Originally Posted by joeyandtanksmom  So I figure that health means mental health too, so hopefully this is going in the right place...
I am extremely worried/frustrated about Joey and his anxiety issues. He has super severe separation anxiety, and I'm pretty sure he has behavioral issues partly because I think he was a mill puppy. I will explain what happens with him:
Whenever I leave the house, or my husband leaves the house, he gets very anxious and barks. If he is being left all alone, he barks like he's being tortured. He will also pee all over the place sometimes. It's very annoying, and I'm sure that eventually our neighbors will hear him and either call animal control to check on us or complain about the noise. Joey is going to be 2 on friday, and Tank (who isn't nearly as bad as Joey) is 18 months old. Tank has begun barking, but I'm thinking it's only because Joey does.
We have tried those calming chews, a bark collar, making things no big deal when we come/leave, the stress relieving liquid stuff, yelling at him, putting him in the kennel, distracting with toys, distracting with food, working on training (leave for 5 seconds, come in and treat if no barking, etc...), giving him full run of the house, locking him in a smaller space, giving him blankets, and probably stuff that I don't even remember.
My husband and I just don't know what to do anymore. Our next step is going to be one of those DAP collars, but at this point, I really don't know if that's going to help. Does anyone have any advice, suggestions, or experiences with this? We are beginning to near the end of our patience with this, we just don't even know what to do anymore! Please help!!!!
ps - I do realize that his anxiety is probably partly my fault, so please don't rehash that 5 million times...I just need to know what to do to help him. I want him to know that he won't be abandoned, and I want the barking to stop. |