5am and the dogs still crying
Discussion
5am in the morning and after some advice. Our dog is a 1 1/2 year old jack Russell unfortunately the other half has babied him all her life and we have just moved into a new place. Dog would destroy the house if left on his own in the old place so we've decided to try and crate train him as a last resort. He will happily sleep in his crate if it is next to us without a problem. However tonight is the first night he is fully out the doorway (inched back bit by bit) he slept fine for an hour or two but has cried constantly since banging on the cage trying to escape. Bit at my whits end as if this doesn't work out we will have to look at rehoming him as we cannot afford to have him damage the new place. He does suffer from extreme seperation anxiety. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers 
I have a 9 month old Jack Russell (my first dog) who suffered from separation anxiety. I put this down to us having him around either myself or my parther 24/7. We didn't give him his own space so he followed us everywhere. We love him and the following felt great to us but we worried there would be problems for him if we had to step out of the house for an hour or so.
So slowly but surely we built up the time span to give him independence. We started off putting him in another room, with toys or a kong and leaving him for a short time. We would open and close the front door (he could not see this action as he was in his own room) so he would get used to the sound. We would extend the time by 5 minutes each time. We would constantly open and shut the front door in front of him, but not actually going anywhere. This helped him get over the heightened state of anxiety every time we went near or outside the door.
We then moved up to letting him watch us go out the front door, and gradually extended the time away. We started using the sit command, opening the door and walking a few feet outside, but still in view. After time we would hide around the corner out of sight. The next stage was walking out and shutting the door, each time extending the period away.
We can now leave him while we go shopping with no problems. He's a pup and we expect him to struggle adapting to a human lifestyle from time to time.
The post above strikes a cord. Exercise, exercise, exercise. My pup is at his best when we have done our job properly and given him sufficient stimulation both mental and physical. Jacks are very, very clever...he's acting up because he's not happy.
So slowly but surely we built up the time span to give him independence. We started off putting him in another room, with toys or a kong and leaving him for a short time. We would open and close the front door (he could not see this action as he was in his own room) so he would get used to the sound. We would extend the time by 5 minutes each time. We would constantly open and shut the front door in front of him, but not actually going anywhere. This helped him get over the heightened state of anxiety every time we went near or outside the door.
We then moved up to letting him watch us go out the front door, and gradually extended the time away. We started using the sit command, opening the door and walking a few feet outside, but still in view. After time we would hide around the corner out of sight. The next stage was walking out and shutting the door, each time extending the period away.
We can now leave him while we go shopping with no problems. He's a pup and we expect him to struggle adapting to a human lifestyle from time to time.
The post above strikes a cord. Exercise, exercise, exercise. My pup is at his best when we have done our job properly and given him sufficient stimulation both mental and physical. Jacks are very, very clever...he's acting up because he's not happy.
Edited by Badabing on Thursday 29th August 08:13
This is not his fault, so it is very unfair to talk of rehoming, not fair on potential new owners either as they will inherit the problem.
Why was this not an issue before? Why can't he sleep in your room? How much exercise does he get, most Jacks don't get anywhere near enough!!
How long have you been trying for? All that you have described is a huge change for an adult dog, it's going to take weeks to months to solve. What attempts have made to help him with his Anxiety's before?
Finally get a behaviourist to help you. Ask your local vet if they know of one they can suggest. Asking on here is a good first step but you will get conflicting opinions which will not help.
Why was this not an issue before? Why can't he sleep in your room? How much exercise does he get, most Jacks don't get anywhere near enough!!
How long have you been trying for? All that you have described is a huge change for an adult dog, it's going to take weeks to months to solve. What attempts have made to help him with his Anxiety's before?
Finally get a behaviourist to help you. Ask your local vet if they know of one they can suggest. Asking on here is a good first step but you will get conflicting opinions which will not help.
This is not his fault, so it is very unfair to talk of rehoming, not fair on potential new owners either as they will inherit the problem.
Why was this not an issue before? Why can't he sleep in your room? How much exercise does he get, most Jacks don't get anywhere near enough!!
How long have you been trying for? All that you have described is a huge change for an adult dog, it's going to take weeks to months to solve. What attempts have made to help him with his Anxiety's before?
Finally get a behaviourist to help you. Ask your local vet if they know of one they can suggest. Asking on here is a good first step but you will get conflicting opinions which will not help.
Why was this not an issue before? Why can't he sleep in your room? How much exercise does he get, most Jacks don't get anywhere near enough!!
How long have you been trying for? All that you have described is a huge change for an adult dog, it's going to take weeks to months to solve. What attempts have made to help him with his Anxiety's before?
Finally get a behaviourist to help you. Ask your local vet if they know of one they can suggest. Asking on here is a good first step but you will get conflicting opinions which will not help.
Edited by bexVN on Thursday 29th August 07:16
This is not his fault, so it is very unfair to talk of rehoming, not fair on potential new owners either as they will inherit the problem.
Why was this not an issue before? Why can't he sleep in your room? How much exercise does he get, most Jacks don't get anywhere near enough!!
How long have you been trying for? All that you have described is a huge change for an adult dog, it's going to take weeks to months to solve. What attempts have made to help him with his Anxiety's before?
Finally get a behaviourist to help you. Ask your local vet if they know of one they can suggest. Asking on here is a good first step but you will get conflicting opinions which will not help.
Why was this not an issue before? Why can't he sleep in your room? How much exercise does he get, most Jacks don't get anywhere near enough!!
How long have you been trying for? All that you have described is a huge change for an adult dog, it's going to take weeks to months to solve. What attempts have made to help him with his Anxiety's before?
Finally get a behaviourist to help you. Ask your local vet if they know of one they can suggest. Asking on here is a good first step but you will get conflicting opinions which will not help.
Edited by bexVN on Thursday 29th August 07:16
Just wanted to add some of the things we do to keep him happy.
I constantly play a game where I hide treats around the house for him to hunt down and locate. To say he loves it is an understatement.
The game gives him discipline as he is excited to play but I use the sit command and make him wait in a room on his own while I hide the treats. This helped with the separation anxiety as he associated me leaving him alone in a room with something positive. He hated having me out of sight at first but as soon as he realised the game was fun he quickly snapped out of crying if I was out of sight.
So, I use the sit command and leave him there while I hide the treats. Then I release him by command and constantly say "find it" until he has found all of the treats, giving him high praise each time he succeeds. He's using his nose and developing the skills to find stuff. I watched his memory grow as I used to put the treats in the same place each time. I now try my best to outwit him by finding harder and harder locations and always switching up the hiding places.
This and loads of walks on the lead, this requires concentration on his behalf. I also balance this up up with loads of off lead exploration, woods, fields etc...I'm slowly introducing jogging and cycling now he getting older. I enjoy watching him learn and grow...finally mastering fetch. He sleeps well at night, not a peep. All takes time and effort but the reward is brilliant
I constantly play a game where I hide treats around the house for him to hunt down and locate. To say he loves it is an understatement.
The game gives him discipline as he is excited to play but I use the sit command and make him wait in a room on his own while I hide the treats. This helped with the separation anxiety as he associated me leaving him alone in a room with something positive. He hated having me out of sight at first but as soon as he realised the game was fun he quickly snapped out of crying if I was out of sight.
So, I use the sit command and leave him there while I hide the treats. Then I release him by command and constantly say "find it" until he has found all of the treats, giving him high praise each time he succeeds. He's using his nose and developing the skills to find stuff. I watched his memory grow as I used to put the treats in the same place each time. I now try my best to outwit him by finding harder and harder locations and always switching up the hiding places.
This and loads of walks on the lead, this requires concentration on his behalf. I also balance this up up with loads of off lead exploration, woods, fields etc...I'm slowly introducing jogging and cycling now he getting older. I enjoy watching him learn and grow...finally mastering fetch. He sleeps well at night, not a peep. All takes time and effort but the reward is brilliant
Badabing said:
Just wanted to add some of the things we do to keep him happy.
I constantly play a game where I hide treats around the house for him to hunt down and locate. To say he loves it is an understatement.
The game gives him discipline as he is excited to play but I use the sit command and make him wait in a room on his own while I hide the treats. This helped with the separation anxiety as he associated me leaving him alone in a room with something positive. He hated having me out of sight at first but as soon as he realised the game was fun he quickly snapped out of crying if I was out of sight.
So, I use the sit command and leave him there while I hide the treats. Then I release him by command and constantly say "find it" until he has found all of the treats, giving him high praise each time he succeeds. He's using his nose and developing the skills to find stuff. I watched his memory grow as I used to put the treats in the same place each time. I now try my best to outwit him by finding harder and harder locations and always switching up the hiding places.
This and loads of walks on the lead, this requires concentration on his behalf. I also balance this up up with loads of off lead exploration, woods, fields etc...I'm slowly introducing jogging and cycling now he getting older. I enjoy watching him learn and grow...finally mastering fetch. He sleeps well at night, not a peep. All takes time and effort but the reward is brilliant
Great game, I might do this myself to spend some quality time withmy dog.I constantly play a game where I hide treats around the house for him to hunt down and locate. To say he loves it is an understatement.
The game gives him discipline as he is excited to play but I use the sit command and make him wait in a room on his own while I hide the treats. This helped with the separation anxiety as he associated me leaving him alone in a room with something positive. He hated having me out of sight at first but as soon as he realised the game was fun he quickly snapped out of crying if I was out of sight.
So, I use the sit command and leave him there while I hide the treats. Then I release him by command and constantly say "find it" until he has found all of the treats, giving him high praise each time he succeeds. He's using his nose and developing the skills to find stuff. I watched his memory grow as I used to put the treats in the same place each time. I now try my best to outwit him by finding harder and harder locations and always switching up the hiding places.
This and loads of walks on the lead, this requires concentration on his behalf. I also balance this up up with loads of off lead exploration, woods, fields etc...I'm slowly introducing jogging and cycling now he getting older. I enjoy watching him learn and grow...finally mastering fetch. He sleeps well at night, not a peep. All takes time and effort but the reward is brilliant
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