- #1
turbo
Gold Member
- 3,165
- 56
Our (relatively) new dog Duke is very clingy. I call him Velcro Dog for a reason because he needs to be with me always. His training has come along quite well, in part because he is willing to give me so much of his attention, even in the face of distractions, like another dog, neighbors, etc.
The problem is that he gets really miserable if I leave him alone. He whines and cries and sounds absolutely pitiful. I can take him anywhere in a vehicle, and leave him in the car while I go pick up some materials, pay a mechanic, etc, and he is calm and patient and greets me happily when I return to the vehicle. It's different when I leave him at home though. Yesterday, I had to finish digging out my septic tank for a leach-field inspection, finish hauling weeds out of the garden and burn off the remainder of the weeds, vines, etc. All through that time (several hours) I could hear him whining and crying, with an occasional "Hey!" kind of bark. I tried putting him on an outside run where he could see me from time to time, with no success. I moved him to our elevated back deck where he could see me pretty much all the time, with no improvement. I put him back in the house and tried to ignore him until he got tired of the drama and took a nap or something. No good. When I finished up in the garden and came back to the house, he was still crying, and he immediately transformed into "ecstatic dog" when I opened the front door.
I try not to make a big deal about leaving his presence, and do not ask him to follow me around the house, though he certainly does. Anybody got any ideas how to reduce the separation anxiety? Normally, he eats about 3 cups of food/day, but yesterday, he finished only 1/2 his food, and today his bowel movement was very runny and rank - probably from all the anxiety yesterday afternoon. I'm dealing with a number of issues that will require me to leave him along for hours here and there in the next few weeks, and I don't want to make him miserable or sick. Any suggestions?
The problem is that he gets really miserable if I leave him alone. He whines and cries and sounds absolutely pitiful. I can take him anywhere in a vehicle, and leave him in the car while I go pick up some materials, pay a mechanic, etc, and he is calm and patient and greets me happily when I return to the vehicle. It's different when I leave him at home though. Yesterday, I had to finish digging out my septic tank for a leach-field inspection, finish hauling weeds out of the garden and burn off the remainder of the weeds, vines, etc. All through that time (several hours) I could hear him whining and crying, with an occasional "Hey!" kind of bark. I tried putting him on an outside run where he could see me from time to time, with no success. I moved him to our elevated back deck where he could see me pretty much all the time, with no improvement. I put him back in the house and tried to ignore him until he got tired of the drama and took a nap or something. No good. When I finished up in the garden and came back to the house, he was still crying, and he immediately transformed into "ecstatic dog" when I opened the front door.
I try not to make a big deal about leaving his presence, and do not ask him to follow me around the house, though he certainly does. Anybody got any ideas how to reduce the separation anxiety? Normally, he eats about 3 cups of food/day, but yesterday, he finished only 1/2 his food, and today his bowel movement was very runny and rank - probably from all the anxiety yesterday afternoon. I'm dealing with a number of issues that will require me to leave him along for hours here and there in the next few weeks, and I don't want to make him miserable or sick. Any suggestions?