My new shepherd mix has separation anxiety, never crate-trained. Help?

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.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. It sounds like Stormy is dealing with separation anxiety. I would recommend feeding her dinner in her crate and making this a place where she wants to go and is comfortable for her. I would make sure she has plenty of room to move around in as well. You can try using the Adaptil products to see if this calms her down and relaxes her. It can take some time for a dog to become crate trained but the key is to make it an enjoyable place that she wants to be in. If she associates the crate with food and a place where she sleeps, she will hopefully find the crate less stressful. 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. Please remember to rate this answer as helpful or not. Thank you!

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!

Hello. I would start with an over the counter anxiety product like Zylkene. I would also start using a dog appeasing pheromone in the home ( room diffuser ) or it comes as a collar. The pheromone can calm an anxious dog without drugs. Adaptil is the name of this product. If this does not help over the course of a couple of weeks, you will need to talk to your vet about possible behavior modification therapy & the use of prescription medications like Trazodone. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello. You can try Zylkene ( httpe://www,vetoquinolusa.com ) or ProPlan calming care ( https://www.proplanveterinarydiets.com/products/calming-care-dog-probiotic-supplement/ ). Hope one of these is helpful for Hachi. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am so sorry for the loss of your husband! I think animals mourn as well and they can pick up on our stress and anxiety. I would call your vet and ask for medications for Sophia. I would consider a long acting anti-anxiety medication like prozac and also a short acting medication to use in the beginning for when you leave her. I would hope with time you can wean her off these medications. I would provide something of your husbands for her to keep in her crate or bed that you can give her. If she doesn't have food allergies consider giving her a Kong filled with food (there are recipes online) and keep the radio or TV on for her. If she likes other dogs you can even sign her up for doggie day care and drop her off there for the day. I wish you all the best!