Seperation Anxiety

krlyr

I've just grown up with dogs - only spent about a year without one in my life when I was living in houseshares and couldn't have one of my own (but popped home to walk the family dog a few times a week), and now have two of my own which have provided me with a few challenges and made me have to do some research and learn new stuff. I'm on a couple of dog forums which are invaluable for learning things too, check out Dogpages and Dogsey. Dogpages has lots of trainers and behaviourists on who are willing to give advice, and Dogsey is a bit smaller so I feel it has a little bit more of a community feel to it, I've met up with a few people on there to walk dogs together
The bones sold in petshops are probably cooked and not ideal. Many people feed them without a problem but after a family dog got a shard of roasted bone stuck in her throat (thankfully was fine), I avoid them like the plague. The butcher near where I work gives me marrowbones or other bones in return for a donation to the charity box he has. Otherwise I pick up reduced meat-on-the-bone in supermarkets, or my raw food supplier provides chicken carcasses, wings, legs, as well as lamb ribs and spines. With my two being fed on a raw diet, I feed bone regularly - though not every day (too much bone can cause constipation) as their diet consists of a balance of meat, bone and offal (organs - liver, kidney, lung, etc) but feeding a dog that's on a regular, commercial diet a bone every now and then won't hurt (I'd say once or twice a week, dependant on size of the bone)

And no such thing as a silly question, if you don't know then the only way to find out is to ask!

I would definately find a way to check how he behaves after you leave, my dog with SA wasn't really showing many symptoms before we left (not bothered by us putting shoes on, grabbing keys or bags, etc.) but started barking within minutes of us leaving - but my other dog will do a pitiful yodel (it's a GSD thing, they're quite vocal dogs) if I take the other dog out without him but I've recorded him and the instant the front door closes, he shuts up and lies down calmly until we get home.
If you don't have a camera, try calling your home phone from a mobile (if you've got free minutes to spare) and listening in on him when you leave, you won't be able to see what he's doing but you'll hear any whining or barking.

PuppyLove_2

Thank you, i will have a look on those dog forums as well.

Yes the bones were cooked and i remembered reading that they can splinter and harm the dog. I have a butcher near me so will go tomorrow and see what they can do for me! I presume you can freeze the bones, i think Caroline_a mentioned that she does this further up the thread.

I would love to have 2 dogs, but my mum looks after my pup at her house most of the time when im at work and i think she would kill me if i turned up with another one!

krlyr

I have a chest freezer for their raw meat and I do indeed chuck the bones in there I often feed them straight from the freezer as it makes them a bit more challenging - with the strenth of my two's jaws, they need that extra challenge as they make short work of bones otherwise! You're better off introducing them fresh/defrosted first though, until he gets the hang of them - if you start with them too challenging he may just get bored and leave it.