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.
Major issues
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Patricia McConnell has a book on working with dogs with separation anxiety, I'll Be Home Soon.
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/product/dog-separation-anxiety
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How much exercise does she get before being crated? Total exercise per day? Does she get a treat upon entering the crate and does she enter voluntarily or pushed in?
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that's not excessive but has she always been left or is it a fairly new arrangement? Why i ask is if it has always been the arrangement, she should be used to it by now. But if not, maybe she still has to adjust. Can anyone look in on her for you while you are out, say after a couple of hours? Have you tried leaving a radio on, some background noise. Do you take her for a good long walk when you get home? etc
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We do not exercise her before we crate her bc it's usually early in the morning. She has been crated ever since she was 6wks old and still hates it. She gets a treat in her crate but we do have put her in there. We leave the radio on while we are gone and my mom comes by to take her out if we will be gone longer than 4 hrs.
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Everyone on here question???? Could it she has came into season causing this???? Would this not be her first time?????
Rita Jean
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It sounds like she has never truly been crate trained and that is contributing to her anxiety.
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Thank you Ivoss for the article. We will try these tips but we will still have to put her in the crate while we are gone. This won't confuse her?
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You may want to use a large vari-kennel plastic crate so it is different then the crate she now has the negative associations with.
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Haha yeah we have one of those too. That is what we tried to begin with. Would using a muzzle her while in the crate be cruel?
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Not only would using a muzzle in the crate be cruel, it could also be life threatening.
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I have used the process in the video and even after a day of intensive work there is a difference but it is a long term process. You could use that in conjunction with DAP spray or diffuser to help with anxiety.
Since this has been going on for quite sometime, you will proabably be best served by hiring a behaviorist or trainer to help you with the short term and develop a long term plan.
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I would highly recommend that you get the book that lvoss recommended. It is inexpensive and very helpful. In the meantime, buy a large sheet of plywood to put under the crate to keep her from eating the carpet. A muzzle is a bad idea. The dog is stressed out enough already and a muzzle would only compound the problem.
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I bought the book on amazon. We will try the wood under the crate and work with her to be stress free. So the muzzle should be a no-go then?
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Right, you should never muzzle an unattended dog.
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I do a lot of stange things but I would never use a muzzle and go away. Just to many what if's.
Rita Jean
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What happens if you just leave her loose when you are gone?…. Have you tried that?... is there a way you could leave her in an area that is gated off from the rest of the house... ?....
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I had a similar situation with Cody when I first got him. One of the things that helped was that I put an old sheet in his crate that smelled like me. I slept on it for one night before putting it in there.
I don't have to crate him regularly anymore, but I still put it in there (wash it once a week, sleep on it for a night, the put it back in there). I also still put his favorite treats and new toys in there instead of giving them directly to him. Now he willingly goes in his crate when he needs some alone time away from Moe (or my family
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We got chill pills from the vet too. they did not change the personality( although the first time we dosed it was too strong so we lowered it and that was ok) it is about 20 cents a pill and we give one a day. It was AMAZING the difference it made. we started out with 3 a day and it was way too much … went to 2 a day and now are down to one a day. just helps them be very much calmer and less anxiety. sometimes i think i would like one too.lol but it really helped..... was not expensive and made the worry much better.
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What happens if you just leave her loose when you are gone?…. Have you tried that?... is there a way you could leave her in an area that is gated off from the rest of the house... ?....
Oh no I don't think we will ever try that! I think our couch or entertainment center would be chewed on. In this apartment we have a small laundry room but we have never tried to leave her in there. We are at the point we will try anything.
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I had a similar situation with Cody when I first got him. One of the things that helped was that I put an old sheet in his crate that smelled like me. I slept on it for one night before putting it in there.
No we haven't tried this either but I think she would rip it into small pieces. BUT we will try it as well.
