Dog who used to destroy house is happy to stay home alone (with food)

Does my previous service dog, Max, look happy in this photo?  You bet he does!  He’s happy because he is about to stay home alone.

This wasn’t always the case.  Max used to destroy our house when he was home alone.  He’d go into such a panic that he’s ruined floors, walls, doors, door handles, etc. 

Max was a service dog and he was with people ALL the time.   When we adopted him, he totally freaked out when we left him home alone.  We were totally unprepared but if your pet has this separation anxiety problem, there is hope.

Today, Max is smiling and tail-wagging when he sees that I’m about to leave him home.  One of the biggest contributors to the transition is food.  Yes, food plays a major part in management of this dog’s separation anxiety. 

Our dog Max rarely is fed when we are home with him.  If he is fed, Max is getting his food out of a toy that makes him work.  The bulk of Max’s food, and especially yummy food, is delivered to him as we are walking out the door.  He’s been conditioned to expect that food time comes when he’s home alone.  And it works!

So what’s that in the photo you ask?  Well, Max has gotten so good at manipulating his food that we’ve upped the challenge.  Earlier, as Max’s separation anxiety improved, I started freezing food in Kongs for him.  Now, I also freeze the Kong so Max has a block of ice to work with too.  This was especially handy in the summer as I knew he’d enjoy the ice. 

Time to run, Max will soon be nudging me to the door so he can stay home alone!

Oh, what a big mistake that was!  I didn’t think about all the sloppy slush that was melting off my cars.  The garage floor was quite messy.  Unfortunately my highly trained, service dog, decided to lay down in the slop and get busy with his food.  Did my intelligent dog lay on the bed I’d left for him?  Apparently not!  He was covered in dirt upon my return.  Unfortunately, I hadn’t really planned a dog bath in my day.  But, if I was to let Max into the house, a bath was mandatory. 

It was not pleasant but Max emerged a much cleaner dog.  And now, I’m going to watch what I wish for or I’ll be washing more mush off my mutt.

Maybe this snow play seems so enjoyable since our retired service dog has been taught only recently how to play.  This “working dog” has not adjusted easily to the life of a retiree.  This new relaxed lifestyle is foreign and uncomfortable to our working dog.   

Max has come a long way.  It is a treasure to watch; especially when he’s romping in the snow alongside a child.  They belong together, playing in the snow.  Even though adopting a service dog is a challenge, when I watch Max and the kids play together, it’s worth it.

Since he was trained for interaction with blind people, Max was trained to show joy by opening his mouth (a smile perhaps or better yet, a very toothy grin).  He was also taught that playing involves rolling around on the ground.  Being a service dog for a blind person, he thinks every time someone lies down in the snow, they are ready to play with him.  This has been interesting. 

Considering Max outweighs two of my kids, he can knock them down in a heartbeat, especially on the slippery footing of snow. So, even a year and a half after we adopted our service dog, we’re still learning how to interact.   I’m just thankful he feels part of the family.

We all went sledding today.  I’m not sure who loved the snow more, Max or the kids.  All that matters is that it was a blast.  We all loved the snow day!

We are totally snowed in and Max doesn’t seem too happy.  He keeps looking at the door as if to say, “Isn’t it time you left already?” 

He wants a yummy treat but so far today he’s just had dog food.  And, of course, it’s in a squirrel dude dog toy.  No more free lunches for this retired service dog.  No, poor Max must work for every morsel. 

Ok, maybe not every morsel, but a majority of it.   My husband has starting feeding the dog scraps in the kitchen.  Of course, now superstar, retired service dog Max runs into the kitchen whenever John is there.  The dog is not stupid.  He knows a softy when he’s found one! 

Given the amount of snow outside, I don’t see us leaving home any time soon.  Max must suffer with us.  I cannot believe I can even say my severe separation anxiety dog wants us to leave.  His improvement with departures and being home alone is amazing.

Enjoy this crazy weather that is blanketing the nation. 

Has our dog finally gotten past the anxiety enough to overeat?  When he’s really stressed out he barely eats, so, if he is packing on the pounds, it’s a sign of improvement.  I guess I’ll have to take Max to the vet and get him weighed so we know the real answer. 

I also need to report that once Max got into a brand new DAP collar for a few days, he seemed much less stressed.  He’s practically pushing me out the door in the morning so he can get yummy food.  Good dog, Max!

·       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?