How can I help my dogs deal with separation anxiety?

alb3rt · 09-28-2010, 05:07 AM

I have to go back to work and I will be in for 8 hours a day 5 days a week.

I've spent a lot of time with my dogs before and I am worried about separation anxiety with them. Every time I leave the house they just sit on the windowsill and give me guilty eyes. When I come back they still seem to be there.

Does anybody have any tips to help them deal with this?

And for all you people who say I shouldnt be leaving them so long. Well if I don't go to work I'm not able to pay my bills so sorry I'm not as rich and well off as you all.

My dogs are well cared for, have a loving home and get walked twice a day. Which is a lot more than some other peoples dogs do.

When ~I am home they get a lot of attention too.

Marylou Mader · 09-28-2010, 06:42 AM

Don't feel guilty, I'm sure more people work than not. One thing to remember is, QUALITY vs QUANTITY, you can be with your dog all day and not give it quality time, it sounds like you give good quality time, so your dogs will NOT know why you are gone, they will learn to accept the routine. Dogs do not have a sense of time. So they don't sit and get angry cause you left them alone, only people do that sort of thing.

Here are some ideas, don't make a big deal out of leaving in the morning. Go on like it's just part of the day, offer your dogs a kong or bone stuffed with peanut butter or liver sausage, the first 15 minutes you leave is the hardest on dogs, if you can keep them busy for that time, they will settle in and sleep the day away, like most dogs do.

I really get upset with doggy day cars, as they give the owner the relief of guilt, but then the owner feels the dog has had fun all day and doesn't need them. So, again, QUALITY vs QUANTITY

You may want to try a few test runs, set your dogs up, just take off and see what they do?

The reason they sit waiting, is they hear you coming long before you get to the door, they are just giving you those Boxer eyes, that do tend to make us all feel a bit guilty. Don't worry, you are not alone...

Doreen · 09-28-2010, 07:52 AM

You don't have to feel guilty to have to go to work, most people today do, it is rare for someone to be able to stay at home.

I am one of the lucky ones that do stay at home, as I am retired now, but I have a different kind of of a separation problem with my 2 dogs. They have been crated for a long time when I left the house, but I now leave them uncrated when I leave the house since I can trust them from destroying anything anymore that they are a bit older. But the problem lies when I take one dog (say to the vet) and leaving the one at home. So I've been taking trial runs for like 15 minutes at a time with one dog at a time. So maybe if you can do something on that order before you actually start to go back to work. Instead of leaving them for the full 8 hours right off the bat, try a few hours at a time, plus leaving them with the filled Kongs as Marylou suggested and increasing your time away, so they get used to you being away and not smacked with it all of a sudden, increasing your time to the 8 hours.

Erin251 · 09-28-2010, 01:42 PM

dont feel guilty about it, when you leave do they tear the place up? if not they probly dont have separation anxiety. something you can do to find out is leave, park a little ways down the road, then walk quietly back and just list for them to be crying, maybe even peek in the window, if they are fine then you have nothing to worry about, if they are crying and stuff. then when you leave dont even tell them bye, give them a kong with yummy stuff in it and lots of toys to keep them occupied. but if they dont have a problem with you leaving then dont make it a problem.

Ruby Red · 10-02-2010, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marylou Mader

I really get upset with doggy day cars, as they give the owner the relief of guilt, but then the owner feels the dog has had fun all day and doesn't need them. ...

Sorry don't quite understand what you are saying here - are you saying that you think it's better for your dogs to be stuck in a house for 8 hours all day by themselves rather than to be having fun all day for the simple reason that YOU think that YOUR dogs won't need you???? If you are that's a really warped way of looking at things, sorry to say.

I board dogs and whilst they do have a great time with me and my dogs they are ALWAYS HAPPY to see their owners and to go home with them - I have never had any issues with dogs not wanting to leave us or anything like that. If I had to work 8 hours a day I would WANT to know my dog was having fun somewhere and not sitting in an empty house staring at the walls. I'm sorry poster but 8 hours is too long to leave a dog on it's own. Sure you have to work - I get that, but at the very least orgainse a dog walker to come in and walk your dogs for an hour at lunch time just to alleviate their boredom. And as someone who boards dogs I HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOGGY DAYCARE - provided it is run and supervised properly.

VeronicaA · 11-09-2010, 09:52 AM

I would not feel guilty. You have to do what you have to do to provide for your family. I would try getting your dogs tons of bones and maybe a interactive dog toy or two. The Nina Ottosson Dog Pyramid is really great and a durable dog toy. Just put a bunch of treats inside it and the dogs will be entertained for awhile and keep their mind off the fact that you are gone. This is what I do with my two!

Dragon · 11-09-2010, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alb3rt

Every time I leave the house they just sit on the windowsill and give me guilty eyes. When I come back they still seem to be there.

Does anybody have any tips to help them deal with this?

.

They give you guilty eyes alll the time... even if your going out tot he garage for 10 seconds...

And I can't give you any tips on how to help them deal with it... Some tips to help you deal with it...

Leave on the radio.... Freeze a kong (or any toy really) with peanut putter in it.

Were not really big on toys at all. When we leave we put peaches in her kennel for even 8 hours.
We don't do it daily but when ever we do it we always give them a quality work out before.

One thing Brad Pattison has taught us is that if you walk in a strainght line on the same path day in day out you get bored... and so does your dog.

If you simply use natural obstacles like trees, posts, benches and weave in and around them. Change your direction, speed the dogs is more mentally challenged.

If you do this before you leave with your dogs they will likely sleep all day.

bruinsBoxers · 11-09-2010, 12:59 PM

Maybe getting up a little earlier to take them for a walk or play session . That way they will be a bit tired and not restless while you are gone .

TThe kong with frozen treats , a bone with penunt butter or any of the toys that make the dog work for a treat are all good things to occupy their time .