Dog Advice Needed

argonne · April 2014

beff12 said:

Great suggestions! For everyone that said crate, we tried that with Milo when we first got him. We bought the biggest crate we could find and he absolutely flipped out. I'm sure that obedience training would help with that, too! I honestly think that would be the best solution.

If anyone has advice on crating, I'll gladly take it!

We keep his heavy duty chew toys in the kitchen - a big rubber bone and then a big rubber thing that looks like a dumbbell haha. We've tried rawhides before and he loooves them, but they don't last him a very long time!

Crate training should be done slowly. When you are home, have the crate in a common area where he's not isolated. Make it comfy, put some bones in there, etc. reward him for going in on his own and don't close the door until he gets comfortable going in and out on his own (these may take days or weeks). Once he's used to the crate, make your first time away while he's crated short and build from there. Crating is so much easier when it's been done since the puppy stage, but it's not impossible for an older dog to get the hang of and, eventually, love (crates can offer a very secure feeling to a dog).

hope1017 · April 2014

I'm currently in school to become a dog trainer so here is my advise from what I have learned so far...because of the circumstances make sure the dog gets exercise before you leave and when you get home, they need at least 45 minutes of exercise daily. Like many others have posted use a Kong toy, I recommend a black Kong due to his ability to chew things. Fill it up with peanut butter before going to sleeping and put it in the freezer, this helps to keeps the dog occupied for a longer period of time. Once you have time make sure you train him, it's very important for your husband to be in the same page, if he shows up to classes, great if not make sure you talk to him about what you have learned so both of you are giving him the same discipline and he doesn't get confused.

shanaynerz · April 2014

Definitely training. Has he ever been in a crate? We Crate-trained our two Labs. Our oldest is pretty perfect in the house when it comes to destructive behaviour, but our youngest cannot be trusted. Whenever we leave the house we lock her in her crate (ideally for no more than 5 hours at a time). She loves it in there; we call it her "house" and she goes in there by choice quite often. Or if we leave her out we lock all the doors and put everything she may get into away.

Also, could you take him to doggy daycare if he's home alone very long? When I was in school I took them to daycare because I personally found it cruel leaving them home alone all day, and then they socialize and have fun and are exhausted.

kwh33ls · April 2014

beff12 said:

kwh33ls said:
Oh! Another suggestion that has worked wonders for our pooch are Calm K9 biscuits. They have all natural herbal stuff...chamomile and stuff like that. Our spazzy boy becomes our sleepy snuggle boy when he has even a half of one of those on board. We got them in our monthly bark box a while back, and swear by them.

Bark box, incidentally, is maybe the coolest thing ever.
@kwh33ls‌, what kind of dog do you have? I love this idea! I shared it with DH and he wondered how big your dog is. Milo is a 90-pounder, so we wondered if it would have a different effect on him!

We have a smaller guy--a puggle..but the biscuits are given by weight. He gets a half, but a dog your size would probably get one and a half or two (I can look at the container). Clancey loves them and they don't knock him out totally, but have definitely helped with his separation anxiety.

beff12 · April 2014

Luckynumbers81 said:

DH suggests pheromone collars. He got some free samples and they worked well on my dog who suddenly developed a phobia of going outside after being bit by something (fire ant, maybe).

Also, he suggests exercise as many PPs have mentioned and dominance training, not necessarily obedience training. He says that the dog is most likely experiencing separation anxiety, which is not because he is fearful for himself, alone, instead he is fearful that his human is helpless without him and he is not with his human to make sure they are safe and sound.

He said that dominance training helps establish you as a clear leader and will help him freak out less when you leave. Then of course he added that Milo is not one of his patients so that is his best guess given the situation.

We have a man nearby that did dominance training with one of our friends' dogs. He used to train police dogs and has since retired, and now runs a dog "boot camp." Thanks for the suggestion - I wasn't sure if Milo would benefit from dominance training or not! When our friends picked up their dog from boot camp, they said he was a different animal and they've had zero problems with him since. Perhaps Milo just needs some dominance training! Thanks for the suggestions!

brewbecks · April 2014

We bring our dogs to daycare Tuesdays and Thursdays and they are so tired on Wednesday and Fridays they spend the entire day sleeping to recover! It's a life saver and not too unreasonable! It also gets out all of their energy they have built up.

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