SA or just throwing a fit?

[yoko]

Originally Posted by JessLough

Yep, this. IMO, It doesn't sound like true SA, though nowadays everything is labelled SA so it has a name and a "fix" (meds)

It sounds to me like an understimulated dog that doesn't know what he's supposed to do when he's alone, so he uses his energy for whatever is readily available.

I mean guess it could be a mild case of SA but really just sounds like a dog trying to entertain itself.

[Maxy24]

I want to avoid disrupting his schedule which is in place while I am away at school. When I am home during this time he is happy to sleep, problems only occur when we leave. So from 8am to 3 pm we don't do much because throughout the year he would be alone at this time. I want him to stay in the habit of sleeping during this time, I don't want him expecting play time or being able to potty outside when he's going to have be alone during these hours for most of the year.
After 3 I will play with him, take him to the park, go for a walk, whatever (though when I am at school he gets very little exercise or play time, he's basically treated like a cat, and I think this is the root of many of his bad behaviors).


I am also not convinced it's really SA, none of the destruction is related to getting out, no digging. He targets food items a lot (though not always) which seems like normal dog stuff. It seems more like when we leave he gets upset, barks for a while and then he's pumped up and alone so finds something to do. He's never been good at bringing himself under control after being aroused (he saw a cat in the yard this morning and it took 15 minutes after it left for him to stop crying and running from window to window). Though anxiety seems like the only thing that explains the pooping.


Perhaps leaving him with a stuffed toy would be a good thing to try. I remember trying it when he was a puppy and he wouldn't eat it until we got home, but it's been a while, that was all back when he was penned. This way if our departure does just get him aroused and leaves him very awake and bored he'll have something to do that's not illegal. I need to buy him a new kong, his is tiny, and his kong puzzler is too big for this, I use it for some of his meals.

[JessLough]

Yah next thing I was gonna ask was if you could leave him with a frozen kong or a puzzle game or something that he could focus on

[-bogart-]

do you leave the tv on? maybe some white/background noise will help.

[Maxy24]

No we don't leave the TV on, we do have the AC on and that's helped a lot with his barking out the windows at passing dogs (it's easier for him to just see them than to see them and hear their tags jingling).