Last week, when we went shopping, I set up the videocamera to spy on Millie whilst we were out.  After a couple of jumps at the door, and intermittent whining/sulking for 9 minutes she settled down - the camera turned itself off after 20 minutes but she was calm and sleeping by then. 

I decided to film her again today whilst out on my driving lesson, the difference being that it was just me leaving her (the person who stays with her all week). 

Millie's always good while we are out - she just stays in the same spot waiting - never chews anything, doesn't even seem to play with her toys or go out to the kitchen for water or out to the toilet, just sits in the hallway watching the door (we knew this from the undisturbed state of the house, the 'warm spot' where she'd been lying, and the fact she was always still in the same place in the hall when we return and peek through the letterbox) so I always assumed she wasn't that bothered about being left and I was quite proud!

However, on watching the footage back this afternoon, she was throwing a right wobbly after I went - jumping up at the door continuously, whining and actually howling which we have never heard her do before, for a continous 20 minutes after I left.  Then she laid down on the floor, and would lift her head to whine for a couple of seconds every couple of minutes until after about 30 minutes when she seemed to go to sleep (camera turned itself off after 40 minutes this time).

It was horrible!  I KNEW I should never have filmed her, as in my ignorance I would happily leave the house thinking she was fine when I know now that in reality she is very upset and its really going to put me off leaving her, although I know the thing now is to keep a continual pattern of leaving her so she is used to it.

BUT I NEVER SHOULD HAVE DONE IT!!

I've always fancied the idea of spying on the girls when we go out but maybe i won't now! Anyway I wouldn't worry too much, she's only trying to tell you where she is but you already know! Just build up the sepertations gradually so that she has no reason to whine, that way it will come natuarlly to her to be calm when you leave her and not worry when you are going to return.
Good luck.

I can't imagine why you think you should not have done it

At least you are armed now with the information you need to tackle this situation and avoid a) stress to your dog and b) complaints from the neighbours possibly involving EHO!

Alone training is extremely important and a generally overlooked subject; prevention is quicker and better than cure.

There are lot of actions you can take at your disposal such as DAP diffusers, stuffed kongs, etc etc to minimise the distress to all.

I swear Fagan looks forward to me going out because he gets his stuffed kong, he doesnt even notice me leave :rolleyes:

My local pet shops don't sell kongs - can you buy them online anywhere?

http://www.companyofanimals.co.uk/

What do you stuff the kong with?  I try with little bite sized treats, but Shelby finds them too fast and gets bored quickly.
What is an alternative.  I tried peanut butter but he doesn't seem to like it.

At least now you know you have a problem!  Ignorance may have been bliss for you but not for your poor dog who is suffering when you leave.

Problems are never solved by ignoring them so, now you know, you can at least do something about it!

There is lots of info out there on separation anxiety to help but if you get stuck, see if you can get hold of Valerie O'Farrells work on the subject.

I know, but I never want to leave the house again and everyone says how she's tying me down because I only leave her 2-3 times a week for about an hour at a time anyway!

I always give her a small treat before I go out and she seems happy with this, but on watching the video on Thursday she was fine watching me leave whilst she was scoffing, then as soon as she finished, then she started reacting.  So, a Kong would admittedly hold it off for longer, but then it doesn't take her very long to finish a kong! It doesn't take her long to finish anything edible.  I always leave toys, but she has no interest in them while I'm gone.

Fortunately she wasn't howling loudly, not enough to disturb anyone, and fortunately my neighbour on the left is out all day every day, and the house on the other side is empty so she isn't disturbing anyone at the moment.  But I wouldn't care if she was, it matters more to me that she looks upset.  I think the problem really is that I'm always around.  I really don't go out much now that I work from home (and the fact I now work from home is the reason why i finally got a dog after 20 odd years of waiting).  But I have a driving lesson once a week, we go to Sainsbury's once a week and I pop to town for about an hour most weeks.  So really she has me here all day and all night and although she has been left since we got her, admittedly it isn't very regularly.  Everywhere else we go, she comes too.  I think she was better when younger, when we left her in her cage because she was always asleep when I got home (but then I didn't have a videocamera then so I can't actually be sure!) but at around 6 months Millie decided she was not 'doing cages' anymore and virtually refused to go in it.

So I think maybe the problem is that I don't leave her enough (but then I don't actually have anywhere to go, and I have to be here all day in case work comes in so its not really very convenient to leave the house), but I don't like the idea of having to leave her to get upset more often and for longer periods to make things better because I'm a wimp when it comes to sad-looking animals! 

I think I might investigate the DAP diffuser, thanks tohme.

As a thought - we think she is about to come into season - would this make a difference, do you think?

It may be possible to help your dog; DAP diffusers IME can help a stressed out dog although some say they have had no effect. It may depend on how much adrenalin is being pumped around the system.

I think you may find a difference if you use childgates to separate yourself from her for several hours (on and off, not all at once!) during the day and make it nice for her to be separated for say, 10 minutes at at time.....gradually building up and also varying the time alone....give her kongs and stuff them well, put a roller type chew in the hole at the top and press soft cheese all round the inside with a teaspoon for starters :)

Lindsay
X

hi just a thought have u tried freezing the kong? i do with mine i stuff it with the usual biscuits or cheese and i plug the hole in the bottom then fill it up chicken stock etc? it lasts a lot longer than just stuffed normally ??and my lot love it!! ;-) hope that helps you in some way?? :-D

Michelle

I have frozen it with chicken stock before but it bored her because she couldn't clear it immediately.  So she left it out in the sun to melt before going back to it - she's a clever one, that's for sure!

But I didn't put other stuff in it like biscuits so that's a good idea, I will try that.  I think the problem with kongs if you have to be organised, which I never am.  You have to find it first (ordeal), then wash it out, then stuff it - I won't  allow peanut butter in the house under any circumstances so I usually stuff the hole with a sultana or something from the mixed fruit box, and whilst I don't think one raisin/sultana once in a blue moon will hurt, its not something I should make a daily habit of, so until I find the inspiration of some other hole stuffing object, I don't want to do it too often - so anyway, you have to stuff, and if its a frozen stuffing, then you have to plan ahead the night before or whatever, and that's all just too much organisation for me!  if I use something like chicken stock then I need to be organised way ahead on Sunday's when I go to Sainsbury's, to buy some, or if I use other foods then I need to reduce her daily food and it all becomes too much drama for me to cope with!  I can barely organise myself to get out of the door and consequently I just find it easier to give her a chewstick (well i did until I read on here about someone's dog choking up a chewstick whole, now I'm paranoid about that so I'm currently giving that one a miss!). 

If I go out, it tends to be I suddenly realise I need something from town and I pop out on the spur of the moment.  Plus Millie won't eat breakfast until about 1/2pm at the very earliest, and I usually go out about 3pm if I'm going anywhere so she's not really interested in eating anything.  This week might be better though, as I have dropped her down from two meals a day to one now, so she may well  be hungry enough when I go out to be interested in her Kong, so for my driving lesson this Thursday I am going to leave her with one and video her again and see how we get on.

Thanks Michelle, you've really got me thinking tonight, I shall be making a list of ideas later (I love making lists, any excuse! :-D

I'm just wondering, if anyone knows the answer to my question above, whether being in season would make her more clingy/whiney when I leave her?  Just because that day that I filmed her when she freaked for 20 minutes, was 2 days before her first season started and we already knew it was looming, because she'd been swollen for a couple of days and had humped my mother-in-law's arm a couple of nights before!  I just wondered whether she would have been feeling hormonal and a little confused at thus reacted more to me going out and leaving her.

lol you are welcome :-D you sound a LOT like me i am very often disorganised :-( , i put meat paste into mines also just the cheap jars from tesco @19p a jar they do the job too lol, i plug the hole with that or break the biscuit dowm or a bit of cheese usually does it too, as for the season part it may be a strong possibility although i cant say that Kira showed any of those signs when being left before or durng her season ( we only let her have 1 then speyed her) im sure that their hormones are all over the place as ours are during our monthly cycle and we all get a little emotional etc so in my limited opinion i suppose it is possible?? HTH?? :-D

Michelle

I never thought of meat paste!  I love meat paste i.e. tuna paste, sardine and tomato so its something we can both share!  Good thinking batman!

I'm really disorganised too so I bought 2 kongs, that way there tends to be an emergency one in the freezer if I need it!