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Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly  How old is he and how long have you had him?
Have you tried desensitizing him to his separation anxiety rather than dosing him with herbs or medication? Herbs are plants that can be medicinal in addition to smelling, feeling or tasting good. He could likely be desensitized to being alone and then could sleep, eat, play, watch during the day rather than have to lie about fuzzy-headed.
I would Google the term "Separation Anxiety" and look at the various training methods for the problem, going only with those that are positive-reinforcement and reward based and steering away from anything harsh or disciplinarian involving E-collars or anything that tended to spray the anxious dog's face or emit bad odors. Keeping your leaving completely low-key, matter-of-fact and without emotional goodbyes or guilt-ridden hugs/kisses and such will help a lot, too, just in case that is happening.
A few treat/kibble-laden kong toys and other things that would tend to help keep him busy for a while after you leave will help also. I leave the radio or audio-only portion of my TV on when I leave Tibbe alone. Like most dogs, after playing with his kibbled kong for a while, he watches out the windows, barks at threatening noises and sleeps most of the time I'm away. Dogs generally adjust to our being gone over time, even if we do nothing to help them in all but the most severe cases of separation anxiety. |
I have had him since he was 12 weeks old and he is now 8 years old. We have been through 4 trainers with no success. All the training I do is positive, I don't believe in hitting. I drop him off everyday at my mom's (since that's where I lived when I got him and he feels safe). I scoot him in the door without a hug, kiss or a word to him. When I or anyone else tries to leave he starts to go CRAZY with biting the ankles, running in circles and pacing. As he gets older he gets more moody. I just don't know what to do anymore. I have use a thundershirt because he is afraid of storms but that doesn't help. I have even given him xanyx and that doesn't work either. When he is in a mode of being anxious it seems like nothing works. I'm more and more worried the older he gets.
I will try to google some anxiety training and will give it a shot (as I am always willing to try something with him), but I feel like it will lead me to another dead end.
Tomorrow we go to the Vet for rabies and nail trim, so I am going to bring this up to the vet to see if he has any suggestions.