Might have to give up Gunner - Owner keeping him

[GunnersMom]

Originally Posted by Kayla's Dad

Deni, MRL was not speaking to the issue of barking or your vast improvement dealing with it. She was just commenting specifically on your post (#114) dealing with being scared of using the Kong which she quoted at the beginning of your thread.

I appreciate the input (and the link!) but it doesn't make sense to me.
She said "His tongue will NOT get stuck in a kong. So that should not be your excuse."
Excuse for what - not buying a Kong? Doesn't make any sense.

But honestly, a little attitude isn't going to dampen my spirits. I've gotten a lot of help and have been given a lot of great advice by many people here. It's made a world of difference for Gunner and I couldn't be more grateful for that.

[GunnersMom]

Originally Posted by godiva13

I have not read all the responses but have you tried when you are home not always having him in the same room as you . getting him used to being away from you and not always with you.
dogs with separation anxiety usully want to be next you but should learn to be away form you also,
try putting him in another room maybe even with a baby gate at first so he can see you and then with the door shut. use the procedure you use when leaving the house. give him something to chew. make it a good thing when you leave him alone. pick up the chew thing when you let him out of the room. he will start to associate you leaving with the chew thing.
Also dont always pet him when he comes over to you. you decide when you pet him and dont let him push your hand to pet him.
these things to try tend to make dogs a little more independent which is what dogs with separation anxiety need.
i have a dog that had bad separation anxiety when left alone. ;ate through closet doors and couches. he now can be left alone and nerver destroys anything .i did use a creat with this dog and it helped him.
hope this helps

Thanks for the advice.
Yeah, I've been throwing things like this into the mix, as well. He will go off into another room and take a snooze by himself, but up until now, whether he's with me or not has been his choice, not mine. I'd like to teach him that being right next to me isn't an option that's always available to him.
I've started putting a baby gate up when I go in the other room to work for a while. I've also started closing the bathroom door when I take my shower. I figured that he doesn't need to be laying right next to the tub and it might be a good opportunity to teach him something. (Of course he lays right outside the door - lol - but at least there's a barrier and he's being shown that he can't be at my side 24/7.)

I've started having mom take him out at night, too, instead of me doing it all the time. Don't know how much it'll help, but it can't hurt to show him that he doesn't need to depend on me for everything.

The combination of everything we've been doing is really starting to pay off.

[GSDSunshine]

Just thought of you and gunner today. How is the main man doing?

[Karin]

I did too.... I hope all is going well and that Gunner is learning how to be an apartment dog. Thank you for working so hard with him!

[dogmama]

I swear by Busy Buddy Twist & Treats. Here is the URL - you need to scroll down about halfway to get to the Twist & Treats. https://www.premier.com/store/Produc...x?cid=3&pid=34

I stuff them with canned dog food, tuna, salmon, etc. put them in baggies (to control the leakage) and FREEZE THEM. It takes awhile for Zack to work his way through them but somehow he manages to lick them clean. You can control the amount of space available for tongues by twisting it down part way or most of the way down.

Also works great for teething puppies. The frozen toy really makes them feel better.

[GunnersMom]

Thanks for moving this thread. Yes, I think we're officially out of the "might have to give him up" section!

It's going pretty well. We had a couple pretty big setbacks last weekend when we left him alone for a couple hours. When mom and I took Riley for his walk, Gunner bent the blinds up again (I'd had a storage ottoman sitting on top of a cedar chest to block his access to the window - he knocked down the storage ottoman to get to it!) and we heard him bark a couple times as we were coming back. He couldn't have been at it for too long, though, because we didn't hear any complaints. Then, when we went to the store, he'd clawed the **** out of the area rugs that I had down to protect the carpet seam and almost had the baby gate knocked completely down by the time we got home.
That was pretty discouraging. He also lunged at a couple other dogs when I had him out - two different occasions - so that was a completely NEW wrinkle. (Think I have that figured out, though. Will post about it in the appropriate section.)

But now this past weekend, he was an angel again. We decided that mom would stay home with Gunner while I took Riley for his walk. We thought that maybe it was just too much for him, still -- getting worked up when we leave to walk Riley, then getting worked up again when we left a little while later to go shopping. That seemed to help. Seemed to keep him a little calmer. I also started taking Gunner second, instead of taking him first like I'd been doing. I've tried to wear his butt out as best I can right before we leave him alone and I think it's taking just enough of the edge off. I ordered a backpack for him, to burn more energy than I'm able to do just by going for a real brisk walk, so that should help a bit, too.

I also decided to leave the blinds open for him. I told mom that he obviously wants to look out the window (that's why he's trying to move the blinds) so the obvious solution is to let him.

Talked to our vet. We took him off the Clomipramine because it wasn't doing anything, anyway. She doesn't want to try anything stronger just yet and neither do I. The backpack was actually her suggestion. She also suggested one of those DAP plug-in thingies, so we have one of those going now. She suggested putting one of my t-shirts on him when he's left alone, too, though I haven't tried that yet. She said to keep doing everything we've been doing and eventually we'll get there. She agreed with me that rehoming him is not an option. She said that seeing him with me is enough to convince her that he'd never recover.
So we just have to hang in there, deal with the setbacks when they happen and keep working on it. All in all, I think we're making really good progress. We haven't seen the neighbor lady who complained about him. I don't know if she's out of town, or what. (Haven't seen any moving vans, though, so we're not that lucky yet! lol.)

(Sorry for the longwinded update!)

[GunnersMom]

Thought I'd come back to this and post another update.

I'm thrilled to say that things are going well and Gunner is doing much, much better! We haven't "cured" his separation anxiety - not by a longshot - but it's improved drastically, to the point where it's completely manageable.

He still has some not-so-good days, where he fusses and whines a lot when we're getting ready to leave, but he doesn't start the frantic barking anymore and you can't hear his whining outside of our unit, so no one is going to complain about it.
On the weekends now, when we both leave to do the shopping or whatever and he and Riley are left at home, he's fine. I increased his exercise even more and I think that takes just enough of the edge off to keep him fairly calm. I started making his mind work while we're burning off the energy, too. I take Riley for a walk first, then take Gunner out and let him "track" Riley. That seems to do more for him than just a fast walk, alone, and he seems to enjoy having a job to do.

He's still not wild about it when I take Riley for a walk and he's left home all by himself, but even that situation has improved drastically. He'll fuss when we leave and he'll bark a couple times when he hears the back door close, but that's it. Just a couple barks and then he's quiet. No more tearing up the carpet, no more clawing at the blinds, the door... nothing. I reached a point when we were practicing it so many times everyday that I wanted to take the back door out and just put in a revolving one! But it was SO worth it.
Today he was a little more fussy than he has been, when I was taking Riley out. Well, a couple of the maintenence guys were fixing our garage door - it's an attached garage and you can hear him out there if he starts barking. When I came back, I asked them if they'd heard Gunner barking while I was gone. They didn't hear a thing! And that was after he'd been a little fussier than normal, so... yay!

Haven't seen hide nor hair of the woman who complained about him. I'm thinking she's either been out of town for quite a while, or she moved out. (I'm kinda hoping for the latter. Don't like her.)

I really don't know what's "done it" for him. I think it's just a combination of everything. I know his mind is getting more of a workout since we've been here, just from seeing different people all the time and seeing new dogs. There's always new things, new smells, etc., every time we go out. I think that has helped. And I think all the repetition (and not letting him get so worked up before I leave) has finally gotten it through his head that I can leave, it's okay, and I always come back. I also think it's just a matter of him having the time to completely settle in here now and feel comfortable.
It's been a confidence booster for me, too. I thought that dealing with SA was a little beyond my training capabilities. Really didn't think I could pull it off, but now I know that whatever he throws at me, I can handle it. I think that's been part of his improvement, too. I'm calm when I leave now because I fully expect him to be good. Not like before, where I'd ACT calm, but was thinking "Oh god... what is he going to do while I'm gone?" I know he feels that and it's probably built his confidence, too.

I just couldn't be more proud of him. He's come so far in a relatively short amount of time. It hasn't been easy, but we're getting there!