Weird Separation Anxiety in Rehomed Dog

gettingtheresometime

We've recently welcomed a dog into our home, arranged through a breed specific rehoming centre.

Everything is going as expected, boundaries are being set etc but something weird happened yesterday and wondered if anyone had any ideas on how to handle this.

Went for a walk & on the way back we stopped at a pub. I went to get the drinks whilst OH got the dog out of the car. Came back, everything is fine. A man on the next table got up to go the bar & the dog howled the place down & started pulling to get to him. Calmed the dog down. Man on another table got up & walked away and the same thing happened. This continued everytime someone walked away from us. 

This happened again today when we were at a breed meet - someone left the secure field & he howled the place down even though we were standing next to him.

If we're out walking & someone passes us, he does look back but then it's almost a shrug of the shoulders & he  continues walking on fine. If one of us has gone out, he's always enthusiastic in his greetings.

if anyone can suggest how to deal with this it would be much appreciated

elsien

How long have you had him for? Just wondering if he needs more time to settle in with you before you do pubs, meets and other bigger experiences. 
The advice is generally if they've got upset, it's already too late. You need to acclimatise them before it gets to that point. Quite how you do that here, I have no idea.
If you are on facebook, the group Dog Training Advice and Support is very good. Run by qualified behaviourists, with only positive methods - they have guides which you need to read then can ask a question if you feel your circumstances haven't been covered. 

gettingtheresometime

We've only had him a couple of weeks but already he's stopped pulling, will sit when we're getting his food ready & until we've put it down for him & although he still hawks when we're eating, he's stopped drooling (which is a major plus😌).

it was the going frantic when complete strangers walked away from us flummoxed us.

I'll have a look for that fb group so thank you 

elsien

I would suggest a couple of weeks is too soon to be taking him to pubs and playdates - he's still sussing you and the environment out. Just my opinion though.
Are you aware of the trigger stacking concept?
Trigger-stacking-and-coping-thresholds-fact-sheet-2020-1.pdf (foreverhoundstrust.org)

In our case it meant that Gitdog was fine saying hello to one dog, ok with the second dog, then meeting a third dog was completely frying his brain and he'd lose the plot and start pulling and howling. Just as an example.

sheramber

he has probably not bonded with you yet to get confidence from your presence.

Do you know his background? What happened that he ended up in rescue? Did he go into kennels or a foster home or was it a direct rehoming from one home to the other?

That information may help to find the cause of his upset and how to help him.

My first thought is that he was traumatised by being abandoned by the previous owner- even of handed over to the rescue in his eyes he was abandoned. He suddenly lost his owner, his home and all he knew.

He associates someone leaving with that experience.

His breed may also have a bearing on how he is reacting. Some breeds are more sensitive than others. The breed rescue should be able to give you advice.

I always let my dogs settle in for at least three weeks before introducing them to the big outside world. 
 

gettingtheresometime

sheramber said:

he has probably not bonded with you yet to get confidence from your presence.

Do you know his background? What happened that he ended up in rescue? Did he go into kennels or a foster home or was it a direct rehoming from one home to the other?

That information may help to find the cause of his upset and how to help him.

My first thought is that he was traumatised by being abandoned by the previous owner- even of handed over to the rescue in his eyes he was abandoned. He suddenly lost his owner, his home and all he knew.

He associates someone leaving with that experience.

His breed may also have a bearing on how he is reacting. Some breeds are more sensitive than others. The breed rescue should be able to give you advice.

I always let my dogs settle in for at least three weeks before introducing them to the big outside world. 
 

We know a little about his background in the sense that he was left, after his owners returned to work after lockdown, for the day crated and was crated during the night but really don't know how much they interacted with him in between.

We'd known the rehoming co-ordinator for ages and he was aware that we wanted a dog of his age/breed so when his family gave him up, we were contacted and asked if we wanted to meet him ....and as you can guess the rest is history. What probably has made the rehoming even more traumatic for him is that he literally came to us with nothing, so he had nothing familiar with him

You may have a point about his breed having a factor - he, like our previous dog of the same breed - wants to be near you but happy to be away from you as well.

I hadn't thought of the trigger stacking aspect Elsien but it does make perfect sense. Perhaps we read his signs all wrong and thought he was settling in far better than he was.

We are making small progress with him though - when the husband (more than me, so I'm not sure how to take that!) has left in the past, he's gone frantic but today when the husband left, he did whine for about 30 seconds and then went outside to the garden. It's a small victory but I'll take it.

sheramber

Poor dog. He is probably very insecure. He needs time to learn that he is safe now.


Do you have a leaving routine?

I have one for my dogs.

I tell them 'you stay home'. So they don't get all excited about going out. 

As I left them in the kitchen where their beds were I gave them a  biscuit in their bed. Then I shut the door and left.

He used to run to his bed and sit waiting for his biscuit, when we said 'you stay home'.

My last one got upset when either of us left without him- he considered we had forgotten- unless we went through that routine.

When my husband went to work he would go through the routine before he left. Five minutes later I would open the door and let him through and he was quite happy.

If my husband left without going through the routine the dog would  lie at the door and whine because he had been left, despite the fact that I was there.

Set up your own routine .

Practice with short absences and build up the time.

I think it was  elsien that put up a post about a leaving routine. You may find it if you search back this thread or she may see this and post it again.

You can get calming collars and sprays which you can spray on a bandana, That might be worth looking into. ( Adaptil, Pet Remedy are two)

gettingtheresometime

sheramber said:

Poor dog. He is probably very insecure. He needs time to learn that he is safe now.


Do you have a leaving routine?

I have one for my dogs.

I tell them 'you stay home'. So they don't get all excited about going out. 

As I left them in the kitchen where their beds were I gave them a  biscuit in their bed. Then I shut the door and left.

He used to run to his bed and sit waiting for his biscuit, when we said 'you stay home'.

My last one got upset when either of us left without him- he considered we had forgotten- unless we went through that routine.

When my husband went to work he would go through the routine before he left. Five minutes later I would open the door and let him through and he was quite happy.

If my husband left without going through the routine the dog would  lie at the door and whine because he had been left, despite the fact that I was there.

Set up your own routine .

Practice with short absences and build up the time.

I think it was  elsien that put up a post about a leaving routine. You may find it if you search back this thread or she may see this and post it again.

You can get calming collars and sprays which you can spray on a bandana, That might be worth looking into. ( Adaptil, Pet Remedy are two)

We haven't left him yet on his own - we felt that was a step too far atm.

We do realise that it's something we're going to have to tackle sooner rather than later, especially as we want to build up the time rather than do it in one big hit.

The one positive is that he now sees the crate (that we had kept) as a place that he can choose to go to rather than a place he's forced to go into.

I will search for that thread so thank you for the heads up.

elsien

I don't have a formal leaving routine, so it wasn't me who put it up before.
I do however have a dog who understands that when I'm running round the house swearing, looking for keys and picking up my handbag, he is going to be on his own imminently. 
There is something called the flitting game which helps with separation anxiety and building up to them being comfortable. 
This is one example of how it can work, the idea being always to wait till your dog is comfortable with one step before going onto the next.
Just posted this because it seemed the most comprehensive link - there are others.

Alone training with your dog - Weimaraner Club of Great Britain

You could probably adapt it in time for people to be leaving, if you can get some stooge people and dogs to support. 

Brie

random thought - were the two men that caused the howling similar in any way?  And maybe similar to his previous owner?  I wonder if he'd act the same if a woman got up and walked away?  Or a slim man instead of a fat one or whatever??

(sorry - I'm a cat person really...)

gettingtheresometime

Hi 

just wanted to give up an update.

we've had the pooch now nearly 6 weeks and he's definitely become one of the family; we've kept to a routine and this has seems to have helped him settle.

He's not as frantic when one of us (especially OH) leaves  and we've taken him to a couple of beer gardens after long walks & we haven't had a repeat performance (though I think the doggy equivalent of a bag of crisps helps!) 

We've been to another breed meet as well and again nothing.

He's a lovely dog & has a lovely temperament....now if only I could cure his counter surfing......