mudthirsty

Well last week he spent the week at SuperDogs Central for some boarding. He loves the other dogs, and its pretty much the only time he forgets about us. Especially when at the off leash dog park. Other than that, giving him lots of treats, and trying to make the crate a peacefull place.

Yes, i have searched the separation anxiety threads before, and am 99% sure this is the case with Storm. He needs to be with us 24/7 or he gets worried. Ill set up a video camera this week, and post some footage. We never crate him when we are home. We used to let him have the run of the house for about 2 months, until he ripped down two sets of blinds, opened the window, and jumped outside.

Yes, he loves his crate. He spends so much time in there even when we dont lock him up. If we go to get our car keys or shoes on, he runs upstairs and into his crate.

We first purchased a steel wire crate with the plastic floor pan for easy cleaning. Storm ripped apart the floor pan, and bent the door so badly that it would not close. So we went and bought a plastic crate, that seemed more "den" like. The lock was broken within a day or so. I now use bungee chords to hold it tightly shut. This worked for about 3 months. But today, he pulled the door inward, and ate both bungee chords. Im out of ideas. Maybe I should try building a wooden crate? Although Im sure he will chew right thru the wood in no time at all.

Just wondered how Ghost was doing now? I believe its been a few months now. Im having the same problem, so it was a good read. You can read up on my post at.. http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.php?showtopic=18781

Found a good link.. every point they make is absolutely our dog. http://www.wagntrain.com/SeparationAnx.htm

If we leave him in a room in the house, and we go to another room, he will bark and jump at the door wanting to where we are in the house. When we go out and come home, he usually is wagging his tail and is happy to see us. I think if he's tired enough he will sleep at first, and wake up calm. This morning I went out for about 45 minutes, and came home, and the remaining blinds were down at the back door. So I crated him, and used bungee cords to make sure the door isnt going to open. So how do you treat separation anxiety? And how long until my BC doesnt see the joy in toilet paper.. because he loves that too

He's done this twice now.. being really destructive. I mean, I know he loves us like crazy, and cant keep away from us. He'll follow us everywhere, and whine when he cant get to us. When we put him in his crate, he completly freaks out, and cries and barks, and jumps around! I feel so bad doing this to him, and 98% of the time he is good when we leave him alone.. but like I said, twice now he's gone on a rampage and destroyed the house. Im thinking of buidling a heavy duty crate on my own.

Today, our 9 month old BC Storm, ripped apart the house while we were gone for only an hour. He pull the curtains in the front door window off, curtains in the side window off, tore the trim off the front door, pulled a door stopper out of the wall, pulled down all the back sliding door blinds down, ate the blinds in another room, managed to open the window, break the screen, and was in the backyard. The house had shreaded blinds and curtains everywhere, along with newspaper and other junk. does my dog have a seperation anxiety, or is he just a puppy.. when does this puppy stage end?! You're probably saying to crate him, but even thats not working, he has broken out of both the plastic and steel crates. I may need to have something custom made.

Storm is about 9 months now, and for the last month or so now, he has never had an accident in the house. He's left alone in the whole house for about 5 hours a day, and left alone in our bedroom while we sleep. never an accident! today I came home and saw he went three or four times upstairs. After taking 20 minutes to clean up the mess while I had him out in the yard, about an hour later he went pee on the floor in the same spot! Does he think this is where he can go, because he can maybe still smell it in the carpet? I use some cleaning spray from the pet store. What do you use, what do you recommend, to get the carpet stains and odours out for good?

Very cool. My BC Storm likes to walk ahead, but always stops and looks back. We love to go to the off leash dog park in Oshawa. Lots of trails and dogs! If I am with my girlfriend we'll split up. One will take the dog, and the other will walk 5 minutes ahead and wait.. then call out Storm, and you should see him rip thru the woods to get to me! I do need to work on the heel tho, because when he's on the leash, he's pulling and walking right infront of my feet.

We got Storm when he was 6 months. We crated him for the first month, and he literally destroyed his crate, bent it to heck, and chewed everything close to it. We eventually moved it to the middle of the room, and he would jump around so much, and shimmy it over to the wall or blinds, and even chew that! Finally, one day, we came home to see he had escaped. He had the house to himself for the whole day. All he did was played with HIS toys! So, a few days later, we tried leaving him alone in the house. Again, he just played with HIS toys, and slept. Now, when we go to bed, he sleeps in the bedroom, if he can find room he will sleep on the bed, otherwise its the floor. When we go to work, we leave him out as well. He's been super good, playing with only his toys, and napping during the day. This is very rare, but the other day he was left alone for 9 hours alone in the house. He didnt even pee on the floor. Storm is 8 months old, and his behaviour is better than we could ever ask for. We just make sure to give him all attention when we are home, and he seems to love it. Its almost like he is trying to please us, and trying to make us happy.. and it sure is working! The more responsibilities we give him, the better he is to us in return.

We're using SuperDogs Central in Bowmanville, ON. They are very experienced with BC's. Its pricey, but worth it. We hope to work up to agility and flyball. Tonight is graduation for the beginners classes!

What Im learning in a class right now is to hold one treat in your right hand, one in your left, one in your back pocket, and one up on a shelf or counter top. Hold both fists out, and have the dog sit. Then click and treat, and show him the empty hand. Do another trick, feed from the other hand. Now he knows you have two empty hands. Do another trick, then when he does it, click and pull the treat out from your back pocket. And finally do this with the last one on the counter. Do this often, and you may get decent results. This is being taught to us, we take Storm to Superdogs Central.

It seems he barks and has a fit more-so when I leave the house with my girlfriends 8 year old son. Storm has a great relationship with him, as they both play alot! It seems he may be upset because he's losing a playmate for a few hours. Im looking at ordering the dvd.. as Im sure crate games could help. But then again, after reading Rebecca's post, i may need to re-think some actions.