Seperation Anxiety???

[MickNMaL]

I'm a little frustrated, and need some help/advice. Sorry if this is a little long.

Mickey is 6 months old. I leave the house at 8:45am, and am home by 5:15 M-F.

About 4 of the five days that I am at work, when I come home his pen is pretty much trashed, his water bowl upside-down, if there is any food left its all over the place, before I got the Wizdog his pee-pad was torn to shreds (the Wizdog has really worked wonders though- he loves it, and cant get to the pad anymore thank god cause he was EATING the pad).

I keep him in a ex-pen when I am gone. He has his crate in the pen, his bed, his food & water, and his Pee pad (now in the wizdog), he has plenty of toys, and a bullystick to chew on.

I just thought that he would have gotten used to being alone during the day. It kills me to leave him, and there is only a few more weeks of me working, then I am going back to school, and will be away for shorter hours, but in the meantime, do you have any suggestions?

Every morning Mickey goes on a 30 minute walk, and gets at least 20 minutes on top of that of quality play time- in addition to cuddle time in our bed. I am up at 5:45- and hour and a half earlier than I have to be just to devote more time to him in the morning before I have to leave. When I get home in the evening, it is more Mickey time. Wherever I go, he comes... goes on 2 more walks at night, and we play a lot. The weekends are totally devoted to him.... dog parks, regular parks, everything.


I used to come home for 30 minutes during lunch, but then I thought i was just getting his hopes up that I was home, only to just leave him again.

How do I know if this actually separation anxiety? He is a really good, happy dog when I am home, not destructive at all, listens good.... I'm just really concerned. We are going to be getting a second yorkie soon as a companion for him, and im sure that will help, but I just feel like such a bad Mommy

[Tillys_mom]

Tilly use to do the same thing, so we took her to the vet and he got to see how she shakes if I leave. He said it was def. separation anxiety. He gave us some medicine and it just made her sleepy and I couldn't do that to her. Once I had a baby she got a little better and now we have another Yorkie we have no problems with her at all. I guess she was just lonely.

[babi1542]

My oldest one use to do that as well. They tend to outgrow this stage, do you have maybe someone that can come during the day and take him out? It is good that you are getting another one so maybe he won[t feel so alone. Good luck, there are many experienced people on here with great ideas, I am sure they will give you some more tips.

[jkwik]

I am so glad you asked this question! I joined this site today because I am thinking about getting a Yorkie puppy but work 5 days a week 8am-4pm. I am worried that if I get a puppy that he/she will suffer from separation anxiety and I don't want to do that to them. I will be checking back to see what others suggest to your question. Thank you!!

[pea496]

I was worried about Conner since I am gone 7:30a - 3p. I read in my book that if he senses that I am upset about leaving, that he will be upset. I always made sure that he walked into the expen by himself. At first I waited until however long it takes. Now he knows, and goes in right away. Like you, I devote a lot of time in the morning to Conner, and always when I get home also. I know he sleeps while I am away because he is always tired on the weekends because he does not get as much sleep.

I also got him a treat ball (which I put his kibbles in) and it has mine and my husband's voices on it.

At 16 months, Conner is a pro at being alone during the day. Of course my sister comes at mid-point to let him out to go potty (as he is trained to go outside) and he has a little more play time with her.

[alex_143]

my coco's anxiety is really bad if i go to the restroom and close the door on her she freaks and shakes and crys and wen i open the door she jumps on me panting and pees her self i had to quit work because of her getting so worked up about me leaving i dont know what to do with her anymore i take her everywhere i wanted to get her a lil yorkie brother but every time she is around other dogs she gets nervous and starts to drool and foam at the mouth like crazy she's not sick she's just nervous and its really hard to deal with. i cant have playdates cause she freaks

[Suzy]

Hi everyone! Let me first welcome all the newbies to the site! I hope you're having fun, making friends, and finding out lots of info on yorkies and all else on here!

Second, I will tell you that if you think you have a case of real separation anxiety, you may want to seek the help of an animal behaviorist. It's expensive for the first few visits, but we learned a lot from ours, and they can help you tailor your routine, training, and lifestyle to work best for you and for your dog, as well as pinpoint the cause/triggers of the anxiety. Next, I want to let you know that separation anxiety DOES GET BETTER if you work on it. We went through this with Emma for almost the first 8-9 months we had her. We lived in a condo, and any time we would leave her-for 5 minutes or 5 hours, it didn't matter-she would bark, howl, cry, and carry on like she was being tortured-all because we left her alone.

It started because my husband was home with her all day, every day, from the day we brought her home until she was 5-6 months old. She was never alone. We took her everywhere with us all the time, and he was studying for the bar exam, so they spent many hours hanging out together, and on his study breaks he would work on training and tricks with her. She knew so many tricks, so quickly, it was great! However, when it came time for him to go back to work, she didn't take it very well....neither did our neighbors when Emma was barking all the time

We tried coming home at lunch, all types of toys, the phermonal air-freshener thing, a noise-making bark collar, a noise making freestanding bark unit, music, TV, white noise, and a behaviorist. Sure, the toys distracted her, and the music blocked out all the other noises that were upsetting her and soothed her a little bit, but mostly, she was upset because we were gone. We worked for months with a behaviorist, and basically had to learn how to teach Emma that it was OK for her to be alone. She came leaps and bounds with this-but to this day does not like being alone, and will usually bark for 5-10 minutes right when we leave. We're in a house now, so it's not a big deal if she does bark, and I know she stops because I've forgotten things at home and come back and she's quiet.

Sorry that's so long, but speaking from experience, and the education I took from the behaviorist, here is my advice:
-Leave your puppy alone at home, right away when you bring them home. Try a few minutes, then an hour, then a few minutes, etc. so that they are used to you leaving/coming back.
-For those of you that need to start leaving an older dog alone, start small. Try 2-5 minutes, then 10, then 6, then 15, then 5, then an hour, etc. Don't make the amount of time longer each time-it's best to vary the amount at first, especially when you're first trying to leave them on their own.
-Distraction is key. We toss Emma a kong filled with peanut butter or other goodies, and let her have it just before we walk out the door. Try something that works for you.
-Keep their minds engaged so they're tired. Go for a long walk, play, or do a good training session before you go so they're not bored while you're gone.
-Give them something to do while you're gone-a buster cube, a nylabone, or a favorite toy will help (as long as you know they won't choke or destroy it while you're out!)
-Make your dog comfortable. Try music (we used baby einstein CD's), an old T-shirt of yours that smells like you, or their favorite bed.
-Confine your dog-that usually makes them feel safer than roaming the house. The amount of space is up to you, and do what makes your dog comfortable. We tried a crate-but she hated being in there, so we used an x-pen. She now is able to stay home and has the run of our very large master bedroom.
-Try medication if your vet recommends it. We tried it temporarily to take the "edge" off for a few days, so that she was tired while she was home alone at first. This really helped break the cycle of her barking constantly immediately after we left.
-Do not be tempted to get another animal to solve the problem. I thought this would help too, but our behaviorist told us differently: the dog misses YOU and YOUR companionship-which cannot be replaced by another animal.

Emma came so far with lots of training, lots of time, and lots of effort on our part. After she improved so greatly on her own, gained confidence, had less anxiety, and was able to stay home by herself, we added another puppy (Milli) to our family. They are the best of friends (most of the time!), and Milli has given Emma companionship that she needs and wants so much during the days.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to share my experience and the things that worked for us, in hopes it may help some of you! Please feel free to PM me if you have questions on this-I'm sort of an expert Good luck to you all, and I'll be watching this thread closely!

[Suzy]

I totally didn't mean to kill your thread Sorry if I scared anyone off with my long post-just wanted to share as much info as possible with you-hope it helps!

[jkwik]

Oh my goodness, your post was so much help. I have zero idea when it comes to Yorkie's, let alone what it means to treat Sep. Anxiety, so your post helped a ton. The more information/stories/advice you have on the topic the better!

If you can think of any other advice please feel free to share!

[MickNMaL]

Suzy, Thank you so MUCH for taking your time to post all of that helpful information! I really really appreciate it!

My problem now is trying to decide if Mickey actually has Sizy anxiety, or if he is just being a fresh puppy. He doesnt shake, and he dunnest bark when we leave, he kinda just gets this sad look on his face.... and proceeds to trash his pen.

After doing a lot of research on it, and reading everyones posts on here, I am thinking it may NOT be "real" separation anxiety - or maybe it is just a mild case. So I guess that is my real question.... do you think that what Mickey is doing sounds like separation anxiety, or is he just doing 'puppy things'?

He is six months old now.... will he grow out of this, and if not is it separation anxiety? Any tips on getting puppies not to dig in their water bowl? He only does it when we are gone, so he is obviously NOT happy about us being gone? But is it something more serious than just fresh behavior? HmMm...

Thanks Again everyone for all of the helpful info!

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by MickNMaL

Suzy, Thank you so MUCH for taking your time to post all of that helpful information! I really really appreciate it!

My problem now is trying to decide if Mickey actually has Sizy anxiety, or if he is just being a fresh puppy. He doesnt shake, and he dunnest bark when we leave, he kinda just gets this sad look on his face.... and proceeds to trash his pen.

After doing a lot of research on it, and reading everyones posts on here, I am thinking it may NOT be "real" separation anxiety - or maybe it is just a mild case. So I guess that is my real question.... do you think that what Mickey is doing sounds like separation anxiety, or is he just doing 'puppy things'?

He is six months old now.... will he grow out of this, and if not is it separation anxiety? Any tips on getting puppies not to dig in their water bowl? He only does it when we are gone, so he is obviously NOT happy about us being gone? But is it something more serious than just fresh behavior? HmMm...

Thanks Again everyone for all of the helpful info!

Glad my post helped you-I didn't know if I gave TMI

I think that it sounds like Mickey has a mix of normal puppy behavior and a little anxiety-but it's just my opinion.

In my experience/talking with friends, it seems like sometimes the boys are a little more rambunctious than the girls when it comes to destroying things-I think they do it a little longer. To keep him from digging in his water bowl, try a water bottle. He'll eventually learn to drink from it if he's thirsty You also might try putting something absorbent (like a little rug, towel, mat, etc.) underneath where you install the water bottle-that way, if he plays with it, at least you don't have a huge mess to clean up when you get home.

I definitely think that you should leave him alone for varying amounts of time every day-and maybe a couple times a day. That way, he'll be used to being alone during the times you DO need to leave him.

I would recommend that if you put his crate in his pen with him, that you put it in the middle of the pen if the pen is out in the open, or if the pen is against a wall, put the crate against the wall. That way, he won't learn to climb on top and jump over and OUT of the pen. (We have some little Houdini's in our house!) You also don't want him to get hurt trying to do this.

I hope this helps!

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by jkwik

I am so glad you asked this question! I joined this site today because I am thinking about getting a Yorkie puppy but work 5 days a week 8am-4pm. I am worried that if I get a puppy that he/she will suffer from separation anxiety and I don't want to do that to them. I will be checking back to see what others suggest to your question. Thank you!!

I think it's great you're thinking about getting a yorkie, and you CAN do this if you work 8-5 M-F. We do! Of course, before you get a yorkie, please research the breed A LOT before buying. I'm sure you'll find lots of info on here, and you can always ask questions too! That's what we're here for! Yorkies are a breed that need LOTS of attention, time, and effort-I think a lot of people don't know this, and think they're just getting a cute little dog. Though they're a lot of work, the rewards you get back from them are completely worth it!

Now, about working during the day: The thing to remember is that until your yorkie is old enough and/or pee pad trained, you'll need to get home to let him/her out to potty. They're usually pretty good about not peeing where they sleep, but both of my dogs have surprised me on this one! Sometimes the "puppy" in them is just too much-but it's usually a fluke if they do this.

I would strongly recommend an x-pen for the days while you're gone, rather than a crate. You can put your puppy's pee pad, toys, food, water, and bed in there, and it's like their own little "room". I would recommend putting something waterproof and stain resistant under the pen to save your floors, even if you have hard floors. It's much easier to throw something in the laundry than it is to scrub floors in case of messes. And they will happen! Even with Milli being 8 months old now, we still have messy pen days! I use a piece of material that is rubber on one side and flannel on the other-it's made for making waterproof crib sheets for babies. I put the flannel side down on the floor, and then cover it with an old bed sheet. That way, I can just wash the bed sheet, or if it's really messy, I wash them both.

Also, NEVER bend over the pen wall to pick your young puppy up and out of the pen. Always open the "gate" to the pen. This way, they won't be tempted to jump up or dig underneath it. Once they figure out that UP is the way out, they become jumpers and climbers. If you teach them that UNDER is out, they will try to dig So, learn from my mistake and let them IN and OUT of the pen-you'll be happy you did in the long run!

[Superstarkba]

Your not a bad mama. Aubrey hes not left home every day, but like today he is at home by himself. I am sure that when I get home he will have gotten into something. Thats why I am getting him a sister/girlfriend hopefully this will help with him acting crazy when we are gone.

[MickNMaL]

Originally Posted by Suzy

I think it's great you're thinking about getting a yorkie, and you CAN do this if you work 8-5 M-F. We do! Of course, before you get a yorkie, please research the breed A LOT before buying. I'm sure you'll find lots of info on here, and you can always ask questions too! That's what we're here for! Yorkies are a breed that need LOTS of attention, time, and effort-I think a lot of people don't know this, and think they're just getting a cute little dog. Though they're a lot of work, the rewards you get back from them are completely worth it!

Now, about working during the day: The thing to remember is that until your yorkie is old enough and/or pee pad trained, you'll need to get home to let him/her out to potty. They're usually pretty good about not peeing where they sleep, but both of my dogs have surprised me on this one! Sometimes the "puppy" in them is just too much-but it's usually a fluke if they do this.

I would strongly recommend an x-pen for the days while you're gone, rather than a crate. You can put your puppy's pee pad, toys, food, water, and bed in there, and it's like their own little "room". I would recommend putting something waterproof and stain resistant under the pen to save your floors, even if you have hard floors. It's much easier to throw something in the laundry than it is to scrub floors in case of messes. And they will happen! Even with Milli being 8 months old now, we still have messy pen days! I use a piece of material that is rubber on one side and flannel on the other-it's made for making waterproof crib sheets for babies. I put the flannel side down on the floor, and then cover it with an old bed sheet. That way, I can just wash the bed sheet, or if it's really messy, I wash them both.

Also, NEVER bend over the pen wall to pick your young puppy up and out of the pen. Always open the "gate" to the pen. This way, they won't be tempted to jump up or dig underneath it. Once they figure out that UP is the way out, they become jumpers and climbers. If you teach them that UNDER is out, they will try to dig So, learn from my mistake and let them IN and OUT of the pen-you'll be happy you did in the long run!

So much great advise!!!! YorkieTalk is very very lucky to have a member like you!

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by MickNMaL

So much great advise!!!! YorkieTalk is very very lucky to have a member like you!

Thank you