Hi everyone, We adopted a one year old labradoodle (what the shelter told us, though the vet said she's likely older than one, and others tell us she may not be a labradoodle) three weeks ago. She's super sweet, but has serious separation anxiety issues. The first week, we left her alone for two hours before we realized that she had these issues. She was left in a room with a kitty door on it (we don't have a cat though) and she chewed through the door, ripping the plastic apart, so that she could fit through it. She was totally upset when I came back - panting, excited - and I noticed hair and blood smears on and around the door. So we haven't left her totally unsupervised since. We've tried the "leave and come right back" routine, extending it by a few seconds each time. That works, but then when we do it again the following day, it seems like we have to start all over again. (For example, if I went up to one minute the first time, the next time I start, I have to start at less than one minute because she will start getting upset). We also had a trainer come in this weekend, and she said to just leave her alone in 15 minute periods, because the anxiety usually peaks at 15 minutes. I tried this yesterday, with a peanut butter kong, and she starts crying after about 30 seconds, howling after 2 minutes, and full on barking/crying/howling soon after. I would come back in whenever she would take a little break in her crying. But I don't think that she peaks at 15 minutes and stops - it just keeps going. And now when she sees the kong, she gets upset.Also, we noticed some other "issues" that she has. When she meets other dogs she doesn't sniff the butt, but the face -- and then she gets scared and in an off leash park - she runs away as far as she can (and it takes a while to call her back). She will also rarely play with her stuffed toys, but when she does, she whines (little whines, but still - it seems odd). She doesn't like playing often and most times she won't fetch (but sometimes she does). So, basically, I'm worried that she is anxious all the time.Sorry this is long, but I just want her to know that she is okay here.Thanks for reading and any help you can offer! Patty from PA
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Hi everyone, We adopted a one year old labradoodle (what the shelter told us, though the vet said she's likely older than one, and others tell us she may not be a labradoodle) three weeks ago. She's super sweet, but has serious separation anxiety issues. The first week, we left her alone for two hours before we realized that she had these issues. She was left in a room with a kitty door on it (we don't have a cat though) and she chewed through the door, ripping the plastic apart, so that she could fit through it. She was totally upset when I came back - panting, excited - and I noticed hair and blood smears on and around the door. So we haven't left her totally unsupervised since. We've tried the "leave and come right back" routine, extending it by a few seconds each time. That works, but then when we do it again the following day, it seems like we have to start all over again. (For example, if I went up to one minute the first time, the next time I start, I have to start at less than one minute because she will start getting upset). We also had a trainer come in this weekend, and she said to just leave her alone in 15 minute periods, because the anxiety usually peaks at 15 minutes. I tried this yesterday, with a peanut butter kong, and she starts crying after about 30 seconds, howling after 2 minutes, and full on barking/crying/howling soon after. I would come back in whenever she would take a little break in her crying. But I don't think that she peaks at 15 minutes and stops - it just keeps going. And now when she sees the kong, she gets upset.Also, we noticed some other "issues" that she has. When she meets other dogs she doesn't sniff the butt, but the face -- and then she gets scared and in an off leash park - she runs away as far as she can (and it takes a while to call her back). She will also rarely play with her stuffed toys, but when she does, she whines (little whines, but still - it seems odd). She doesn't like playing often and most times she won't fetch (but sometimes she does). So, basically, I'm worried that she is anxious all the time.Sorry this is long, but I just want her to know that she is okay here.Thanks for reading and any help you can offer! Patty from PA
This really answered my problem, thank you!
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