protesting dog

[pixiepie]

Help!!!
Came home to find my neo had decorated my entire kitchen floor some cupboards and walls in dog poop.
She suffers from seperation anxiety and will often poop when we leave her but this is the first time she has "spread " it around. She loves to be with us and comes with us whenever possible.She is too big to crate. Any ideas how to treat this? we are currently trying leaving her for a few minutes and building up but not working(been weeks now) She has toys with treats in but not interested when she is alone. Please help !!!!!!!!!!!

[fairkatrina]

Oh dear! You'll have to keep doing what you are; build the seperation up slowly, and try leaving a radio on for her (radio 4 or something) so she can hear voices. Also, don't make a fuss of her before you leave the house, as it will only make her worse when you do go, instead make a fuss of her when you come home. You can buy poop mats for dogs (like litter trays for cats) which might be worth investing in, then at least she'll only go in one place and you can just bin the mat!

[bigelaine]

I would suggest that as well as not paying her any attention on the way out thjat you don't pay her any attention on the way back in either. I know that this is VERY hard to do but it definately works. When you come home totally ignore her for 10 minutes, until she has totally calmed down and settled. THEN AND ONLY THEN make lots and lots of fuss of her. This way your coming and going from the house does not become important to her and therefore she becomes less anxious.
Hope this helps!

[eyeshade]

I agree with Big E here, I know also it is a pain but the telly recently showed two situations like this and they recorded their voices on a tape, very slowly reading a book or something and play it when your out. They showed both dogs listening to the voice but did actually settle down. I know what I would rather do, tape my voice, than clear up mess! And don't give her any attention when you get in whatsoever, no eye contact either, hard but worth it. good luck!

[pixiepie]

Thanks for all your replies. We already ignore her before and after we come home but to no effect.
However i will tape my voice and try with that.
Willing to try anything !!!!!!!!!

[Illyria54]

Why is she too big to crate? My friend crates her Great Dane, dogs only need enough room to stand up and turn around in a crate, secondly, how long do you leave her? anything over 4 hours is too much, especially if she is your only dog. What times do you feed her? you could may be try changing her feed times, take her for a long walk before leaving her, don't leave her with food of any kind as even if she nibbles a bit of food it could stimulate her to empty herself. You can buy these plug-in things that give off pheromones or something to calm dogs with separation anxiety, so that could be worth a try. I have 4 big dogs and I always make certain they have 'been' before I go out anywhere, they have been trained to 'go' on command. Do you do plenty of general training with her each day? it gives a dog something else to focus on and believe me it wears them out mentally and physically, so they are more settled when left on their own, I always leave the radio on when I go out, and always on the station that they hear when I am at home, the idea of a tape recording of your voice worries me a bit, as I think if she hears your voice and can't find you then it may make her more anxious.

[Illyria54]

Also, don't tell her off if you come home to a mess, just let her out in the garden, then quietly and calmly clear it up, telling her off (although tempting) will make matters worse, as she will associate your coming home with a telling off! and she won't know why you are telling her off, she will have forgotten what she did 60 seconds after she has done it.

[pixiepie]

we have 3 other dogs which we crate and i dont have room to do it with her. she was 4 months old when we got her and we dont know alot about her past.
I am at home all day and we never leave any of them longer than 2 hours at most any more than that and my dad in law comes to let them out.
Walk them all be before we go out and she does go on command,
Tried leaving other dogs out with her but even this doesnt help.
Good point about my voice on tape she would look for me

[Illyria54]

Do you have a cam corder? or can you borrow/hire one? you would get some idea of how long you are out before she starts misbehaving, I had a GSD years ago who 'ate' a 3-piece suite, and a single bed (she could open doors), we discovered that it happened literally moments after we left the house, she did grow out of it, but we had to tie up all the doors with those bungee rope things, the house looked like a very strange spiders web!!

[pixiepie]

excellent suggestion ILLYRIA 54 gonna try that one. thanks for all your help

[Bigeye74]

not met a dog yet that can open doors with round door knobs.

[kita1]

Bigeye: Mine can! He just goes straight through them!!! Why bother with handles and knobs!

He got out of a kennel (I worked at kennels) by smashing the metal bolt in two!

[Bigeye74]

Fair one kita, but a better door, frame and handle would solve that (steel perhaps). I blamed my with several times for leaving the dog cage open. Forgot keys one day and turned back to find her breaking out like a hairy houdini.

[Bigeye74]

let me rephrase that...I blamed my wife for the dog cage being left open(she hadn't), and then caught the dog breaking out of her cage like a hairy houdini. Don't want people to think i lock the wife in a cage