My dog is crying when I go out....

blue_monkey_2

happylion1 wrote: »

I have no experience of this technique but it impressed me when it was on tv some years ago. A man had a Jack Russel with separation issues.He saw (whichever tv dog trainer presented the program ) and was told to tape his voice. He recorded his voice by reading a book out loud for an hour. When he was away he left the tape playing in the room. Result one happy dog.
Might help.

I had a think on this when I was cleaning the kitchen this morning. I thought I would tape some general conversation and noise of the kids playing, etc.... but I think she might get more anxious because she can hear us. I might try leaving the TV on instead and the kitchen door open so she can see/hear it.

blue_monkey_2

The other thing, since she weed on the bed last night she has been crying and crying to get back into the bedroom or upstairs. I thought she might have left a bone up there so I let her out of the stairgate and she went straight to our bedroom and got on the bed. So now I've got to make sure the bedroom door stays closed and the gate down stairs closed so she cannot get upstairs.

I wonder if this is a heiarchy thing, that she now seems to have 'claimed' the bed as hers by weeing on it. Is that a daft suggestion??

elsien

I would say to be careful of making too much of a fuss when you go out and when you return, and treat it as a normal occurrence so the dog doesn't learn to get over anxious.
Also if she does trash the place while you're out, don't tell her off. You don't want her to associate you going out and coming back with being chastised or she'll worry even more about you leaving her. Try as stay as neutral as you can ( something I'm not good at when I return to chaos.:o)
I put the radio on for mutt just to give her something to listen to. I was putting it on just when I went out, till I realised she knew that's what it meant and was skulking off and hiding so I couldn't put her in the kitchen, so now I put it one sometimes when I'm home as well. I'd second leaving her in the kitchen which she's used to, maybe with a stuffed kong or something to keep her occupied.
I think you do need to try think of ways to make her less dependent on you, can't offer any advice as it's not a situation I've had to deal with. Probably needs a lot of time and patience to get there.
Don't really go for the heirarchy approach myself - maybe the bed's just comfy and reminds her of you.
Don't beat yourself up about doing things wrong - there isn't a right and wrong way of keeping a dog, as such, because dog's personalities are so variable. Some get clingy, some don't - not necessarily anything you have or haven't done, just how they are, then it's about what you need to do to change things to get them back on an even keel.

blue_monkey_2

Thanks for the message, I am off to get a kong in a minute (via the launderette!!) and yes, that makes sense about telling her off. I will leave her to calm down when we get back and then make a fuss of her - I have to train myself as well, LOL. I am going to give her a treat when I get back to so she nknows something good will come of it.

Apparently we have a 'dog whisperer' who lives in the village who charges £60 for a 2 hour visit. Would it be worth doing this or should I just try myself.

I think I have just spoilt her by being so kind to her, LOL, never saw that coming. I thought it might be her age and getting to a 'teenager' she is due to be spayed after Easter as well, maybe this will change things.

She is a funny old thing though and sulks for ages if I do tell her off. I managed to stop her jumping the kids and knocking them over in the garden though. She has not really been in the garden when they have been playing as we got her in Sept but she knocked both kids down and I shouted at her to get down and sent her to her bed, she tried to get out right away but I said 'bad girl, bed' and when I tried to get her off the bed she refused she sulked for 5 hours til bedtime. Everytime I went into the kitchen she huffed and turned her back on me. :rotfl: :rotfl::rotfl:

mrcol1000

I think you need to remember that she is a dog not a child. Its very easy to see human emotions in animals but you do need to just remember they are an animal and need to be trained and conditioned to act in a certain way. As soon as you start to feel guilt because the dog gives you a certain sad look then the dog will learn to get treats or its own way it just needs to give you that look it will be rewarded. However I must admit Staffs do seem to sulk like little kids. I know when mine is upset as she will lay on her bed with her back to me facing the wall. Saying that after about 20mins you call her and she has no idea why she was sulking and is happy to see you again.
It really sounds like you need to cage the dog while your out until it is confident to be left.

bulchy

Hi, we have a weimaraner pup, these dogs are terrible clingy, and Dexter is no exception :sad: we gradually built up the time we left him alone, started off a few minutes at a time and now hes left alone maybe an hour and a half to two hours at the most. Hes crate trained but I've found the following routine works best for him:-
The days hes left alone longest are mondays and tuesdays, so on these days I will take him for a nice long play orientated walk (no more than 3/4 of an hour though as hes only 7 months old) then an hour before I go out, he gets a short lead walk. When we get home, I fill a bustercube with dry dog food, a variety that is kept just for this, and also stuff a kong with cream cheese, dog biscuits and anything else I have in the fridge thats safe for him to eat. These are left on the worktop so he knows they're there, and hes excited for me going out so he can get started on these. Once I'm ready to go, I just put his treats in the living room, tell him to go get them, and leave. Kids say when they return from school or work hes usually curled up on the sofa
I did once try to leave him in his crate with just the kong and some other safe treats, but he left the kong, howled the place down until he woke my oh up (he does permanent nights and usually sleeps through allsorts of noise) once the oh came downstairs and let him out of the crate, he happily started on his kong
My last weimaraner was from rescue and hated to be left, so I was determined that this pup wasnt going to be the same, so far hes been ok, there has been the odd occaison when hes cried, but theres usually an explanation for this, posties been late and woken him up etc.
Good luck, I hope you can settle your dog.
Sue

blue_monkey_2

Thanks again,

I am back from PAH with a kong and some treats, I am going to start giving her this when we go out.

My friend has made a suggestion that maybe she is having a phantom pregnancy and this is why she is being a bit odd.

Everything she has started doing has started in the last week.

She has started really scrabbling at her bed to get comfy, when we used to let her get on our she would scratch at the duvet as she would not lie on it as it had seams, she would scratch it into a pile and either lay on the sheet or on the underside of the duvet.

Now she started doing this with her bed - she scratched a hole in one of them and there was foam everywhere, but she seems to not be able to get comfortable at all.

Plus she has gone off dried food so she is on cans.

She has just started being, well, odd. My friend also suggested it just might be hormones. She is a doggy person, had dogs all her life, I am new to all this.

Thanks though, it is nice to et suggestions on what is best, I'll get hubby to get the crate out of the loft and see if that works.

blue_monkey_2

Interesting, I googled and just found this:

False pregnancy: The hormonal cycle of the !!!!! assumes that pregnancy has occurred after every cycle, whether or not a mating has taken place. She will therefore experience the physiological changes of pregnancy over the next 2 months. She will have an increase in progesterone production, milk production and an increase in appetite. She may even go into mild labour.

The caregiver may notice physical and emotional changes, particularly 8-9 weeks after her last season. She may exhibit a change in preferred diet to blander food, fluid retention, and a wish not to take her usual amount of exercise, and she may hoard toys and treat them as puppies. There may be restlessness, lack of appetite, panting, trembling, whining and nest-building at the time she would have given birth. There may be a degree of aggression to perceived threats. She will usually return to normal after 2-3 weeks, 48hrs after the birth would have occurred.

How we can help: As this is a physiological occurrence which settles over 2-3 weeks, treatment is rarely needed. If possible try to reduce stimulation of the mammary glands, by reducing stroking and wiping, and not allowing the !!!!! to lick excessively, as these will increase prolactin release and further milk production.

Occasionally the !!!!! may become ill, by producing excessive milk, or other problems. She may need treatment to reduce milk production, such as diuretics or hormone treatment. Although some advocate reduced fluid intake to induce dehydration and reduce milk production, others feel that this may be unsafe.

It is rare (but not unknown) for !!!!!es who are spayed (ovariohysterectomised), to exhibit these changes. Although the majority of the hormones are being produced by the ovaries, some are produced in the adrenal glands.

She finished her season mid of January so I guess this could be possible and it would explain everything. She was sitting next to me and shaking last night, her mammory glands are enlarged but I assumed this was because she had her season and they would stay like that.

When she was crying to get into our room she always had a toy in her mouth.

I wonder if I have found the answer after all.

foreign_correspondent

it could be - poor girl - try and distract her from nesting etc, and get her out on more walks etc to take her mind off it - is she going to be speyed?

blue_monkey_2

Definately yes, I took her to the vets to book her in as I thought it was 3 months after season started but they told me it was 3 months after season had ended so it'll be after Mid April. I'll get her booked in for when the kids will be back at school as she will have peace & quiet then.

She is just curled up and sleeping a lot at the moment but I've been taking her out and playing ball as we have a long garden and I use the ball launcher thing we just bought. Thing is she goes and gets the ball and takes it back to her bed, LOL. we had a walk this morning but she just seems tired all the time.

I'll give it a few weeks and see how things go.

PS. It was cheaper to get a new kingsize duvet than it was to get the other cleaned at the launderette. Makes you wonder really!! Just got to go to the launderette and get the other duvet I left there now.