My dog ignores toys when alone. How to help separation anxiety?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Separation anxiety can be difficult to address but with patience and persistence training can help. Rather than starting on anti-anxiety medications right away, I typically recommend trying products such as NaturVet Quiet Moments Calm Chews with Melatonin and an Adaptil collar, which can both be found online or at your local pet store quite easily. I would also recommend using a Thundershirt, which can be found online or at the pet store. It would also help if you began feeding Sienna breakfast and dinner in the kennel so that she becomes used to being inside the cage for positive things. I would move all of her toys to the inside of the kennel and whenever she goes inside the kennel, reward her with her favorite treat. If this does not help, I would recommend speaking with her veterinarian and discuss anti-anxiety medications as these may be beneficial in deterring this separation anxiety she suffers from. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further!

Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach to address your concern! Unfortunately, separation anxiety can be quite difficult to address for most dogs. I usually recommend a multi modal approach. I recommend the following non-prescription approach prior to anything prescription: 1. NaturVet Quiet Moments calm chews plus Melatonin (can be found online quite easily. 2. Adaptil pheromone collar 3. Adaptil diffuser 4. Thundershirt In combination with this, I typically recommend providing plenty of toys such as a kong toy filled with peanut butter and some other noise making toys. I have recently recommended a product called the Pet Cube. This allows you to watch him via an app on your phone remotely and you can even control a laser pointer and interact with him while you are away. If this does not work or the behavior worsens, I typically recommend adding in anti-anxiety medications such as Trazodone, Amitriptyline, Clomipramine (clomicalm), etc. in combination with the above recommendations. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Some dogs just don't care for toys, and this is ok! You could try puzzle toys where you put treats or dog food inside and they have to figure out how to get the food out. This is great mental stimulation and can provide some exercise. I do not recommend leaving soft toys or rawhide at home while you are gone just in case your dog decides to pull it apart or swallow large pieces - these can be a choking hazard. There are lots of options here: https://www.drsfostersmith.com/dog-supplies/dog-toys/interactive-and-treat-toys/ps/c/3307/3/3287

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. It sounds like Loki has a fitting name! Unfortunately, he has separation anxiety and this can be difficult to correct many times. I would recommend providing him with plenty of toys including the kong toy that allows you to insert peanut butter or small treats so that he has to really work to get the treat. Adaptil priducta, which can be found online, can also help. If you are unable to correct this behavior, I would try NaturVet quiet moments calm chews with Melatonin which can be found online or at your local pet store. If there is still no improvement after trying these, I would recommend having a veterinarian examine him so that the most appropriate treatment can be recommended such as anti anxiety medicatioms. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Don't worry- you are not alone in this separation anxiety issue Oren seems to be having. This is very common but can be very frustrating for everyone involved- including Oren! Anxiety can be very energy draining, so I am not surprised to hear about the exhaustion experienced when you get home. A few tips, though, can help with this. Keep the crate area very comfortable and inviting with lots of soft blankets. Spray a bit of Adaptil Spray (pheromone spray) you can purchase at your local pet supplies store around the crate area and blankets 15 mins before you leave. Take a kong toy and stuff it with low fat peanut butter or low fat plain yogurt and freeze it overnight. Take it out 10 mins before you leave and offer it to Oren to keep him entertained and busy while you are in the process of leaving and while you are away. Playing music or the radio can help as well. Claiming chewables with L-theanine in them daily can help lower anxiety levels naturally. SSRIs prescribed to Oren by his veterinarian can help with cases that do not improve even with behavioral modifications if Oren continues to have trouble with separation anxiety. I hope this helps and best of luck!

Poor Diesel! This sounds like fairly severe separation anxiety, especially if he's too distressed to eat food or treats while you're gone. I would strongly recommend talking with your veterinarian about the problem, as most dogs with this degree of anxiety will need prescription medication (at least for a while) in order to make any headway. If your veterinarian isn't comfortable dealing with behavior cases, you can ask for referral to a veterinary behaviorist who can discuss a training plan to work on this issue as well as medication options to help your puppy. In the meantime, you can try a DAP pheromone diffuser as well as a natural calming supplement like Zylkene or Composure to help a bit with his anxiety. It's not likely that these measures will be enough to resolve the problem on their own, but they may help to make him a little more comfortable until you are able to see your vet for a more comprehensive plan.

Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes for separation anxiety. It is a very complex problem and takes many months of working with a professional in-home dog trainer (plus or minus behavior modification medications from your vet) to correct this behavior. I strongly recommend you get a professional trainer to your home to check out her behavior and then they can help you make changes to help her get over the anxiety. It will not be easy and it won't be quick. I recommend Bark Busters and they have a trainer in your area. I believe they do a free initial consult. Trying to correct this on your own is not recommended as you could give her incorrect signals and actually make her worse. ( https://www.barkbusters.com/dog-training-winston-salem-greensboro ) Depending on the severity of the anxiety, most dogs will benefit from the short-term use of pheromones until the problem can be controlled. You can start Adaptil pheromones to see if it helps. ( https://www.adaptil.com/us/Products/ADAPTIL-Calm-Home-Diffuser )