we were totally honest with the rescue about the fact we work 3 days per week (work from home the rest). they assured us this dog was used to being left & well crate trained.
admittedly it could be the fact of being rehomed that has caused onset of the issue, but this pup certainly can't be left. not even for a minute. He shadows us all over the house. if left in a room alone he becomes very stressed and will try to escape. if a door is shut and he can't get out, he repeatedly throws himself against the door, scratches it, howls and barks. interestingly, he never ever barks except when alone. In a crate he is far far worse - completely frantic and the barking is constant with no let up.
Oddly, he does like the crate - has his meals in it and will happily trot in / lie down to sleep in it....so long as we are in the room too.
we took 10 days off to settle him in but have to go back to work Monday & I just can't see how we can cure him by then. we've spent the entire 10 days doing v slow build up conditioning....seconds out of the room, back in, tons of praise if He is calm, ignoring but not punishing if he barked / banged. The most we've been able to get to is 3 mins before all he'll breaks loose....and that's just going upstairs. Going out the door it's a matter of seconds. We've bought a thundershirt (doesn't seem to do anything), he gets left with a Kong, tried him both loose and in crate. He gets 3 walks per day - 2 short ones and a long one in the eve.
I don't know how the heck we can sort this.....even though I'm v willing to keep trying, the neighbours (we live in a semi) are highly likely to report us, and quite rightly so - his barking is loud and with no let up. I'm also obviously concerned about the level of stress he is experiencing. the most he needs to be left is 4 hours until the dog walker arrives to take him out for 3 hours. And that's only 3 times a week. but I currently can't see that ever happening.
another weird thing....when we get back, he's not over excited to see us, doesn't burst out of the crate or seem particularly distressed apart from some panting. Other than barking and trying to escape, he doesn't wee/poo, shake etc.
Any ideas at all? DH thinks we send him back to the rescue but that will mean giving up on dogs altogether as I'm not doing this again & our poor DCs have already lost 2 in a short space of time. We Love having a dog - our whole weekends are spent walking and my eldest son spends hours in the garden after school playing football with them so it would be a real shame.
please help if you can.
And really sorry for the terrible capitalisation / lack of all over this message, my phone and I are having a predictive text battle!