[yorkietalkjilly]

First of all take a deep breath and know that lots of dogs get treated bad at times and develop some behavior problems from it. Feeling sorry for them, unlike with people, doesn't help - they sense your concern and get worried and more neurotic than that caused by the thing that hurt them. So brace up and determine to help your dog and get your new job and don't obsess or anything about his issues - they are fixable with a bit of work. He's not permanently damaged or anything unless you sit over him and worry over him. That could really damage him.

Teach your dog to stay home while you are gone a little bit at a time. Fix the crate comfortably with food, water and bedding at one end, potty pads at the other and some toys for playing. Use a pen if you prefer. If you want, put a cover over one end of the crate to create a little denlike area or get a covered cocoon bed for pen confinement so he can sleep in his den if he wants when you are away.

Get your purse, keys out and put a coat on as you do when leaving and sit down in the room with your dog confined to the crate/pen. If he barks/whines, turn away from him. Do not reward this behavior with attention. After a bit, put the keys/purse and coat away and remove the dog from the crate. Do not greet him or make a fuss when he comes out of the confinement for now. Repeat after a couple of hours - get out purse, keys, coat and confine the dog, wait. Turn away and ignore protests. After a bit, put away your accessories and remove the dog from the crate unceremoniously. After a couple house - repeat the whole process.

After a couple days of this, take purse, keys, coat, walk out the door, wait a few second and come right back in. Put your accessories away and let the dog out of the crate but no big greeting for now. Keep everything calm, relaxed, go about your business. In two-three hours, get your things and walk out the door, wait a few seconds and come right back in, put accessories away, let the dog out and don't greet but just go about your biz. In 3-4 hours or so, repeat the going out the door, waiting a bit longer this time and coming back in and doing the same things listed above. Keep doing this until you can open the car door, get in the car and wait a bit before coming back in. (Your dog will be able to hear you get in the car, shut the door from inside. He needs to hear this.) Come back in the house, put things away, let him out and go about biz. After a few hours, do it all over again. In a couple of days, start the car, let it run, turn off, come in house, put things away, let dog out, go about biz with no greeting.

After a while of doing this, drive around the block and return, put things away, etc. Soon you can stay away an hour or so, then longer & longer. By this time, you door will become slowly desensitized to your getting ready to leave, putting him in his crate, leaving, driving away but won't be left long at all at first and he will slowly accept the fact of your leaving him though he's been anxious without you. You will have slowly - at his pace as a nervous, uncertain dog, showed him that getting ready to leave and leaving is not so bad and eventually, he will just lie down in his crate/pen and rest while waiting for your to come home. One time or another, he will relax enough to go to sleep. As dogs sleep most of the day, he will take the time you are gone to mostly sleep and eventually, once his neuroses have calmed down, after letting him out of the crate/pen, you can begin to greet him normally, loving and kissing and having that normal dog greeting of wild fun and gadding about in the room from all their excitement and pentup energy.

Also, training a dog in basic obedience gives them work to do and a scared or nervous dog thrives on getting its thoughts off its fears and on learning the lessons of obedience. It is amazing how this starts to calm them and modify their general behavior. They begin to automatically do what you tell them to do. They become more self-assured and happy, proud of their accomplishments. Through positive reward training, they look to you as their leader and realize that you are going to take care of them and they needn't fear so much anymore.

Keep up the training - it is vital for a nervous, neurotic dog to stay in a training program with you. Just buy a good book or two by noted dog trainers and read up on training theory and the why's and wherefore's on training and it will encourage you when your dog doesn't seem to be making progress some times. Remember to always train in very short sessions, staying very positive and reassuring, never punishing wrongs and only rewarding/praising when he gets it right. Train several times a day if you can, twice in the evenings for 5 minutes on workdays, more often on weekend but only for 5 - 10 minutes at first.

These are some ways to help your baby made neurotic and nervous by bad treatment. Through patient training and desensitization to crating/confining him when you must be gone, you will slowly bring him around to a more centered, calm and happy-again dog that can enjoy life. Just remember, feeling sorry for him will only worry him so let the past go as far as he's concerned and concentrate on working hard now to making him the best-behaved, happiest and most contented dog he can be - and you'll be thrilled with the happy dog you've helped create. And he will enjoy all the positive interaction you two will have.