Hello all,
This is my first post about questions regarding separation anxiety and my boyfriend's dog, Dookie.
Under normal circumstances, Dookie is very nervous. When people come to visit, she urinates on the floor (we're not sure if this is nervous or subservient behavior), she snaps at other dogs when they approach her (she does not allow them to sniff her at all) and any type of change in scenery or routine is enough to through this poor insecure girl into a loop.
Unfortunately, this dog has been through alot in her lifetime- she's a rescue, plus she had to go through a divorce where she stayed with my boyfriend and her canine companion went with the x wife. So, she's really not used to beign alone.
Anyway, she started destroying things about 7 months after the divorce when left alone so we had to crate train her (I had just come in the picture- I'm not a home wrecker I swear! LOL). She has a bad habit of getting into cabinets and trash and chewing anything she can find.
Now, though she is safe in her crate (as oposed to being able to potentially get sick of something the chewed on in our absence) she barks literally all day when we are gone.
We know this because we've been told, and also we've come home during random times only to hear her barking from all the way outside of the house.
Since I've read in previous posts that the phermone wall plug ins don't work, is the next step medicine? Like anti anxiety meds?
We've though about using bark collars, but I really hate doing that. For one, I think that she would ignore a citronella collar, which leaves a shock collar, and I think those are cruel.
Are they as cruel as I think? I don't want her to associate being in the crate with being shocked.
Any input is very, very welcome.
This is my first post about questions regarding separation anxiety and my boyfriend's dog, Dookie.
Under normal circumstances, Dookie is very nervous. When people come to visit, she urinates on the floor (we're not sure if this is nervous or subservient behavior), she snaps at other dogs when they approach her (she does not allow them to sniff her at all) and any type of change in scenery or routine is enough to through this poor insecure girl into a loop.
Unfortunately, this dog has been through alot in her lifetime- she's a rescue, plus she had to go through a divorce where she stayed with my boyfriend and her canine companion went with the x wife. So, she's really not used to beign alone.
Anyway, she started destroying things about 7 months after the divorce when left alone so we had to crate train her (I had just come in the picture- I'm not a home wrecker I swear! LOL). She has a bad habit of getting into cabinets and trash and chewing anything she can find.
Now, though she is safe in her crate (as oposed to being able to potentially get sick of something the chewed on in our absence) she barks literally all day when we are gone.
We know this because we've been told, and also we've come home during random times only to hear her barking from all the way outside of the house.
Since I've read in previous posts that the phermone wall plug ins don't work, is the next step medicine? Like anti anxiety meds?
We've though about using bark collars, but I really hate doing that. For one, I think that she would ignore a citronella collar, which leaves a shock collar, and I think those are cruel.
Are they as cruel as I think? I don't want her to associate being in the crate with being shocked.
Any input is very, very welcome.