He should adjust in time to losing his companion. However long that takes is questionable though and he will continue to be angry and feel neglected and reflect that anger with destruction just out of loneliness. It may improve with time and may not. You have to ask yourself is this fair for your dog? I would spend nearly all my time with him when I was home taking walks, etc. and if you can't do more than 2 hrs. it may be best to find a better home for him where he has a better environment. If his new home is a better place where there is a yard to run, and owners that can spend more time with him he will gradually accept the new home and owners. I know that is hard but may be the best. When your living situation improves you may think about owning another dog.
Other than that, working 2 jobs leaves the dog alone too much to be fair so you need to get someone…the same person all the time... over to your apartment to spend time with him if you don't want to give him up. He can bond to that person and that will help the loneliness somewhat. If you decided to give him up, the new owners could come over frequently for walks and visits before you gave the dog to them so that the dog would consider them friends before adoption, that would help the dog transition. I would not give that dog to an inexperienced owner though. That could end in disaster. It will do the same things with the new owner although it should get over the transition quicker because it will be in a better environment. Also, was your husband the dog's leader? You now have to be a positive leader for him because it sounds like he lacks leadership.
Sleep issues
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Yes, I'm sure Buster would LOVE to sleep on the sofa. I just don't trust him yet. Once when we were getting ready to go to bed, he had fallen asleep on the sofa right beside me. I picked him up to put him in his crate and he made a sound like a lamb bleating! It was so funny.
Last night he voluntarily went into the crate and snuggled down. The other dog (13 years old, totally trustworthy terrier mix) was asleep on his pillow. So I thought, ok, I got up and shut the door to the crate. He immediately started whining and rattling the crate.
The problem is, when our other dog Chewie is asleep, Buster plops down on Chewie's pillow and poor Chewie gets up and finds a spot on the floor. Chewie is not a snuggler. He doesn't want anybody bugging him. So now I have dogs all over the floor and a flashlight is required to go to the bathroom during the night! :eek:
The other thing is, if he's not in the crate, he'll be roaming the bedroom and jumping up on our bed. I may try leaving the crate door open tonight and see what happens.
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Yes, he may prefer to sleep with the door open. You may also find him on the floor/sofa etc too!
They are such funny things Bs. All of mine sleep perfectly fine in their crates but not Trouper!
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Bookworm,
That is exactly what I have started doing for Otis. I leave his crate door open at night, he sleeps like a baby and when he wakes up in the morning he doesn't wimper to get out of it, he just waltzes out and lays down with the other non crated dogs. He seems much happier. I do still close the door to his crate if I leave the house, but for now, at night I will leave his "bedroom door" open.
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I agree that leaving the crate door open may help. Cody really didn't like his crate at all before. He would fight having to get in it. Lately, whenever he's quiet, which used to be when he was shredding my favorite pair of jeans or something, he's in his crate taking a nap. I think that maybe it's because he can get out if he wants to that makes him like going in there now.
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Although I hate spending the money on them, I can recommend the DAP collar. We have gone through 3 with Ella and I have to admit that they seem to help keep her relaxed so that various potential problems seem generally to be less severe. She has been without one for the last 3 weeks and after an accumulation of small bad behaviors I have ordered another one. They just seem to take the edge off of things for her. I think it take a couple of days for them to kick in so don't expect an immediate difference but they can't hurt.
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Have you tried the plug-in? Would it work if I just plugged it in at night next to where he sleeps, or does it require constant diffusion? I looked at the choices online, and the spray-on product said something about spraying it every couple of hours, which won't work at night. I'm not sure he would leave the collar thing alone.
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The problem is, when our other dog Chewie is asleep, Buster plops down on Chewie's pillow and poor Chewie gets up and finds a spot on the floor. Chewie is not a snuggler. He doesn't want anybody bugging him. So now I have dogs all over the floor and a flashlight is required to go to the bathroom during the night! :eek:
The other thing is, if he's not in the crate, he'll be roaming the bedroom and jumping up on our bed. I may try leaving the crate door open tonight and see what happens.
:p Welcome to my world! Some days I'm pooped and the dogs are all well rested!
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Where do you get your DAP collars? What's the best source for ordering? Thanks.
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At least for one night! Buster got into his crate and settled down. We left the door open. When I woke up at 5 a.m., (usual wake up time) he was sitting quietly by the crate. No whining, whimpering, or rattling of the crate. Maybe we don't need the DAP collar afer all.
Thanks to all who offered their expertise and advice.
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Good News. I hope he will do Ok for you like this, with the door open. Otis seems to love the fact that I am trusting him enough to do that. He is acting like the big boy that he is…
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I think the collar is the best way to use the DAP. We used the spray but didn't like it because she didn't like being sprayed and you had to remember to put it on. With the collar you don't have to do anything. The diffuser could be OK but our issues were not confined to one room and we didn't want to buy several of them. Also, the diffuser just seems like it would be more dilute. The collar is always right there. FYI-It is just a strip of rubber that you pull to adjust the size that emits the phermone. Again, I think the effects take a few days and can be subtle but I am a believer.
We got ours from entirelypets.com
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I think the collar is the best way to use the DAP. We used the spray but didn't like it because she didn't like being sprayed and you had to remember to put it on. With the collar you don't have to do anything. The diffuser could be OK but our issues were not confined to one room and we didn't want to buy several of them. Also, the diffuser just seems like it would be more dilute. The collar is always right there. FYI-It is just a strip of rubber that you pull to adjust the size that emits the phermone. Again, I think the effects take a few days and can be subtle but I am a believer.
We got ours from entirelypets.com
I'm tempted to try the collar. I have the diffuser where my B is situated during the afternoon, but since I have an air-exchange incorporated into my ventilation, I have doubts of the effectiveness at times.
The diffuser, however, has been somewhat effective. It just doesn't feel like 100%.
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for the Web site for ordering the collar. I'm going to wait and see how Buster does the next few nights.
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We've been leaving the crate door open. The worst thing he has done is during the night, he goes to the other dog's pillow, plops down, and the other poor dog gives up and moves somewhere else. We haven't heard a peep out of either of them all night, so we can sleep. Only problem is stepping on them if you don't know where they are!
Right now we have two visiting dogs for a month - big female yellow (clueless) lab and a big blonde retriever mix. Buster thinks he can go up and nip their necks and he growls and snaps at them. I know I've read about this type of behavior on the other discussion boards. The thing is, for the first few days, they were getting along and playing. Now, Buster is getting a little more aggressive.
Is this just part of the Basenji charm?
