Separation Anxiety but only away from home


505doxie

New Member
Our male mini doxie is 4 years old. Initially, like any puppy, he didn't like to be left home alone and you'd hear him crying as you drove off. That stopped pretty quickly. He does follow us around the house, but not consistently. In warm months, he'll spend a lot of time outside by himself. And sometimes he's happy to go sit in his bed if you're in another room. Clingy, but not a stalker!

The problem is traveling. When we take him to a 'strange place', all of the separation anxiety behavior comes out IF we step away: chewing/shredding towels or shirts, yelping etc. So, if we take him on vacation with us, he must go EVERYWHERE with us, restaurants etc. We tested leaving him in his crate for 10 min in our cabin last week, and he'd chewed a hole in his towel by the time we returned. If one of us leaves the hotel room, he is fixated on the door until that person returns, even though one of us is still there. He has done the same things if we leave him in the car (only in cool conditions!) but that doesn't always happen.

Does anyone know how to work on this? Obviously, we can't rent hotel rooms and test him for 10 min and return over and over. Any other ways to work on this? We'd love to take him more places but on this last trip, it was really hard to find pet-friendly restaurants in a couple of cities and it'd be nice to be able to leave him in his crate, or the car if cool enough, for an hour.

Thanks!
 

foxycharlotte

New Member
I had this issue with a one of my dogs. Everytime I take a trip now I don't make a big deal about leaving at all. I would try him in the crate without any thing he can shred with just a hefty chew toy for him to vent with. When you go on a trip about 20 minutes before you have to leave to go some where from the room start working with him. Put him in the crate and ignore him if he acts out. Only interact if he is quite and calm. Act just like your getting ready to leave but don't leave. Leave him in the crate for 5-10 minutes and let him out when he is quite. Repeat. When you leave put him in and leave. Do not make a big deal about leaving. This essentially desensitizes him to the sounds and actions you make when your getting ready to leave him in an unfamilar place. Hope this helps you.
 
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