Thank you for all of your replies. Sorry I am taking so long to get back to you. Max is a beagle bassett hound mix. I have not punished him for the damage since I know he wont know why i am yelling. I usually just shake my head and sigh since i feel helpless. ugh. As far as the vet goes... we went monday and the vet was less then helpful and charged me 54 dollars to tell me the "relax" stuff I bought at petco was ok to give him. She did bring up traqulizers if it doesnt get better. I am not a fan of this option though. I have since removed the crate while using the "relax" meds. he still is going after the carpet by my door.... I have recently been ignoring him about 15 mins before i leave and waiting for him to calm down before taking him outside when i get home.
My schedule is changing next week. but right now I work from 11-6 pm everyday. I take him to a buddys house about 2 days a week to play with another bassett hound while i am working just for extra play time. Next week I will only be working 3 days a week. from 2-8pm. He usually gets about a 30 min walk twice a day. in the morning and when i get home from work. He does have toys at home he plays with i also leave him a pig ear to chew on every other day. I will be working with him alot next week while i have the week days off. I will definity try the training for leaving u described above. I am hoping we can nail this before I start another full time position where I will be gone for 8hrs every day. Max usually goes everywhere with me. I take him to the laundry mat and if I go out we have dog friendly bars here and he plays with all the other dogs when i go to friends houses he always come with me. He has even driven 10hrs to Michigan with me without a whine or cry... My main issue is when i leave. I do not have anyone who can stop by my place to let him out I am fairly new to the state i live in and have no family members inside of a 10hr drive.
I think i covered all the questions...? oh and the crate i would like to reintroduce to him but i am scared he will now think it is punishment.
sorry it took so long to respond...i've been sick

beetter now!
i'm sorry, but separation anxiety behavior modification can take weeks to see any results, and months to see real improvement. don't lose heart though, like i said i have similar issues with my dog.
i think to start out you need to make your routine even more routine than it already is (this isn't forever) your dog needs time to learn to trust that when you leave you will come back...since you cannot explain it to him, you'll need to prove it. this means getting up at the same time every day, leaving at the same times every day, meals at the same time every day....even on weekends if you can manage it. its great that you will be home a bit more, but trying to cram extra time in with the dog can make his SA worse. look at it this way, he is sort of addicted to spending time with you. when you give him large doses of this then abrubtly cut him off, he is sort of going through withdrawels thus the SA. he needs to learn that time away can be good too... you can't train this and there is not quick fix (i know this because i tried to find one

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you may try to tire him out a bit more. this doesn't solve SA issues, but if he is tired, he has a little less energy to freak out with. bassets have a lot more energy than most people think. could you get up a bit earlier in the morning and take him for a longer walk?
one thing that i do with my dog is to feed him just before leaving, and i feed him some yummy stuff (this won't help you if the dog is too upset to eat, lucky for me clover was a little more hungry than upset) i would put all of his dry kibble in various puzzle type feeder ball toys that i got, or i would hide it. then i would put hust a bit of wet food in his dish. does your dog finish his pig ear the day you give it to him? maybe he needs something else on the off days? i still hide strong smelling treats for him to find through out the day. kong makes a table top kong release toy (costs about $50) that you put 4 kongs into it (stuff the kongs) and it releases them at intervals throughout the day.
you could also try covering the carpet at the doors with those roller mats for desk chairs and then putting all sorts of good things on top of that. just to save your carpet.
putting a dog with SA in a crate will only increase his anxiety....sorry. crate training can take a long time.
you can look up a lot of stuff about SA on line, i would also recommend a book by patricia mcconnell "i'll be home soon! how to prevent and treat separation anxiety"
hope this helps!
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