Betta Bomb
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: SJ Newfoundland, Canada
Age: 33
Posts: 5,202
Coco has seperation anxiety though,not as bad as you do! after reading and researching extensively in past years to overcome his problem we found that the best method is simply ignoring the behavior..Now,Coco hasnt had a bad life,he was with us since a pup,but i'd still ignore the behavior.there is something in all of our brains(not getting into the scientific-ness b/c i plain dont get it) but it makes us react differently to get attention,take a tempering child-would you ignore her or sit down and cuddle?? if you cuddle she's getting the message that if she has a tantrum you'll give her attention and goodies,but if you ignore her then the effort is wasted and she doesnt get what she wants -same with dogs.
Coco used to bark and bark and bark while we were gone and pee everywhere and chew and basically put himself in a terrible wreck so when we came home we used to go "oohhh!! coco were home,we love you" in pitchy voices and hug him so he understood that was how he was supposed to react when we went out.now,that probably tells him that when we come home and act all gooey and pitchy that we were in danger out there and he gets worried and anxious whenever we leave,now Coco is 11 years old and although he never quite got used to being alone due to our old stupid reactions upon coming home,he at least accepts it.we come home and not a word is said to him and he doesnt get petted until he calms down,then we praise him.also,we found that if you ignore the dog at least 20 mintes BEFORE you leave dont make a big deal out of it,we stopped hugging and kissing him good-bye b/c he understands that as you may not wanting to go and your anxiety bleeds out and into him.
*ahem* apologies for rambling i hope you and your doggie get a solution to the problem....you have a jack russel?? cute but VERY hyper,good lluck!