Serious Separation Anxiety

[o-o_TeaThyme_o-o]

Sooo apparently my boy has separation anxiety. For those unaware, I adopted a greyhound named Captain this past Sunday. Yesterday I left him alone for two hours in his crate and he destroyed the bottom plastic pan (I'm getting a horse stall mat and cutting it to size, so that shouldn't be a problem anymore). But today I had to leave him all day, broken up by my housemates occasionally letting him out. So one of them let him out at lunch and put him back, and 20-30 minutes later my other housemate came back and found him loose in my room. She took him out and then put him back, thinking maybe the door just wasn't shut right, but apparently this time he got out and did some damage to the room. He bit the blinds, knocked over a ton of s**t (thankfully not the snake tank..), and chewed the door handle enough to where he locked himself in the room. I had to call maintenance to open the door because I didn't have a key (don't ask me why, hopefully that'll be fixed too).

Oh also this happened on my first day of vet school orientation so I had been trapped in a lecture hall from 8am-5pm. This was maybe not what I needed to come home to.

Anyway, I ran out to get locks for the crate, thinking if I just locked the door he would at least stay in, which would be a temporary fix since I have to be gone a good portion of tomorrow as well. Meanwhile, my housemate and I put him in with heavy objects in front of the door to at least keep him in temporarily while I was gone for maybe 20 minutes. I come home and he is still in the crate, but he's actually bent up the bottom portion, I assume by pulling on it with his teeth...Which is just great for his mouth, I'm sure.

I am unbelievably worried that he's going to seriously hurt himself. I'm terrified I'll come home to a broken leg or multiple broken teeth or ******** up claws or anything, really. I'm just thankful he doesn't seem to be interested in actually eating anything, just biting it. I don't have a ton of time right now because vet school starts next week, but I plan on working with him this weekend. He is not food motivated...Like, at all. He takes treats but doesn't seek them out, and has no interest in peanut butter or treats in his kong toy. Does anyone have any suggestions? So far all I have planned is to put him in his crate, leave him alone until he calms down for at least 3 minutes, then let him out with no fuss when he is calm. Then I'll just extend that time frame of required calm, I guess. But I'm unsure of how to reward him when he goes in his crate considering he won't take treats once inside.

Thank you! I hope someone can help me...I'm about to have a nervous breakdown over this.

[Krissim Klaw]

I don't like to jump to medication, but when a dog is so stressed it will do things that can hurt itself trying to escape, then I think it is probably warranted. Unfortunately the ideal situation would be to slowly desensitize him to you leaving, starting out with super short away times and slowly amping it up. Since you need to be able to leave long stretches now, however you don't have the luxury of staying under threshold until the problem is fixed.

[o-o_TeaThyme_o-o]

Krissim Klaw

I don't like to jump to medication, but when a dog is so stressed it will do things that can hurt itself trying to escape, then I think it is probably warranted. Unfortunately the ideal situation would be to slowly desensitize him to you leaving, starting out with super short away times and slowly amping it up. Since you need to be able to leave long stretches now, however you don't have the luxury of staying under threshold until the problem is fixed.

My hesitation with medication is that he would be on this for a long time, which would be harsh on his system, especially if he requires a high dose to have any effect. I mean, I'm gone five days a week for long periods of time. My housemate usually comes home at lunch time and can let him out then, but then he'd be left alone until 4 or later again.

I did remember that I have his muzzle (the adoption agency gave it to me, and suggested using it in the crate), so I'm going to use that for now to at least save his teeth.

[Krissim Klaw]

o-o_TeaThyme_o-o

My hesitation with medication is that he would be on this for a long time, which would be harsh on his system, especially if he requires a high dose to have any effect. I mean, I'm gone five days a week for long periods of time. My housemate usually comes home at lunch time and can let him out then, but then he'd be left alone until 4 or later again.

I did remember that I have his muzzle (the adoption agency gave it to me, and suggested using it in the crate), so I'm going to use that for now to at least save his teeth.

Leaving a dog muzzled while crated unattended would worry me. There would be a potential of him getting hung up on the crate and injuring himself that way.

[o-o_TeaThyme_o-o]

Krissim Klaw

o-o_TeaThyme_o-o

My hesitation with medication is that he would be on this for a long time, which would be harsh on his system, especially if he requires a high dose to have any effect. I mean, I'm gone five days a week for long periods of time. My housemate usually comes home at lunch time and can let him out then, but then he'd be left alone until 4 or later again.

I did remember that I have his muzzle (the adoption agency gave it to me, and suggested using it in the crate), so I'm going to use that for now to at least save his teeth.

Leaving a dog muzzled while crated unattended would worry me. There would be a potential of him getting hung up on the crate and injuring himself that way.

Greyhounds are commonly left with muzzles on in crates. Honestly I would think he'd slip it off before getting hung up, considering how it's made.

[Krissim Klaw]

o-o_TeaThyme_o-o

I just really don't like leaving dogs with something on them because hangups do happen. A lot of people leave collars on all the time too, and I don't do that either. The risk to injury without may very well be worth the additional risk of having a muzzle on in this case, but I would still worry over it.

I'm going to assume we are talking about a basket muzzle here so your dog will still be able to pant, drink, ect while you are gone.

[o-o_TeaThyme_o-o]

Krissim Klaw

o-o_TeaThyme_o-o

Krissim Klaw

o-o_TeaThyme_o-o

My hesitation with medication is that he would be on this for a long time, which would be harsh on his system, especially if he requires a high dose to have any effect. I mean, I'm gone five days a week for long periods of time. My housemate usually comes home at lunch time and can let him out then, but then he'd be left alone until 4 or later again.

I did remember that I have his muzzle (the adoption agency gave it to me, and suggested using it in the crate), so I'm going to use that for now to at least save his teeth.

Leaving a dog muzzled while crated unattended would worry me. There would be a potential of him getting hung up on the crate and injuring himself that way.

Greyhounds are commonly left with muzzles on in crates. Honestly I would think he'd slip it off before getting hung up, considering how it's made.

I just really don't like leaving dogs with something on them because hangups do happen. A lot of people leave collars on all the time too, and I don't do that either. The risk to injury without may very well be worth the additional risk of having a muzzle on. I'm going to assume we are talking about a basket muzzle here so your dog will still be able to pant, drink, ect while you are gone.

Ah well I leave his collar on as well, so I guess we differ there. And yes, this is a basket muzzle.

[Krissim Klaw]

o-o_TeaThyme_o-o

Ah well I leave his collar on as well, so I guess we differ there. And yes, this is a basket muzzle.

Yah, too many horror stories of dogs strangling themselves with collars for it to be worth it in my opinion. If I felt my dog was a great enough flight risk to need to wear one all the time I would go with a breakaway.

[Ailinea]

Out of curiosity, is this a former racing greyhound you rescued?

I ask because not only are greyhounds high energy dogs, racing greyhounds are even more so. It may not have been the best idea to adopt a high-energy dog right before you start a strict 8-5 schedule while leaving him in a strange house with nothing to do for the better part of a day.

Do you exercise greatly him before leaving? After coming home?

I think either A) medication is warranted, but you're right, that's a quick fix that shouldn't be long-term; B ) hire a trained dog behaviorist to help desensitize the anxiety; or C) call the adoption agency and ask if they'll take him back and someone else who has the time and energy to devote to this dog off the bat can do so. And be sure to tell them the problems you encountered.

Either way, I wish you the best of luck.

[Latrans]

Ailinea

I ask because not only are greyhounds high energy dogs, racing greyhounds are even more so. It may not have been the best idea to adopt a high-energy dog right before you start a strict 8-5 schedule while leaving him in a strange house with nothing to do for the better part of a day.

Is that the normal advice? I've often seen them advised for people that work long hours but can otherwise provide time for the pet because they're often already accustomed to living in a crate much of the time.

[Ailinea]

Latrans

Ailinea

I ask because not only are greyhounds high energy dogs, racing greyhounds are even more so. It may not have been the best idea to adopt a high-energy dog right before you start a strict 8-5 schedule while leaving him in a strange house with nothing to do for the better part of a day.

Is that the normal advice? I've often seen them advised for people that work long hours but can otherwise provide time for the pet because they're often already accustomed to living in a crate much of the time.

This is true, but not always the case; I suppose in my experience with friends with greyhounds and working in a kennel that this is what I'm used to. Crazy high energy dogs lol. Not all, but most.

[o-o_TeaThyme_o-o]

Ailinea

Out of curiosity, is this a former racing greyhound you rescued?

I ask because not only are greyhounds high energy dogs, racing greyhounds are even more so. It may not have been the best idea to adopt a high-energy dog right before you start a strict 8-5 schedule while leaving him in a strange house with nothing to do for the better part of a day.

Do you exercise greatly him before leaving? After coming home?

I think either A) medication is warranted, but you're right, that's a quick fix that shouldn't be long-term; B ) hire a trained dog behaviorist to help desensitize the anxiety or C) call the adoption agency and ask if they'll take him back and someone else who has the time and energy to devote to this dog off the bat can do so. And be sure to tell them the problems you encountered.

Hi, not sure if you meant to come off as rude or not here but I did my research and discussed my lifestyle with the adoption agency before even considering adoption. They have policies regarding adoption and would not have adopted this dog to me if they did not think my lifestyle was suitable for a greyhound. I really have no idea where you get that greyhounds are high energy dogs...? They are ridiculous couch potatoes. At most they like a short run once in a while, with good walks in the meantime. This is observed even in kennel/track life. I take him on long walks in the evenings, and he displays no destructive tendencies or other misbehaviors other than when left completely alone, which is a symptom of separation anxiety due to greyhounds tending to rely very strongly on a human presence. In track/kennel life they are only let out briefly each day and they live for contact from their trainer/kennel worker, who has to get through a whole string of dogs before reaching them. When entering a home environment it is very common for these dogs to display symptoms of separation anxiety, as they are not used to so much one-on-one contact from a person and become very dependent animals.

Thanks for attempting to advise me I guess, but I'm not sure you're actually familiar with greyhounds as pets. Also, I'm not leaving him from 8 to 5. My housemate usually makes it home at lunch and lets him out at that point.

Also, today I left him in a crate with the other two dogs in the house in the same room (also in crates), with his muzzle on and the cage locked, and when I returned he was completely fine. Now he is passed out on the bed.

[o-o_TeaThyme_o-o]

I would also like to note that Captain is an extremely calm dog, very low-energy. He gets exhausted just from long walks in the evenings and sleeps soundly most of the day and all through the night. He shows very little interest in playing, even with the two other rambunctious dogs (a pit bull and a border collie mix) in the house, and at most he'll play for a few minutes before wandering off to lie down again.

[Ailinea]

o-o_TeaThyme_o-o

Hi, not sure if you meant to come off as rude or not here but I did my research and discussed my lifestyle with the adoption agency before even considering adoption. They have policies regarding adoption and would not have adopted this dog to me if they did not think my lifestyle was suitable for a greyhound. I really have no idea where you get that greyhounds are high energy dogs...? They are ridiculous couch potatoes. At most they like a short run once in a while, with good walks in the meantime. This is observed even in kennel/track life. I take him on long walks in the evenings, and he displays no destructive tendencies or other misbehaviors other than when left completely alone, which is a symptom of separation anxiety due to greyhounds tending to rely very strongly on a human presence. In track/kennel life they are only let out briefly each day and they live for contact from their trainer/kennel worker, who has to get through a whole string of dogs before reaching them. When entering a home environment it is very common for these dogs to display symptoms of separation anxiety, as they are not used to so much one-on-one contact from a person and become very dependent animals.

Thanks for attempting to advise me I guess, but I'm not sure you're actually familiar with greyhounds as pets. Also, I'm not leaving him from 8 to 5. My housemate usually makes it home at lunch and lets him out at that point.

Also, today I left him in a crate with the other two dogs in the house in the same room (also in crates), with his muzzle on and the cage locked, and when I returned he was completely fine. Now he is passed out on the bed.

No, I wasn't trying to come off rude, my apologies.

I guess I misspoke. My experience with greyhounds is outside of the home in a kennel environment and this is what I'm used to. I'm glad you did your research, because apparently I did not. Not afraid to admit when I'm wrong lol.

Glad it worked out today. I hope it continues to get better go onward. biggrin

[o-o_TeaThyme_o-o]

Ailinea

o-o_TeaThyme_o-o

Hi, not sure if you meant to come off as rude or not here but I did my research and discussed my lifestyle with the adoption agency before even considering adoption. They have policies regarding adoption and would not have adopted this dog to me if they did not think my lifestyle was suitable for a greyhound. I really have no idea where you get that greyhounds are high energy dogs...? They are ridiculous couch potatoes. At most they like a short run once in a while, with good walks in the meantime. This is observed even in kennel/track life. I take him on long walks in the evenings, and he displays no destructive tendencies or other misbehaviors other than when left completely alone, which is a symptom of separation anxiety due to greyhounds tending to rely very strongly on a human presence. In track/kennel life they are only let out briefly each day and they live for contact from their trainer/kennel worker, who has to get through a whole string of dogs before reaching them. When entering a home environment it is very common for these dogs to display symptoms of separation anxiety, as they are not used to so much one-on-one contact from a person and become very dependent animals.

Thanks for attempting to advise me I guess, but I'm not sure you're actually familiar with greyhounds as pets. Also, I'm not leaving him from 8 to 5. My housemate usually makes it home at lunch and lets him out at that point.

Also, today I left him in a crate with the other two dogs in the house in the same room (also in crates), with his muzzle on and the cage locked, and when I returned he was completely fine. Now he is passed out on the bed.

No, I wasn't trying to come off rude, my apologies.

I guess I misspoke. My experience with greyhounds is outside of the home in a kennel environment and this is what I'm used to. I'm glad you did your research, because apparently I did not. Not afraid to admit when I'm wrong lol.

Glad it worked out today. I hope it continues to get better go onward. biggrin

Thank you! smile I'm hopeful for the future with him now, and I will definitely be working on correcting this behavior tomorrow and Sunday. Hopefully with that and this new technique we can get to a good place.