Separation Anxiety
 

Hi Everyone!

My girl Lexi turned 1 years old March 8th.
For as long as I could remember she has had separation issues.
It has gotten out of control, and to the point that I cant go anywhere without her following me.
At my apartment, she is fine. If I go to school, work, see friends, she is fine but at my mom's house I can't leave without her crying at the door and I assume its because she is scared that I wont be coming back but I have always left because I know she needs to learn.
It's worst in a vehicle. Whenever we stop at a red light, stop sign, at a store, anywhere, she always freaks out. I always hold her in the vehicle or she will sit beside me, she is not caged. When I go in to pay for gas, or go buy something I hand her to my boyfriend and she loses her mind until I get back.
I don't know how to correct this behavior, and I am confused because I always leave to go places, you think she would be used to it now...I need some advice.

I have the same problem with Halo, so I'm going to follow the replies.

Our Laddy is 5 years old and he still has this problem. Traveling with him in a couple of weeks on an extended vacation so we will see how that works out lol. If I leave him out in the house when I run errands he will literally scratch the paint off the door and woodwork around it jumping on it until I return so he has to be crated when we leave for even short periods. I hope someone has answers for you because I could use their advice to.

Wow, I know what you mean. Halo actually dug a small hole in my front door. I came home to splinters all over the floor and paint chips ! I keep her in the kitchen when I have to leave her now with a pet gate between the dining room and living room. It's become a real problem for me. There's times when you just can't take them with you. The Thunder Shirt didn't help, she's not afraid of thunder (like I am) she just doesn't want me out of her sight.

I'd be very scared that she would get away from your bf, out of your car door and run scared (speaking from experience). Not to mention that while he's trying to grip her she could be injured. No way would I leave them in a car unrestrained, especially when they are anxious. I think restraining your dog to a harness/car seat would actually help her with her issues. I can tell you from experience through training it gets better. It takes a lot of time and patience, and consistency, but they are intelligent animals. Having your pup in a restraint relieves a lot of pressure and anxiety for everyone because you are anticipating an issue and she feeds off that energy. Even when you hand her to your BF and he puts a "hold" on her it's telling her something's up and she reacts. A restraint helps everyone in that situation.

I'm currently teaching my 4 months old to have fun by herself while I'm away since she's way too attached to me. I'm doing this while I'm at home working, but I still keep an eye on her in case she feels like biting furniture instead of her chewtoy or jumping on our small tables and chairs, which thankfully she hasn't tried yet. She still gets a bit jealous when I'm out feeding my other dogs, but the whining and barking isn't as bad as it used to.

Not all dogs enjoy playing with toys, though. My labs (11yo and 10yo) never really enjoyed playing with balls or toys after they matured, but they have fun chasing birds and watching people pass by from the second floor of our house. My 8yo golden on ther other hands treats her equally old ball as if it were a baby and always places it on a comfy place after she's done playing with it.

Separation anxiety
 

My Yorkie is 10 years old, and has separation anxiety. Seriously, I don't think there is anything you can do about it. They like to be with their owners. I have bought three different puppy gates of various sizes, gated her in my laundry room, and guess who is standing on the other side of the gate when I get home?!! I don't know how she ever climbed the gates as I had oak chairs in front of it for reinforcement.

What I do now is take her for a good 20 minute walk before I leave. I don't lock her up anymore, and by the time we get back from the walk she has worked off all her nervous energy. It is very important to walk your Yorkie daily. An unwalked Yorkie is a neurotic Yorkie. Your dog will make a big dramatic scene, panting, etc. but will soon fall asleep after you leave.

Good luck, I hope this helps.

Periwinkle

I know exactly what you are going through! My lallas has a serious problem if I'm not in her sight! She also has scratched paint off the bathroom door when I put all the dogs in their to sleep and when I go out! She throws a real tantrum! When I get home from going out she cries with joy, I heard that its not healthy for them but what are we supposed to do? There is absolutely no way you can ignore these adorable babies! What I heard does help, is when you get home and walk through the front door, let them calm down before you give them any attention, only once they settled down can you give them treats, etc. I would try it if lallas wouldnt climb my trousers to get to me every time I come home! Best of luck! And your baby is soooo cute!!!

separation anxiety
 

I thought having more than one Yorkie would calm the other one down. From what I am reading, it's not always the case.

In the car we have found that putting Laddy in his car seat that he can see out the window in and restraining him helps a lot there as far as the ride goes. But after we stop and one or the other gets out he sounds like you are killing him until the other comes back. It really is sad because he loves to go places, but if it is not somewhere he can go inside with us we don't usually take him anymore. Kyra is a dream in the house and car both. I honestly think Laddy is like this due to bad breeding. We are getting ready for a very long road trip and have gotten him the Tube (thank you Wylies Mom for suggesting it). We are praying this trip will help him with his issues, but not holding our breath lol.

I'm not sure whose separation anxiety is worse - my 2 year old Yorkie or me! :-)

Lol I am the same. That is why mine are going on this extended vacation instead of staying home with our 19 year old grandaughter whom they adore. I could not stand being away from them that long. Of course I use the excuse they would miss me to much:p.

Oh good - I thought I was the only one! We went to Padre Island last year and ours HAD to go with us because I just couldn't leave him with anyone. Not even my grown sons! We are going on a trip in December (my son is getting married) where I can't take him. Not sure I'm going to survive the trip!!

My Yorkie, Pao is 8 in June and he has always had separation anxiety. We have had him since he was 12 weeks old and we have learn to manage it over the years but he is never going to be all calm like the Shih Tzu I used to have. The only good thing is he doesn't destroy anything in the house, just cries and whimpers so I do let him run around on the upper level of my house with access to the hallway, all the bedrooms upstairs and gated the stairs. He won't do stairs so he won't jump over the baby gate. I used to leave him on the main floor but he does better upstairs because I guess we spend more time upstairs and he feels safer there. He will grip my arm or leg with both front paws begging me not to leave. It is very hard to leave and I do stay home with him as much as I can and hubby works from home most days. And...I do leave the radio or tv on for him so it is not dead quiet in the house when we are out.

In the car, he has his own car seat at the back which is the safest and he is harnessed in to the seat. He screams really loud when when the car is stopped because he gets so excited lol. I will not leave him in the car or bring him if I know I can't bring him in to the place I am going. He either goes in with me in my arms or in his bag lol or stays at home. It is just safer that way. A car can be broken in easily in just minutes.

separation anxiety
 

I know how you feel, my Yorkie goes with me a lot. However, sometimes you just can't take them inside buildings.

I am going on vacation and have to board her for 5 days, I am already having anxiety thinking about it. I am not worried about the daytime, I just worry about her being in a cage in a strange place at night. They assure me she will be fine and the ladies will take good care of her. Even thought she is a big pain in the but - I will miss her like my own kid!

I have always made my departing a game. I hide several pieces of their dry food in the house under couch pillows, under a toy so it becomes a hide and seek game. They are so occupied with searching for the treats that they have forgotten I a leaving. It's a great distraction and fun for them. As they become more comfortable with my leaving you can just take them for a walk to pee/poop and wear them out a little. Works great for me, hope this helps

separation anxiety
 

I have always made my leaving a game. I hide pieces of their dry kibble throughout the living room (under couch pillows, under toys or under blankets in their bed). They are so busy looking for the goodies that they don't notice I left. I also take them for a walk just before I leave to get them to pee/poop before I go. They poop an pee on command. that way I don't have to worry about leaving a pee pad if I am gone for only an hour or two. The other thing I used to do when they were pups was to hid a treat inside those donky kong toys and they would spend a half an hour trying to get to the treat. Hope this helps

New here- Yorkie with separation anxiety
 

I have just joined this forum and realised that it is apparently the norm for Yorkies to have separation anxiety. I adopted Lola 2 weeks ago at the age of 11 months and she cried whenever she was left from the start. She got attached to me within a couple of days, which I thought was really strange. I found out that the previous owner had no understanding of dogs and had stayed with her 24/7 for 2 months then sold her on when she realised that couldn't happen long term and she needed to get a job. I work but not too long hours and near my home. I exercise her a lot and have bought a lovely cosy crate and made it really comfortable. I am not sure how she reacted today as she watches from the window and when she sees me coming she barks (my kids would do similar things as kids-cry when I left and stop as soon as I was out of sight). Neighbours have complained and I am quite nervous about being evicted as it's a rented flat. I have got lots of advice from the vet. Lola was on heat when I got her and I'm having her spayed next month. Do you think that will help with the barking? Also, she is aggressive with other dogs. She wants to play but HAS to dominate. Anyway, thanks for all the helpful posts on this site. It is really helpful. Claire and Lola (13/05/13)

Both my boyfriend and I work 8 hours a day so we have to kennel our pitbull and our yorkie. It actually works out well. Hero is very well Kennel trained for being 5 months and Jax is slowly getting there. Because we have the bathroom where the shower and toilet are separate from the actual vanities he stays in that area with the vanities enclosed by a baby gate. I did notice that he started to chew off some of my baseboard but he doesn't cry. My mom checks on both dogs while we are out and walks them and they go back to areas when she leaves. I recently bought Jax a kennel and he really likes it I haven't actually put him in it and closed it, but I'm getting him use to having it. Having Hero, it really makes training Jax a lot easier because he shows him how to behave, so sometimes having another dog is good. You just have to get them use to the routine.

Clairewijay, my Yorkie is the same way he dominates all the toys in the house, the bed, the food, the water, even the humans (lol). I'm not sure how to break this habit, if you find anything please let me know!

Update on Lola from London
 

Yesterday my daughter got home from school and Lola was NOT barking. Ignoring her before going and after coming certainly helped as does exhausting her from long walks and very active playtimes when we are around. I got a 'den' for her which is a large travel crate with her stuff inside. I don't know if that helps. I don't shut her in as she is not destructive. It is there to make her feel safe. She was also a bit more friendly in the park yesterday as her heat seems to be over. Meeting a few other less than friendly dogs was also good as she does seem to understand now that she can't be the boss of everyone. I can't wait for her to be spayed so that I know she is not going to run off with any male dog. Reading through the threads on here I am really fortunate that we have plenty of places to let dogs off the lead near where I live and London parks are marvellous. I've also managed to reduce my blood pressure and sugar levels since having Lola...

Sophie goes crazy when I leave. My husband says she cries and she will hit his leg with her paw and run to the door that I went out. I love that she loves me but I don't like her getting so stressed out.

Hullo
 

Hey, Dexter is pretty remarkable with being left. I don't know if it's just him as a personality but here's some tricks i've done with him since I got him at 10 weeks to now at 9months:

1. If your puppy is crying when you leave her at your mothers, your leaving is too big of a deal. She can probably tell you don't want to leave her, and it's weird but they pick up on that. If I leave Dexter at my parents, I try and keep him occupied in another room with his dinner, a play mate or whatever is getting his tail wagging at that moment - and you just leave. No goodbyes, just go. As she does react badly, perhaps do this leaving process and then return in half hour, then repeat... she'll soon learn that you leave, you come back... staying at your mothers is not only fun, but she's not stuck there indefinitely. Also, don't make a massive deal about returning .. if you can, return and just not even acknowledge her straight away. It sounds horrible, but it gives her time to calm down and realise not only will you talk to her when she's a bit calmer, but that you coming and going is not a big deal.

2. In the house, same deal. No goodbyes. I typically leave Dexters breakfast or whichever meal my leaving coincides with on the floor as a somewhat scavenger hunt. Keeps him occupied and he'll spend extra time hunting even when I'm gone. [I personally have Dexter in my room when I leave, mainly because it's puppy proof and he likes to snuggle under my bed and sleep when I'm not there - reassuring I suppose]

3. Car rides -Dexter has a medium sized carry crate intended for cats which I strap into the car. Not only is he restrained, he's safe. There's no accidents going to occur with him being in there and he'll probably feel a lot more safe than swirving around on a lap (which he did do before I bought it - not my lap, the passengers haha). When he was younger, he used to find the car pretty daunting... so when in his crate, I'd place a thin jumper or something similar over the crate so it was dark. There's no distracting outside to scare him and it also stopped him being car sick when he went through a phase of it.



Hope this helps? They're just tricks I've picked up along the way... and now I can leave him and providing I give him a massive hug when I've got home.... he's more than happy for me to leave ha.