Dog that hates being left alone

[Amowat]

I have a beautiful Whippet X that I got from Balmore last July. She is a lovely dog but know very little of her first year of life. She is good with my son and has a lovely temperament but.....when I leave her on her own she trembles and has now started to empty the bin and do damage. I have tried leaving the TV on, giving her a bone and tried the DAP spray but to no avail. She has always hated to be left but since the Xmas holidays she seems to have got worse. Can anyone help with their experiences? Any help would be greatly received.

[Kathy@watten]

Easy cured...get her a friend!

[froal]

We had a lurcher like that but worse would go throu a window - glass, just to get to you but now totally different dog !
Took ages thou (months) with short spells alone we've got a garage we popped her in there nothing to destroy which she never did she just barked scratched doors and would open them too then wreck everything in the house plus open the fridge bin etc etc. she'd been kenneled before comming to us and it was a short spells some in the garage and in the house leaving her in a room even when we were in the next room or just outside the door outside then Lots and Lots of praise when she'd done good. if she'd been a smaller dog like one of our whippets i'd Crate train her so she's got only her bed to wreck but it's her safe place for her not a place for Punishment !
our lurcher now is left in the living room and the rest of the house with no problems now one of the Best dogs we've got so there is light at the end of the tunnel.....!! :D
Getting a friend can help but in our case it made no difference and we've got 8 !

[bullielove]

Totally agree with Froal

There is lots of info on separation anxiety in dogs on the net

http://www.petlibrary.co.uk/1/separation-anxiety-in-dogs-how-to-treat-it/

Thats one i found quickly.

Its really common in resues which would be down to their bad experience in the past but the methods described can be really effective andwith time your wee dog will learn that you are coming back. Good luck - hope you let us know how you are getting on :D

[northener]

I have a beautiful Whippet X that I got from Balmore last July. She is a lovely dog but know very little of her first year of life. She is good with my son and has a lovely temperament but.....when I leave her on her own she trembles and has now started to empty the bin and do damage. I have tried leaving the TV on, giving her a bone and tried the DAP spray but to no avail. She has always hated to be left but since the Xmas holidays she seems to have got worse. Can anyone help with their experiences? Any help would be greatly received.

It's probably because your routine went out of the window over the Xmas period and the dog has got used to having someone around.

It's been hard work getting our abandoned lurcher to settle, she even managed to open the front door (locked) and was wetting the carpet at first. It's taken about 7 weeks of hard work, but we're pretty well OK now. But she still has her moments and emties the bin in disgust when we go out.

First things first:

How long a period are you normally leaving her for?

How often does this take place?

[Leanne]

Another thing I found was my dog only ever pined and was destructive if not walked in the morning. If they're exhausted they'll sleep rather than cause mess...