Archive for October, 2008

Dogs problems –home alone, the story goes on

Sunday, October 26th, 2008

Having a dog with problems can be tough.  Even when you think your dog behavior issues are improving, expect setbacks.

 

Max, our retired service dog, had been doing great for months.  He’s been doing so well that I actually asked his vet about cutting back on his medications. 

 

She counseled me that I need to make sure it’s a very routine time in the dog’s life.  Reducing dog anxiety medications must happen at a time with no unusual departures, breaks in the routine or anything out of the norm. 

Here are some things to consider that may really affect dogs with problems:

  • Back to school schedule changes, for instance, if you have kids, can really make dog separation issues tough on your family.
  • Also, dogs anxiety can worsen if a key person goes out of town.
  • Any seemingly minor change to routine can be tough on separation anxiety dogs

 I recently left town for a week.  Upon my return, my canines anxiety was definitely on an upswing.  I don’t know that seperation anxiety dogs ever feel 100% secure.  

My son called me one day last week to ask if I’d forgotten the dog’s medicine before I left the dog home alone.  I had not; my week away had been rough on Max.  What have you experienced?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Dog Medicines, Separation Anxiety | 11 Comments »

10 ways having a dog with separation anxiety is like having a child

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

1.     No more spontaneity.  You can’t just run out of the house; you need to plan out your activities and errands around their schedule.

2.     You can’t leave them home alone without worry. 

3.     They aren’t welcome in fancy restaurants.

4.     You can’t leave them in a car on a hot day. 

5.     They leave their toys all over the house and out in the yard.

6.     When you leave town, you have to leave a long list of instructions with the sitter.

7.     You have to pick up their prescriptions on a monthly basis. 

8.     You have to comparison shop drug stores to see which offers their meds at the best prices. 

9.     You have to plan their meals.

10.  You’re constantly cleaning up their dishes. 

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Posted in Canine Petpourri, Dog Medicines, Food & Dog Treats, Separation Anxiety | 1 Comment »

Break through the chains of separation anxiety

Sunday, October 12th, 2008

Max’s magical mix: 

·       Behavior modification

·       DAP collar

·       Medications

·       DAP infuser

·       Activity toys

·       Stopped feeding him with a dog dish

Without the behavior modification, understanding of separation anxiety and medication directed by Dr. Theresa DePorter, I don’t think Max would have been successful.  In fact, I’m sure there are a lot of misunderstood dogs that end up in shelters because of their misunderstood separation anxiety.

 

The goal was to have Max be excited about his family’s departure.  We wanted him to connect being home alone to having something really yummy to eat.  To make this work, table scraps, dinning a la dog dish, etc. cannot occur. 

 

Max is really excited to see me leave these days because he knows he’s getting food and likely it’s something more than dry dog food.  When he’s with his family, he gets nothing but dry dog food and not much of it.  If we’re planning a departure, some food is held back so he’s good and hungry when we are gone.

 

You might think he also gets crumbs off the floor but that’s another project.  Max, as a leader dog, was taught to ignore food on the floor.  With 3 kids, we’re really good at giving him plenty of opportunities to eat food off the floor but it hasn’t come easy to him.  Breaking old habits is tough.  But, that’s a service dog issue and maybe that’s not an issue for your dog. 

 

If you have a retired service dog, I’d love to hear about it.  Did you have to teach your dog to play fetch like we did?

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Posted in Canine Advice, Dog Toys, Food & Dog Treats, Separation Anxiety, Service Dogs | 1 Comment »