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07-06-2013, 07:31 PM | #16 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: May 2013 Location: Va beach, va, Us
Posts: 44
| @yorkietalkjilly Yes please! I am 95% sure this is separation anxiety/abadoment. You asked for a little history on him. Reading on his paperwork, he was born to a "greeder" (Karen Silkwood) in Missouri and sold to a petland store in Virginia at the young age of 8 weeks. When he arrived at the petland shop he had a horrible case of kennel cough that caused him to have a collapsed trachea. He was then bought by his first owners. They kept him several years (or at least that's what im assuming he may have had more owners) then our neighbors got him. Where a younger girl (maybe 12) was his sole care taker. The girls mom decided she no longer wanted him and would put him outside in hopes he would run off. Several other neighbors picked him up so he didn't get hit by a car and once he even got dropped off at animal control. We got him this Easter from those neighbors. He was not neutered (no biggie we just got him neutered) he also had kennel cough (again), a UTI, and an infection in his mouth so bad he needed to have 11 teeth extracted. We got all of that done and he has healed perfectly fine. He has the friendliest demeanor, loves people and gets lots of love and attention when we are home. He does not like being alone which is why Im sure the accidents are anxiety related! @kemp5- lol yes it looks like we are neighbors! Puppy play date! lol |
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07-06-2013, 07:40 PM | #17 |
♥ Love My Tibbe! ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: D/FW, Texas
Posts: 22,140
| I have used the below technique to train over-anxious and barking dogs how to accept being left alone without misbehaving or becoming destructive. It is long, wordy and the copy/paste from my Word program can cause some of the words to run together but you might read it over and see if it might work for your girl. It was originally posted about an adult, male dog with female owner. When enough time and repetition is used to teach this method, it has worked every time to desensitize the dog to the concept of being left alone and they learn to relax and accept this fact of their lives. But it takes a lot of dedication and repetition by the owner, working faithfully with the dog. I hope it can help your sweet dog feel less anxious when you leave her/him home alone. Separation Anxiety Most anxious dogs that aren't used to it get nervous and anxious when their owners leave the home. Firstly, take all emotion out of your leaving. Do not feel sad for him or tell him goodbye - just like pack leaders in the wild don't when they decide to go on a hunt or take a walk - they just walk away and nobody freaks. They are impersonal and matter-of-fact in how and what they must do. So no emotional goodbyes or hello's when arriving home. Act like a pack leader. Your dog is a pack animal and is genetically in tune with a firm but fair leader. As far as your actual leaving, just slowly desensitize him to your leaving and soon he will come to accept it. But you must desensitize him to it slowly and allow him to adjust to each step. Be patient with that baby - his anxiety can be overcome with time and patience and knowing what to do. Keep your training sessions short and impersonal, matter-of-fact. (You can reward him once each exercise is over with a big, loving play session and lots of loving hugs, kisses.) Give him a lovely food-stuffed kong toy, sit down and watch him playing with it, take up your keys and purse and whatever else you do as if to leave home and sit back down and just watch him. Don't go anywhere. Just sit there. Now this is key: keep repeating this for a day or two on a weekend over and over, giving him different things to chew on or play with as you get ready to go but don't. After a day or two of this, when he's playing with his kong and has accepted your getting your things together, get your keys/purse, watch him for a while then get up and without saying one word to him or looking in his direction, just like an alpha wolf who acts in its pack without question from one of his pack members, walk out of your door outside. Shut it. Stand there 10 seconds and walk back in, DO NOT NOTICE HIM AT ALL, no matter how he's dancing around your feet or whining in joy, put your things away and sit back down where you usually sit when you watch him with his kong toy. Repeat this over & over and keep increasing your times outside to let him learn slowly that though momma goes out the door, she will be back and I'm really okay. Slowly but surely as you stay out longer and longer but do come back in, he'll have grown to accept this action as inconsequential in his life and soon grow to accept your leaving without thinking a thing of it -he'll know he gets a good thing to play with and some good food, momma will be back and he'll accept it. B4 long, he will just accept your leaving without any toys or kongs or anything. After a while, include getting in the car in this training exercise, even starting it up and getting right back out and coming in the house without noticing him. Repeat repeat repeat - sitting in the car awhile with it running. Eventually, drive around the block and then back home, inside, not noticing your dog and putting your things away, coming to sit in the same place on the couch where you always sit during this training. Once you have sat there a while after each training session, now it is time to play and reward that anxious baby who is learning to be a goooood dog so now have a blast with him. Lots of love, hugs, kisses, tugowar, etc. Happy, happy rewards for his efforts are definitely in order! If you are patient enough to do this, it works EVERY SINGLE time and turns an anxious, crying dog into one that accepts leaving as just a part of his day.They soon learn to adjust their day to sleep while we are away and be ready togo when we get home. I would also start him on a good positive-rewards obedience training program such as in Tamar Geller's The Loved Dog book. This will teach him to bond well with you as you develop a strong relationship that he will not question, no matter what, as he knows momma is always gonna keep it fun, loving and always rewarding for him. He'll learn to obey because pleasing you is so rewarding and fun for him. Challenging games of hiding his treats about the house, under overturned Dixie cups to knock over to get the treats out from under and directing him at seeking/finding a hidden, high-value treat in the house or outside are fun things to keep his mind and body active and working. Enriching his life with obedience and agility training, daily fun walks and anything that keeps him active will be a big help and lessens anxiety over time.
__________________ Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis |
07-06-2013, 07:53 PM | #18 | |
♥ Love My Tibbe! ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: D/FW, Texas
Posts: 22,140
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Getting him busy learning and working his butt off and challenging his mind with consistent rules, boundaries and wonderful obedience training and working to desensitize him to separation should all work together to help this little fellow begin to finally trust he's found his forever family and home. Be sure to take him out to potty very, very frequently for a couple of weeks on a schedule his body-clock can come to expect and then you can back off the frequency. It should help diffuse his worries about going outside means you leave him afterward. Having your husband teach him will be helpful to your husband when he sees how smart Yorkies are. They LOVE learning and training and will excel given the least chance to learn by frequent, short training sessions daily without fail. I hope and pray for all of your sakes you can make it work. This guy deserves a forever home he can count on with his sad history.
__________________ Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis | |
07-08-2013, 05:58 AM | #19 | |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2013 Location: Boston
Posts: 309
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