Separation anxiety and dog potty

[chyzar]

Hello, I just joined this community because I am the new proud co-parent of a one-year-old Lhasa Apso named Bear. We got him from his previous owners who needed to make room for a new (human) baby. I looked through the tags and couldn't find anything that quite answered my questions, so sorry if this duplicates old posts at all

Comments

[beethatbumbles]

The crate training should hopefully help him. One way to associate the crate training with good things is to make his crate the place where good things happen. Have him sleep in it, eat in it, get his special toys in it, get treats in it, etc. Getting a kong and filling it with peanut butter or treats gives him something to do while you're away.

[chyzar]

I'm aware of all of these methods, and we have tried all that. He won't sleep in it because he freaks out after only an hour in the crate at night. We tried having him eat in it, but he would rather not eat than eat in the crate. We filled a kong with liver paste (he doesn't like peanut butter) and he would just ignore it if we walked out of the room because his anxiety was so high. He has gotten better about getting absorbed in the kong, which is the only reason he lasts an hour, and then the kong is empty and he starts freaking out again. I did freeze the kong, because otherwise it only lasts five minutes. Treats are completely futile when he's in there because he always ignores treats when he's distracted or anxious. We're thinking of just getting a Great Dane-sized kong and freezing that, to keep him occupied for longer.

[woofbc]

What kind of crate are you using? Where is it located? What kind of bedding is inside? Is the crate covered or not? All these variables can make a difference -- something to play with to see if you can help Bear get more comfortable.

From what you write, it sounds like you are on the right track and doing everything right. The only thing I would add is that whenever you're doing training like this, it's a good idea to vary the length of time you keep the dog in the crate. It shouldn't always be longer and longer -- and the variation should be randomized. For example, if he can usually stay in for 5 minutes with no complaints, you should try doing 1-4-2-3-1-6-2-5-3 kind of schedule, when you are working on getting him ok with it. What I mean by this is put him in the crate for 1 minute, let him out for 5, back in for 4, out for 5, back in for 2, out for 5, back in for 3, out for 5, etc.

For the doggy potty -- I assume you are taking him there first thing in the AM, when you know he has to go?

[chyzar]

Varying the amount of time is a great idea! We'll definitely try that. His crate is the wire kind, and it's at the foot of our bed with a fuzzy dog bed inside. He slept on that bed before we put the crate there. The crate isn't covered, though we're going to try that to see if it helps at all.

Any suggestions on the doggy potty?