my friend has a 7 month Boxer Dog with quite a servere case of anxiety when he is left alone. She has partly aggravated the situation herself as when he was very young she would not leave him at home for any length of time at all and she took him every where with her. I told her, and so did her mother that she should be leaving him for short periods to begin with increasing the time he was left slowly so he would get used to her not always being there. But did she listen? NO!! She now has a very clingy dog who even has to go to the loo with her as he wrecks the house if he cant get to her. My Latest Idea is to try him on somesort of herbal remedy!! clutching at straws now!! but I really want to help her, she knows that it is her fault and that she has made a mistake, its just where to start putting it right! Can any of you help with the herbal side of things because I dont have a clue where to begin. Do any of you use herbal remedies for your dogs with similar problems. any help would be greatly appreciated. Sarah

Hi,
Have you looked at Bach Flower Remedys? There are lots of them, and some are specifically for anxiety, greif, stress etc.
Also, on my dogs i have used Valerian, which helps to calm them down. As with most herbal stuff, the longer you use it for the better it can work, and also, it doesnt work for everyone!
Id give the dog herbal remedy, and then go back to square one, letting it get used to being alone gradually.
Provide toys such as kongs, that can be filled with food to entertain the dog. and dont reward it by going back to it if it making a racket!

Good luck,
Em

Sarah,

I have 3 lovely boxers who can all be left alone with no problems for several hours if needed. Everyone that I have spoken to that has only one boxer has suffered form some sort of separation anxiety, but my 3 have always been ok (except when they were very young puppies then they were into everything!), I have always said that the fact that there is more than one dog around has been a great help.

I know Jan Fennel's blanket methods are not to everyones liking but has your friend tried any of them? - My three have responded very well to her methods and we can now have happy visitors to our house as the dogs no longer greet them with the trademark boxer enthusiasm! We saw very good results within one day of starting.

Sorry to read this. A hard one. can't offer much advise but just wanted to say good luck and your a very kind friend to your friend. Julieann xx

hello, I have never heard of the Jan Fennels blanket method, so no we have not tried that. More info would be great. He is a lovely natured boy on the whole, its just this one problem that we cannot get to grips with. I read in a book that Ignatia was good for pining so she has started him on that now and we also got him some rescue remedy to see if that might help take the edge of things while we do some retraining with him. But we are open to any help and suggestions that you can come up with, thanks very much :) Sarah