Hi All

I have got a 4 yr old westie who i am having trouble with howling and whining when we leave him during the day, he is fine at night and settles down in his pen and goes to sleep as good as gold, i have kept him in his pen since a puppy because when we left him out of this he started to mess around the room. He was fine up until we moved house around 14 months ago and then the problems started with the whining and howling, he left off for a little while and then has started up again, nothing different has changed we have always left him every morning until lunchtime because i work mornings and the rest of my family work nights so they are in bed during the day, this is now turning out to be a big problem because he is waking them up in the morning when i leave the house and he then whines and howls for around 1 hr, i have spoken to different people about this who have told me their dogs do not do this when left, some people have said to go back into the room and shout no at him loudly and then spray him with water to stop him doing this but i am not sure whether this would work, i have got to do something with him because he is affecting the family now, the neighbours have complained a few times where they can hear him and i have apologised for this.
As a puppy he was always such a good boy and i just cannot understand why he has started to do this now, he was castrated last year and also suffers from skin allergies and is on atopica to control this, he has been on this drug for over 1 yr now and i have asked my vet if it could be the drug but he said no.
We have noticed that he whines if he is in the garden on his own and also if 1 of us leaves the room he whines aswell which he never used to do, this is the 1st dog i have ever had so i am not sure whether this is normal or not but from local people with dogs that i have spoken to they say that this is not right for an adult dog to whine and howl when left.
Any advice i would be very grateful for as we cannot go on like this because my family are not getting their sleep in the mornings and i just don't know what to do with him.
He is a good boy most of the time but this is something i don't know how to deal with, up to now i have just ignored him and shut the door and left him but this does not seem to be working.

Thanks

Hi :)

I would think by the sound of it that your dog was unsettled by the house move and needs reassurance, certainly not yelling at and squirting with water so I'm glad you've not taken that advice. :)

I think I would try the following when you're at home and no-one is trying to sleep.  Warn the neighbours beforehand that you're trying to sort the problem out so could they please bear with you for a while.  Put your dog in a separate room, maybe with a child gate so he can still see you.  Don't go back to him if he starts making a noise but as soon as he is quiet, go back in and praise him lavishly.  Keep repeating this, leaving your return slightly longer each time.  Once he is confident he won't be left for long and you will return, hopefully you'll be able to gradually extend the periods he is left.  As someone mentioned on here recently, you could also try leaving an item of clothing with your scent on it with him which might help to reassure him.

You do have my sympathies, nothing worse than a whining howling dog driving you round the bend.  Hope this helps.

PS  Sorry to hear about your boy's skin problems, sadly this seems common with Westies.  Have you ever considered trying raw feeding?  Not everyone will agree but I think vaccinations can also have an adverse effect.

Hi

I am currently feeding Hamish naturediet which he seems to be doing very well on, he has got a number of food allergies and we were feeding him a complete kibble which it turned out was making him worse, since being on the naturediet he has come on in leaps and bounds which is such a good result and he loves the naturediet aswell, his skin is also controlled with atopica which has worked wonders we were in a really bad situation last year and it looked like he would have to be PTS where his skin was so bad and steroids and all other drugs weren't working but luckily the atopica worked wonders and he has gone from strength to strength with his skin, he has 1 tablet every day and we have not been able cut it down to every 2-3 days as his skin errupts again but the vet is concerned about his innoculations and keeps on that he must have them as recently there has been an outbreak of parvo in our area but he must come off the atopica for 2 weeks before the jabs and 2 weeks after which isn't an option and also i have looked into it and found out the jabs can make their skin errupt again so i have chosen not to innoculate, i know about the risks but feel this is the best option as his immune system is compromised anyway and he is not fully healthy.
Thanks for your advice

Helen

Hi Helen,

Poor Hamish, sounds like he was really bad before the atopica :(.  I don't think steroids help with skin problems - they tend to stop the problem while the dog has them but then it returns as soon as they stop.  Dogs shouldn't be vaccinated while on them either.  Glad to hear he is doing better on Naturediet - does seem to indicate that different foods could be a factor with his skin problems.

Can I ask if the parvo cases in your area were definitely confirmed as being parvo?  Only some illnesses with parvo like symptoms are sometimes misdiagnosed.  Have you considered titre testing?  This is a blood test which checks whether a dog actually needs a booster for parvo, distemper or hepatitis.  I had my dog tested last year and his levels of protection were very high.  Glasgow Uni do a test for around £25 - one blood sample used to test for antibodies to all three diseases.  Would at least allow you to make an informed decision regarding boostering.

Do let me know if my previous advice helps you and Hamish.

Too late to edit but just wanted to add a link to the Glasgow Uni pricelist - http://www.gla.ac.uk/companion/Pricelist.pdf.  You need to look at the section on Canine Infectious Diseases and the test you would want is for CPV, CDV and CAV antibodies.  You would need to ask your vet what his/her additional charges would be for extracting the blood and sending it off to the University.  Some charge a lot more than others!

Think this is very good advice Annie ns. Westies do tend to have lots of skin problems, my vet who is a referal dermatologist also says they are his bread and butter.

I think like Anni says it's a case of separating yourself from your boy for very short amounts of time, going back to him after a minute or two but don't make a fuss of him, build the time left alone up over a period of time during the day and I wouldn't let him follow you around  all of the time when you are in either. At night have a routine be it going out to do your 'business', biscuit and bed, again don't make a fuss of him when leaving him.

Has he his own place to sleep at night ? If in a cage I would not shut him in as this will add to his anxiety. There are various things you can try, music or a talk radio station left on quietly during the night, aboistop bark collars, they spray either air or citronella spray when the dog barks. You could also leave him with a stuffed kong or bone to occupy him.

I hope this helps and hope that your peace is restored at night soon.

Hi

Hamish doesn't do this at night but only during the day when he is left, as soon as i shut the door to the utility room he starts howling and whining and continues this for around 1hr on and off, he wasn't like this as a puppy so i cannot understand why he is like this now, it seems only since he had his skin trouble really bad that this started, i know westies are prone to this skin condition but its such a shame to see them like this.
We have got to shut him into a pen because if we don't he then messes in the utility room as we have tried leaving him out thinking this may stop him but he still howls and whines and then as i say messes aswell.

Thanks again
Helen

Sorry Helen, I re-read your post and now realise that it is during the day. I would still try the little and often approach though of leaving him for short amounts of time.

Sounds as if he is going through seperation anxiety, I have a bitch  (westie) who is 6 and if I go out of the room she will go "yip yip" and whine, until she sees me again and I have baby gates in the house so she can see whats going on.  Funnily enough mine just does this when we go into different rooms in the house, she does not do it when I go out of the house, so  he will probably sense that there are people still in the house and wants to be with them, can you not cage him in one of the bedrooms with whoever works nights, this might work as he will be reassured that there is someone with him.

When I leave Molly in the morning I fill a 'doggy tyre' with a few biscuits/dry food/chew snacks etc. Just before I leave the house I put the tyre in her bed & she is so busy flipping the tyre in the air looking for goodies she doesn't even know I've gone. She looks forward to this week day mornings. Perhaps a simular distraction may help your little one.