Could someone please advise?  I have 3 golden retrievers, a mother and her two daughters by different litters.  The youngest (who is just 2) has always been a bad chewer (or should I say a good chewer!), and had just grown out of it when our whole routine changed with a litter of pups.  This meant that I was home virtually the whole time, and now that life has gone back to normal and they are being left occasionally, she has started to chew up her bedding when I go out.  To make this worse, her mother has decided to join in.  Recently they have started this behaviour even if there are other people in the house;it seems to be me going that triggers it.

I have used a DAP diffuser, I leave the radio on and I try not to fuss them too much when I go in or out.  If I had a single dog with the same problem I would leave food toys, like a stuffed kong, but am worried that they might bicker over the food if I try this.  I could take away their bedding when I go out so that they can't chew it, but they might start on something else, and it won't solve the underlying problem.  They have the run of the downstairs; I have an outside run but they barked when left there.

Sorry this is so long, but could someone please help?  Thanks.

Hi Jan
I know what your going through have a 14 month leo who loves to chew though  she dosnt do it all the time. I give them sterile bones to chew on when im out and she is fine, my girl tends to chew at night the others dont.
You could try to leave the house for 2 minutes only, dont talk or make fuss of her before you go or when you come back. (Dont even look at her) I would do this about 4 times a day. When she is ok with this increase the time
Good Luck!!!

An interesting point was raised today at the Wag and Bone show by Peter Neville about 'seperation anxiety' - that often dogs diagnosed with this were in actual fact taking advantage of the opportunity to indulge in their fav activity when their owners weren't around - there there is no stress involved, so a DAP defuser won't have any effect .......

Hi

I have a dog suffering a bit of seperation anxiety. It came about because we moved. I've read an article about this, unfortunately its in danish, so cant give you a link:-(

But I can tell you what a behavourist said in the article: You have to go back and start training all over again.

Get dog to sit on her/his favourite blanket, walk a few steps away, go back and praise (if the dogs stay seated), walk a bit further, go back and praise. Keep extending. If the dog gets up, you have to take a step back and try again. The dog needs to be activated more. Make some tracks or field searches. More exercise and any contact during the day has to be on your initiative not the dogs.

This has helped on a young couples dog. I'm going to try this on Luna as I have 2 weeks vacation starting tomorrow. The only thing is I dont know how long I shall do these things. I mean what would u guys think? 10 minutes 10 times a day or 1 hour 3 or 4 times a day? I dont want to overdue it!

Oh and during the time you train this, the dog cannot be left alone unless part of the exercise!

Dont know if you can  use this, but I'm going to give it a try anyway.

Jeanette