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Old May 30th, 2011, 08:04 PM
Sindarin Sindarin is offline
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Alberta Canada
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Help! My puppy is hurting herself!!!

Hey Everyone! Thanks for all of your help in advance.

To start, let me tell you about our dog. We have a 14 month old Toy Poodle and her name is Chloe, she is a great dog and we enjoy having her around.

Our problem is... Separation Anxiety

We have tried almost everything in the book to get her to calm down, but it seems that none of it is working. It is getting to the point now that she is hurting herself trying to "get out" of wherever we have put her.

We started her in a Crate during the day, which she absolutely hated. When she was able to hold her bladder all day we gave her access to our bedroom. We picked up all the things she could get a hold of, but then she discovered lamp cord. Thank goodness there was no power going through any of them. After destroying 10-12 lamp cords, ripping the underside of our bed off, and then tearing a hole in our box spring we decided to crate her during the day. She tried to get out of the crate so badly that she sprained all of her toes and could barely walk. We tried putting cardboard over the door of the crate and she made confetti, but at least it occupied her!!!

After this episode, we emptied out a storage closet for her and made that "her home". This was good for a few days, until she started chewing on the wall. She dug her way through a layer of drywall in the corner, and cut her paws on the metal bead that protects the corners from damage. I screwed a board onto that section of the wall and that stumped her for 2 or so weeks and we were able to leave her in there with no issues at all. Just last week, she started digging into the other side of the closet, and cut her paw again. Another board later, wall damage all over the closet, we are getting more and more frustrated.

We have tried these:
Puppy training courses
Consulting the trainer about the behavior issues
Bought her a TONNE of toys and chew toys to keep her occupied
We give her somewhat regular exercise (basically until she is laying on the floor, panting her head off and not wanting to move)
Ignoring her for a couple of weeks
Leaving a Radio/TV on for her to listen too
Kong with frozen peanut butter in it to occupy her

My wife and I both work full time, and we really want to keep our puppy and not get rid of her. But it is at the point where she is causing herself harm and that is just not fair anymore. We cannot leave her with friends or relatives as she cries the entire time that her "owners" are gone. She gets really upset and emotional when we leave her alone.

I can tell her to lie down and stay, leave the house for a few minutes and she is just fine, it is just on the extended trips away from the house. If I leave for more then just a couple of minutes, as soon as she realizes that she is alone, she goes berzerk. I arrived home today and she was howling, and yipping, and barking up a storm.

As you see, nothing seems to work, so if anyone can offer any advice that would be great!

Thanks
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Old May 30th, 2011, 08:31 PM
reanne reanne is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Vancouver Island
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Dogs need regular exercise, not "somewhat regular". A tired dog is a good dog. Create a routine. Never crate her until after she has exercised and eliminated. Have you done crate training, or did you just try leaving her for extended periods to begin with? Associate the crate with positive things (treats, feed her meals in there).

Look up crate training, and exercise her regularly, morning and night, until she is tired. That means getting up at 4am if neccesary (yes, I"ve done it!). Good luck.
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Old May 30th, 2011, 08:46 PM
Sindarin Sindarin is offline
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Alberta Canada
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What I meant by "somewhat" regular was 4-5 times a week.

Yes, we have crate trained her, and she knows that is her bed. We say "Chloe Bed" and she goes to bed for the night, or whenever we say it.
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Old May 31st, 2011, 06:21 AM
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Melinda Melinda is offline
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toy poodles are hyper little devils, is it possible for you to take her on a walk/run just before you leave the house? one of those "lying on the floor panting" type of walks??
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Old June 1st, 2011, 02:42 AM
reanne reanne is offline
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I don't know anything about toy poodles, but I would guess that maybe she still needs more exercise. Most dogs need exercise every day, more than once a day. I think the minimum is 30minutes of pant-inducing exercise per day.
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Old June 1st, 2011, 06:33 AM
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Shaykeija Shaykeija is offline
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perhaps she needs a buddy?
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