My dobermann is nearly 9 now, has always been very whiney and likes to know where you are.  Recently his separation seems to be getting worse.  Yesterday I went to the shop, I was gone about 15 minutes and as I was walking back down my road I could hear him howling.  The other day he urinated on my carpet, this was when I came in.  Also last night while I went out for a couple of hours, my two sons and girlfriends were there, he went into the kitchen and stood and looked at my sons girlfriends and he cocked his leg at my clothes airer.  He has never done this before.  But my sons and the girls say that when myself and husband go out he seems to be playing up.  He drags his bed in, shakes his blanket about, then if that doesn't get attention he will knock my vase, or one of my lamps on my side tables.  Nothing has changed in his life.  The only thing was that I wasn't well a couple of weeks ago and so my husband walked him for 4 days instead of me.  Any ideas.

First off get him thoroughly checked by a vet and tell them everything you have written here. Changes in behaviour plus anxiety can be the result of a medical condition, so you want to exclude that first. As dogs get older their hearing can change and this makes old noises sound new and unfamiliar which can make some dogs anxious.

As dogs gets older they can tend to get stuck in a routine and become anxious if these 'rules' of routine are broken. It could be that your short bout of illness has had this effect. I also wonder if any of the children or even your son's girlfriend has got impatient with the dog or told him off? Dobies are very sensitive, as you know. You may just have to go back to a bit of separation training and leave him for short practice bouts but with something he really enjoys to distract him. You are wise to tackle this immediately as this breed can be 'clingy' and prone to separation anxiety. I would really urge you to see your vet first and have a good chat about all this to ensure your dog is healthy.

Thank you for your reply.  I will take him to the vet.  Too late for clingy - he has always been clingy!  Over the years (nearly 9 now) that I have had him I have had various issues with him.  To be honest many of them I have had more help with from champdogs, than the vet.  I may go to a different vet, as with issues I have had with him before I don't feel that the vet have always been that interested - they just put it down to the type of dog he is.  I do think part of his issues are due to myself with him, our first dobie died at 6 with a heart problem, so I do worry lots about him.  I must say though he is more like a puppy than an adult dog.  Also he has never been a dog that sleeps very much - he mainly sleeps at night when we sleep too.  My boys and their girlfriends don't generally get impatient with him, if anything probably we have all been too soft with him.  Anyway hopefully this is nothing.  Yesterday he seemed back to normal, but then there was just me and him all day together.  He definitely doesn't like being apart from us.

He will be quite set in his ways by now and, as you suggest, dobies are masters at manipulating us to get their constant fix of human attention- they just love their people. So long as the vet is happy all I would say is just cool off with him a little, not loads just a tiny bit, but make sure he has access to a really nice chew or something similar. You just want to get him to relax and switch off a bit.

You may want to make sure his thyroid is all ok. I'd really recommend going to Jean Dodds at hemopet for advice on this or find a vet that uses similar measurements to her. Tiny changes in thyroid levels can cause a range of symptoms and behavioural issues. Dobes are one of the breeds that are more prone to autoimmune thyroid issues. However, I am not a vet so please do get him a proper overall health check and say if any changes in his weight, hair condition or loss, appetite, stools/unrination...anything physical or behavioural that is different.

Dobes are sensitive and they are known to be velcro dogs. The watchdog in them drives them to monitor and ensure they don't miss a thing so in one way he is being true to his breed. He possibly doesn't sleep during the day because he's worried about missing something, however he does need some daytime sleep and possibly needs help to switch off. Sometimes without meaning to we can heighten hardwired traits by reinforcing them through attention etc.. I sympathise because it is hard to ignore an attentive, sweet-natured, dobe.

Anyhow, see your vet and if you get really worried I'd advise seeing a behaviourist, just to get some solid advice on how to cool off a bit without stressing him too much.

Good luck

Definitely go with Dr Dodds - she has more precise ranges than our vets, and where behavioural symptoms are concerned sometimes treatment is warranted if the results are still within range, but in the bottom 1/4.  So well worth having that expert interpretation of the levels.

Anxiety is one thing that can increase with low thyroid and indeed I know someone whose dog's separation anxiety was not getting better - she'd make progress then lose it again, and it was only when the dog (who was in that bottom 1/4 of the range) was put on soloxine that she finally improved long term.  He does sound very anxious generally, if he's not sleeping in the day - if everything checks out medically, definitely get someone in (making sure they don't use punishment or aversives, not necessary with any dog but definitely the last thing an anxious dog needs).  It may be that there are other things stressing him out that you've not picked up on, which are contributing to the separation issue/his anxiety in general.

What sort of other issues have you had?  If you can give us an idea it might point to something else, often things can be related or one symptom can be exacerbated by several different causes.