Expert: Jill Connor, Ph.D. - 1/27/2012

Question
My boyfriend and I rescued a 14 month old Rhodesian Ridgeback X Whippet from a shelter and she's now just over a year and a half (we've had her for 5 months#. When we got her she was very shy and had bad separation anxiety and no training. We worked really hard with her and now she's a great dog - she's fine being left alone, never touches a thing in the kitchen #where we leave her because it's spacious and has a sliding door#. We take her for 2 two 30-45 minute runs nearly every day #3 when there's more daylight) and we hadn't had any issues with her up until 2 weeks ago.

We live in Vancouver, Canada and we recently had a huge dump of snow.  Due to the snow her usual vigourous ball retrieving runs at the park were not possible, the ball would disappear in the snow and we'd spend most our time trying to find it. Instead we took her to the off-leash river park near our house to let her explore the woods and run around. About 3 days into the snow we were coming home to destroyed possessions. First it was a pair of slippers that had been sitting there for months but she never touched before, then my gloves, then she started pulling the stuffing out of her dog bed and then she moved on to really bothersome objects... like the wood mantle of our fireplace and the molding separating the hardwood from the tile in our kitchen. We don't know where this behaviour is coming from. We leave her with bones and kong filled with treats and like 4 different kinds of balls and a big plush dog she likes to attack but she hasn't been touching that stuff most days. It seems more likely to happen on mornings my boyfriend and I both work early and she only gets a walk rather than a run... maybe she's not burning off enough energy before we leave her alone? I have no idea what do to... its getting hard to trust her which is difficult for us because up until recently we didn't think twice about leaving her alone while we go to work... why is she doing this all of a sudden? She acts like she knows she's done something wrong when I get home but usually i have seen the disaster in my kitchen and my body language and emotions change and I know dogs can pick up on that...

A usually stress-free dog is now causing my boy friend and I a lot of stress. We don't want to have to crate her while we're away... but she's not leaving us much of a choice with this current behaviour... if there's any advice you can give us we'd really appreciate it. We love our dog so much, she's amazing but we want to be able to trust her in our home and allow her freedom while we're gone.

Answer
The change in routine may have set off this anxiety related behavior.  Also, a free run "off leash river park" might be too much for the dog to handle: and a guaranteed recall is something you MUST HAVE in a situation like that.  Whatever has set it off, this dog is now extremely anxious at your absence.

She CANNOT be allowed free run of the house during your absence.  Confining her to the kitchen (as you mentioned you did) with safe toys and a Buster Cube (which dispenses a portion of the dog's two meals as the dog rolls it around) is the course of action to prevent gross damage.  You may still see damage, especially around door and window frames (this is called barrier frustration).  Put her on the behavior modification protocol for separation anxiety I designed, found here:


1.  You can create an emotional independence in the dog by conditioning a "time out" article.
Simply place the chosen article (something you don’t use for any other purpose, like an odd garden statue) in full view of the dog every day for thirty minutes to one hour and call a "time out", during which you actively ignore the dog.  When you remove the article, reward the dog with praise, but don’t overdo it.  Over the course of two weeks, your dog will begin to recognize the article and begin to acknowledge your unavailability (many dogs go to a corner to lie down, or their favorite couch spot, etc.)  Once you observe your dog’s recognition of the article, put it in plain sight about ten minutes before leaving the house (but NOT in the room the dog is confined to, the dog will lose its conditioned response.)  In other words, use the article as a CUE to the dog that you are not available.

2.  Make your dog earn everything for about one month, including pats, entering/leaving the home, etc.  (This is called “Nothing in life is free”.)  You will be promoting yourself psychologically, which will help the dog to feel calmer.

3.  Purchase Turid Rugaas' book, “On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming signals” or go to her web site http://www.canis.no/rugaas/index.php.  Observe the dog’s behaviors before you depart to determine if your departure rituals are creating anxiety.  Use calming signals just before leaving the house WITHOUT saying “goodbye” to the dog (which can set the dog up for emotional distress.)  Dogs instantly respond to these signals and you’ll begin to see that response immediately.

4.  Change your departure rituals so you do not inadvertently "cue" your dog.  This means doing things differently EVERY day during treatment (which should last about two to four weeks.)  If you put your coat on last, put your coat on five minutes before you actually leave the house; if you pick up your keys last, put them in your pocket ten minutes before leaving the house, etc.  Again, given two weeks (at least) of this treatment, along with the others, your dog’s extreme sensitivity to your departure rituals should diminish and/or extinguish.  When you RETURN home, ignore the dog for a few seconds, and then ask the dog to “sit” and acknowledge him/her; keep your homecoming attention short and sweet.  If there is any destruction around (torn objects, etc.) IGNORE IT.  What you don’t want is the dog to fear your RETURN as much as s/he fears your leave taking.  

5.  Do not allow the dog free “run” of the house when you are gone; this places a heavy emotional burden to “protect” on the dog, and might increase stress (which accounts for excessive barking!) Put the dog in a protected space (kitchen, well ventilated and spacious laundry area,  etc., NOT the basement or the garage).  Keep “special” toys there the dog doesn’t have at any other time, like a “kong” with a ½ teaspoon of peanut butter, a Buster Cube which holds a portion of the dog's daily food and which the dog will roll around to obtain it, a squeaky toy, etc. The dog will begin to anticipate this treat and associate it with your leaving the house.  Leave a radio playing (on soft music or calm talk shows) and a light on when you are not home, and if possible move your answering machine (at full volume) into the room with the dog and leave your dog "messages" during the day.

Rather than continue in the off leash environment, use a frisbee or a very large hard ball (available at children's store) in the place she is accustomed to.  The snow might also be a factor but that's out of your control.

NEVER show any frustration or anger when you return home.  Pop a peppermint into your mouth before opening the door to mask the adrenaline (yes she can smell it) and be nonchalant.  A vicious cycle of "fear that you leave, fear that you return" can make separation anxiety much worse.

If she fails to respond within a reasonable time period, talk to your veterinarian about the possibility of adding medication to the protocol (like Clomicalm) but be aware of possible side effects and remember that a dog can't TELL us if it's feeling these side effects.  Report back using followup feature.