Males and separation anxiety?

[Gsdmama79]

Hi! Just curious if anyone can tell me if I should watch out for separation anxiety with a male? I a getting my boy this week and since I have heard they are so velcroey and really prefer to be with their human, I worry about this. Any ideas on how to make sure it never becomes an issue??

[Mary Beth]

Males are no more prone to separation anxiety as females. But it is a good idea to get your pup used to you being gone so that it does not become an issue. Start with leaving pup in his crate with a toy and leave the house or apt. for 20 minutes. Be real calm, just tell pup "be good" and leave. When you come back - calmly say hello and take pup outside to potty. As pup gets older - increase the time -again keeping everything calm.

[Bear GSD]

What Mary Beth said. My boy is a velcro GSD, but does not suffer from separation anxiety. In fact my last GSD was a female and she did suffer from separation anxiety for the first 18 months.

I have been able to have my current boy left uncrated from the time he was 6 months old because he was pretty reliable when left alone. Good luck with your pup

[Shade]

No my male GSD is glued to my hip but quiet and content in his crate while I'm gone. They get a cookie and a "love you" (yes I'm a sap) and they just go to sleep

[Courtney]

I agree there's no difference in male/female when it comes to seperation anxiety. Which by text definition is a pretty bad disorder for a dog to have. I have seen alot of members on the forum describe what they think is seperation anxiety but is not. Anyways...

When my boy was a pup he was put in his crate throughout the day on a random rotation when I was home. Not really for long periods of time but because I wanted him to accept down time and get use to his crate.

[Gsdmama79]

I rescued a white GSD and he had horrible separation anxiety. He could not be left alone as he would turn into a tornado and tear the house apart. Knocked pictures off walls, completely destroyed a heavy duty crate inside 10 min when we tried to confine him after the first episode, cleared counters, pulled clothes out of closets, completely chewed apart our bedroom doorknob trying to get in the room, the list goes on and on....

After that experience, I am terrified of having another one with issues like that. I am sure that it is because of his background, but still.

After that, I got a GSD female from a breeder as a pup. Totally different experience. She was great alone and actually liked her crate.

However, I had heard that males can be more susceptible to these kinds of issues due to their more....needy?....personalities.

Thanks so much for the input. I greatly appreciate it

[Kelserenity]

Hi I am in the same boat as you we have just got a nine month old GSD bitch whilst she is gorgeous we dont know her back ground, when we got her she had just got over mange and she is so thin, but our problem is the same she is repeatedly chewing the house to pieces, today i went home at lunch to a hole chewed in my sofa
My partner doesnt want to crate her as he thinks its cruel, but our house is getting wrecked in the meantime, we have a 12 year old gsd lab cross who is there all day with her and we leave the radio on and i'm home at lunch to walk her for the second time as i take her before i leave for work too

Please please help x

[Mary Beth]

Your 9 month GSD probably needs more exercise and also chew toys - she could just be bored. Your older dog probably naps a lot and isn't much company. I suggest you look into training classes in your area and also increase her exercise and play time. If you don't want to crate, just dog proof a room and per her crate - door open, one corner her food and water bowls, and her chew toys. If you do crate, you may want to look into the threads on crate games first and get her used to the crate gradually as that could increase any anxiety she may have.

[LoveOscar]

My last GSD, Charlie, had extreme separation anxiety. He dug through an exterior wall bay window. There was so much blood my husband thought he killed the cat. Had to be crated from then on until we got Judas (yellow lab). He was fine with Jude around. By himself, no he was not.

On the other hand, my new one, Oscar, has no problem being left alone. He probably whines and cries his heart out but he is not destructive and I do not crate him.

LO

Both GSDs were rescues.