Help! Separation anxiety and nothing works

[Sammi0912]

I have a 1 year old German Shepherd that suffers with terrible desperation anxiety. This makes him chew and wreck the house! I have tried filling kongs with lots of nice things and putting them in the freezer for him but he isn't interested in them at all. He is rarely left alone but when he is he so destructive! Any help would be fab.

Thanks
From a desperate GSD owner

How long are you leaving him for? When you first started leaving him, did you 'stage' it, so that it was 5 mins, 10 mins, half-hour, an hour, etc?

Does leaving a radio on in the background help?

just hopping on as i have a miniature dachshund the same however he pees all over.

To start with you can't leave him. Not at all. Then you need to identify the point at which he gets anxious. When you put on your shoes? Pick up your keys? Open the front door?
The trick is to start to leave (or leave) but not so much that he starts to get upset. That could be walk towards the door. Or even just stand up and sit down again. When he's happy with that you can move on a bit. But not so much he gets upset.
I won't lie. It's hard. But the trick is not to "flood" him and have him be scared. That reinforces that it's scary when you leave.
Adaptil and covering crate (if you use one) and radio and something that smells of you etc can help.

I would start back with the basics.

So start by leaving him for 5 minutes. Then 15. Then 20 etc. Lots of positive things for him when you're gone, even if he's not interested. Lots of praise when you're back. It may take months of leaving him for short periods at a time but baby steps are better than leaps which don't work!

I have a 6 month old gsd pup. We didn't leave her alone until she was 5 months. The most she's ever been left is 3 hours. She's rarely left alone but she's fine when it does happen.

I second recommending putting the radio on or tv for some background noise. With mine, even if she's already had her walks I will always take her out before leaving her as she just sleeps then so perhaps that's something worth doing, knackering him out.

I think this is a bit of a chicken and egg thing. You need to help get them used to being left for short periods, building it up. When I got my pup even if I didn't need to leave him I still did so every day to get him used to being left alone. I think if you hardly leave them alone then it's going to be a big thing for them if you haven't got them accustomed to it first.

Does your dog have a safe space? Have you tried for short periods initially? Do you walk him before you leave? Tried radio/kongs etc.

Agree with all of above, steady stages of training. You can also leave them with something of yours that smells of you like an old cardigan or jumper instead of food which they wont take if so distressed x

As other posters have said, it's a good idea to get your dog used to being left even if you don't actually need to go out. We have a mini poodle boy and this is one of the breeds that are known for a higher potential for separation anxiety. Note I say potential, as this doesn't mean they will develop it but leaving time has to be built up very gradually. With our boy, he hated the crate so we puppy-proofed the sitting room and he had the run of that and the hall and kitchen - we gave him a kong with peanut butter, dried sprats (the smell!!) and some of his wet food every time we left him and extended the time by 5 mins to start with every few days (starting with only 5 mins so he would still be attacking his kong when we came back). It did take a while for him to be ok with this and I found that this CD also helped a lot - when he heard the music start, he seemed to go into 'chill out' mode and once he was done with the kong, would go to sleep.
www.caninelullabies.com/
It does take time to establish a good leaving routine and as has already been said, you can try to find the triggers that make him anxious and work to desensitise him to those eg if he starts to stress when you pick up your keys, pick them up, walk around with them and then put them down again multiple times in the day. Good luck
!

Please don't leave a dog that has genuine separation anxiety for 5 minutes then 10!
Big pup would wet her bed, chew it, be drooling, heart pounding and panting. If I left her so I could go for a wee. It really is torture for her.
We built up second by second almost. Got her used to being able to see us across a stair gate. Wandered in and out the room.
This morning I walked her and gave her a treat in bed. Went to an exercise class at 9. She's still sleeping! It's doable. But slowly.

Thanks for all the advice. Like I say he is rarely left and the most he has ever been left is a couple of hours but this meant the house was trashed. He is left in the dining room/kitchen so doesn't have too much space as I've been told that doesn't help either. I will try building him up over shorter periods of time as we have done the 5 and 10 mins etc thanks for the tip about leaving some clothing with him, I will try this. I've tried a radio bit doesn't seem to help. I just hate the thought of him being so upset when we aren't here.

I literally started by walking out the room and back in. Build in tiny moments to start with when he IS left.
Eg. Mine is in a pen (she's too big for a crate) for naps and when we eat our dinner. The hints about a routine also helps. Mine gets treats in her bed before I leave her. Breakfast, time to digest it, walk, I make a coffee, she realises the time and gets in the pen to wait for her treat. She then sleeps nicely. But that took weeks!!

This is a really great resource with various methods you can try to help overcome separation anxiety, plus lots of further reading as well.

At this point leaving him for even the briefest of periods won't help if he's still becoming distressed just by you leaving him. The goal really needs to be very gradually working towards him being left without him becoming upset at any point. Once he has got upset then he's not going to be learning anything that will help him.

You have some great advice! When you start 're-training your dog, do it with his natural rhythm in mind. Walk - Food - Rest.
You will be more successful if you -for example- leave the room when your dog is resting. You can slowly build it from there.