Max has a new hobby, counter surfing.  Yup, when we leave him home alone, he surfs the kitchen counters.  You’d think we weren’t feeding the dog. 

Last week he pulled the entire fruit basket down to the floor.  Mind you, this fruit basket was tucked back into a corner and on top of some other stuff.  It was not easy for my four-legged friend to reach.  But he did reach the fruit basket.  Then he spread it’s contents throughout several rooms and devoured all of the apples.  The orange was not as popular; it only sustained a few bite marks.

Today when I left home, I made sure there was nothing resembling food out.  So instead, he took my daughters antibiotic.  It was a powder with mixing instructions.  He tore a hole in the instructions but could not open thechild proof, er, I mean, dog proof cap.  Luckily, the antibiotics are fine.

I’ll let you know how the dog behavioralist appointment goes. I’m thankful to have a great dog behavioralist verteriarin nearby in West Bloomfield, Michigan.

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. 

·       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?

Dogs with separation anxiety can show great improvement

How do you know if your pet’s problem is separation anxiety?  Is your dog VERY attached or dependent on family members?  Does your pet try to remain extremely close to you and jump to follow you every time you leave the room he or she is in?  Does your pet stress out when he or she is separated from you and the people who live with you?  Does your pet appear to get anxious or even panic as you show signs that your leaving?  Max would get upset every time I went in the laundry room because I kept my shoes there.  He knew shoes meant I was going somewhere.  Or, if I touched my car keys, he would run crazy circles around me as if to say, “I’m going too, right? Right?  Right?”  Some dogs learn their “persons” morning routines so well that they start to show anxiety when the shower goes on or the make-up brushes come out.