Rescued a 1-year-old (best guess) pup who we believe is a whippet cross just over 3 weeks ago. He was a stray who was rehomed for 4 months to a couple who could not provide him with enough exercise and was then returned. We know nothing about his past before being found stray. From his previous owners, we know that he was/is mouthy when excited - we find this is more overstimulation/being overwhelmed rather than low-level excitement when playing - but no other concerns. From our few weeks together, we have learnt that he is an extremely anxious dog in various situations. The vet said this comes with his breed and then what he has been through in his first year of life will have only added to this.
We are struggling with what we believe could be separation anxiety. At first, we could not be upstairs if he was downstairs in the daytime. We have slowly built this up so that he can manage ~5 minutes alone downstairs. If he has a stuffed frozen kong or other enrichment activity he is okay until this is finished. Leaving the house is similar in that he is fine if distracted, but if not, he will howl, cry, bark, pace and dig at the doors to get out. We understand we are not solving his behaviour by providing distractions however, at the moment, it's the only way to pop out of the house or have a shower without pushing him over his anxiety threshold.
One thing I cannot wrap my head around is that he is perfectly happy to sleep downstairs, alone at night. This was originally on his bed in the living room, but after a few incidents of scent marking on the carpet, we decided to crate-train him. He is now happy to sleep in his crate, again alone downstairs. Leaving him in his crate when we try to go upstairs in the day or leave the house causes a great deal of distress and he has torn a bed up in there after 10 minutes when I naively thought he would be okay.
So far, we are trying things like desensitising him to triggers such as keys, putting shoes on and the big one being the door into the porch being opened - it makes a very distinctive sound compared to our other doors. We are also constantly walking into and out of rooms, up and downstairs for varying periods of a few seconds to a few minutes, hoping that he will eventually become bored of us leaving and arriving. Also, we are making no fuss before leaving and upon arrival.
I would love to know people's thoughts on this and any tips to help him. He is still settling in so are these behaviours expected? This is our first rescue dog and after speaking to a few others who have rescued, they tell me he will eventually get over it as theirs did. I can't help but feel that leaving him to deal with it is a harsh method and that he is a different case. My partner and I alternate our WFH days and so between us, we can ensure he is never left alone until we work through this.
We are struggling with what we believe could be separation anxiety. At first, we could not be upstairs if he was downstairs in the daytime. We have slowly built this up so that he can manage ~5 minutes alone downstairs. If he has a stuffed frozen kong or other enrichment activity he is okay until this is finished. Leaving the house is similar in that he is fine if distracted, but if not, he will howl, cry, bark, pace and dig at the doors to get out. We understand we are not solving his behaviour by providing distractions however, at the moment, it's the only way to pop out of the house or have a shower without pushing him over his anxiety threshold.
One thing I cannot wrap my head around is that he is perfectly happy to sleep downstairs, alone at night. This was originally on his bed in the living room, but after a few incidents of scent marking on the carpet, we decided to crate-train him. He is now happy to sleep in his crate, again alone downstairs. Leaving him in his crate when we try to go upstairs in the day or leave the house causes a great deal of distress and he has torn a bed up in there after 10 minutes when I naively thought he would be okay.
So far, we are trying things like desensitising him to triggers such as keys, putting shoes on and the big one being the door into the porch being opened - it makes a very distinctive sound compared to our other doors. We are also constantly walking into and out of rooms, up and downstairs for varying periods of a few seconds to a few minutes, hoping that he will eventually become bored of us leaving and arriving. Also, we are making no fuss before leaving and upon arrival.
I would love to know people's thoughts on this and any tips to help him. He is still settling in so are these behaviours expected? This is our first rescue dog and after speaking to a few others who have rescued, they tell me he will eventually get over it as theirs did. I can't help but feel that leaving him to deal with it is a harsh method and that he is a different case. My partner and I alternate our WFH days and so between us, we can ensure he is never left alone until we work through this.
