Our dog has changed over the past few weeks.  He has never liked being left for very long (and it isn't often that we do leave him because at weekends if we go out my teenage son or daughter is usually in.   I am leaving him on average 30-40 mins a day and when I come back he has usually messed in the kitchen and is panting like mad.  I clean the mess up and don't say anything to him and then he wants to lie outside to calm down.  I am wondering whether all this stressing is going to harm him and make him worse and if so can anybody suggest anything that might help him.  I have started to let him sleep in my daughters room at night because he was creating through the night and I didn't want him to wake our neighbours up but through the day they are usually out so do you think I so just leave him longer and he will get used to it eventually.  I have got his crate out of the shed and made it like a little den for him to go in and he seems to like it but I don't know what else to do. 

Suggestions anyone??

so sorry your still having problems anna bad night last night?
dont give up so easily you must continue with the same routine other wise your likely to confuse him.

Roni

Hi Roni,

No he is fine at night as long as he is with my 13 year old daughter, we don't hear a whimper from him now at night :-)

Daytime is the worst problem, I have left him twice this morning for about 30-40 mins each time whilst I take daughter to nursery and pick her up again afterwards (it is a 15 min walk each way) and he pooed the first time I left him and weed the second time (although he had been in the garden once this morning)   I don't feel that he is doing it on purpose to get his own way, he is just generally stressed.  I suppose I am finding it hard because our other dog who was a GSD was fantastic at nights and if we left him for a few hours and this one is totally different.   He is a happy little dog otherwise except if anyone argues and then he looks a bit nervous.  Its not as if he has ever been shouted at because he hasn't and has never been smacked or anything.

Hi Anna,
Can't remember how old your dog is - sorry :rolleyes:   A friend's 7 year old happy, laid back bitch suddenly developed symptoms such as you describe and literally changed her behaviour overnight.  For a couple of days they tried different ways of calming her and tried to work out if something had happened overnight to startle her that they weren't aware of.  Their vet took urine and blood samples and also sold them a DAP diffuser for use while awaiting results.  Within 24 hours of using it the bitch was back to normal :)   She used to sleep in the utility room overnight but they plug it in their hallway and have her dog bed close to it.  She then had access to their bedrooms if she was distressed during the night and they'd be able to hear her easily anyway.  They've now been using it for almost 2 weeks, she sleeps in her own bed happily right under the DAP, and her behaviour has never reverted and they settled for a phone call to the vet who confirmed (in their case anyway) the test results were normal.
I'd still recommend a vet check to rule out medical reasons - but above just goes to show that healthy dogs can become strangely affected and the DAP can be a turning point.  Good luck, Teri :)

Hi Teri,

Thanks for replying :-)  He is a 14 month old Bichon Frise. He was fine until after the easter holidays and the wingeing started when I began to leave him again after the holidays.  The wingeing doesn't matter so much through the daytime because next door are usually out.  It the panting that bothers me and the constantly jumping up and down at the doggate which is between the living room and the kitchen.  The DAP diffuser sounds like an excellent idea.  Are they only available from the vets and you wouldn't know how much they are would you?

Thanks again,
Anna

Hi Anna,

You can buy them from some retail pet stores but you'll probably find one cheaper on line if you just google for it ;)  I think my friend said she found it around the £20 mark and refills around £14 - both of which worked out quite a bit cheaper than what she paid from the vet so she bought a couple of refills because she reckons they'll be great for later in the year for thunder storms fireworks etc (only thing her girl doesn't normally cope well with).   Apparently their neighbourhood had a bad thunder storm about a week after she'd begun using the DAP and her bitch was absolutely fine so they're all hooked on it :P

For the original problem the symptoms were mainly stress panting constantly and digging to get out of a room when left alone (previously she had never behaved like this) and basically whining and was unsettled all night long even if they took her into the bedroom - as I said she got an immediate turn around to normal behaviour within just 24 hours although I think it recommends that use is for 6 weeks (maybe 12 - hopeless memory!)  Regards, Teri

Anna,
My 9 yr old X collie has the same symptoms as your dog if not worse? :(
He has been like it since we got him bk from vets, he stayed in for a week and was very poorly. I think he associates us leaving him with the vets now? We have tried a lot of remedies you can get from pets at home. and am waiting for a DAP diffuser. I got it off Ebay for £18 inc P&P :)
In the meantime someone told me(on this forum -Jumbuck) to try and use this homeopathic remedy called Ignatia? You can get it from health food shops. I will let you know if we get positive results.

Hi Karlai,

Thanks for replying.  Sorry for taking so long to get back to you but I have only just seen your reply.  I have decided not to get the diffuser after asking for some peoples opinions on them and they seem to suggest that they aren't much good although they probably do work for some dogs.  I have put some rescue remedy in his drinking water last night and he did seem a little bit calmer this morning :-)    I have not heard of Ignatia, I wonder if it is something like rescue remedy that you can put in their water or something.  Let me know how you get on with it and hope your poor collie is feeling much better soon. :-)

Ignatia comes in tablet form. Very easy to give and dogs like the taste so no problems giving them. You need 30c potency to give to the dog. Try it for a few days and see how it works. It is not harmful to the dog in any way. You do not need to give it long term. If the dog needs a top up, just give a couple over a few days and the body will recognise it.

Hi Jumbuck,

Thanks for the info :-)   Do Holland and Barretts sell them do you think?  I will have to have a trip out at weekend and get some.

Thanks again,

Anna, its day four on ignatia tablets and what an improvement! he no longer howls for the whole day but now just sits and whimpers. we have made him a little 'den' in the kitchen and he now feels a bit safer. occassionally he will whimper and cry when he hears noises outside? cars and ppl talking?
I am goin to start weaning him off them now, see how he gets on.
I now have the DAP diffuser? but havent used it yet.

Hi Karlai,

Glad they seem to be helping your Collie.  I will try and get some at the weekend. :-)

Hi Anna
Might it be worth changing his routine a bit ?. I know my dog would prefer not to do his toilet in the garden and waits until he is out for his walk. My priority is to get him walked and comfortable as soon as I am up and dressed - he hangs on, even if the back door is open. I know it's difficult if you have to take your little one to nursery, but as it's a 30-40 minute walk why not take your dog with you ?. When you leave the house in the morning he might be getting stressed because he knows he needs to go to the toilet but you have left him. You could then start leaving him for short amounts of time during the rest of the day, knowing that he doesn't need to relieve himself. I also leave a radio on when I go out hoping it covers any outside noise which might confuse and upset him and stop him from barking. I never fuss him by saying goodbye - it's radio on, treat thrown in his bed and another in his toybox !.
Good luck.

Val

Hi Val,

Thanks for your reply :-)  He doesn't seem to mind toileting in the garden as this is where he nearly always does it.  He usually goes first thing and thats another reason why I couldn't really take him to nursery because if he did it on the way I don't think that the parents at nursery would appreciate me walking in with a bag of dog poo (and there are also a few parents there who are very anti-dog and would complain) as there are no doggy bins on the way :-(  also it is quite a rush in the morning and with two schools and a nursery on the same stretch of road there are cars and children zooming about everywhere and he would probably get trodden on or something by all the children walking up the hill to the junior school as we are walking down the hill to the infant school.   I have started taking him for an off lead run when I go back to nursery at 11.30 and then put him on the lead and then proceed to the nursery and he seems to enjoy this.  Another reason is that in the morning I have to take my child into the nursery and when I tie him up outside th nursery he goes mad, barking and crying until I come out again and sometimes it can be up to 10 minutes that I am in there.

I do put the radio on for him though and have done since last October when he was castrated and started howling for a few nights after the anaestetic