My pup is 6 month old collie x he gets 3x 30 min walks a day however when I leave him alone he howles and cries from when I leave till I get back I leave him in his cage with toys chews longs with treats and the radio on and nothing amuses him. Toys treats and chews are left untouched when I get home he is only left for 3 hrs at the max and is driving my neighbours up the wall. Please help

Try leaving him with an old shirt or something that smell like you. Sometimes that works.

Try leaving him with an old shirt or something that smell like you. Sometimes that works.

Thanks I will try that.

He's suffering from separation anxiety. It's something that many dogs go through, can be fixed, but it won't be easy.

I'm going to PM some of the other dog experts that have more experience with this than I do. I'm afraid I'm not much help, I've never had a dog that went through this.

Sorry this is just a cut and paste but I wrote this a while ago for questions just like this one, hopefully it helps :)

Separation anxiety.

Does your dog cry when you leave the room? Urinate only when you leave the house?
These are a few signs that your dog may be suffering from Separation Anxiety.

Some dogs do not like being left alone and some will think you are leaving them permanently and not coming back. Here are a few tips to help fix this problem.

When you leave, no matter how long for always have fresh water available. Toys are also a wonderful training tool as it will keep the dog distracted, I use kong toys stuffed with yummy food as a cure for boredom, having special toys or treats that the dog gets only when you go out are also a wonderful idea.

When training my own dogs for separation anxiety I first distract my dogs with their favourite toy and then exit my house through the front door.
I only leave for a minute or two, just long enough so that the dog does not bark or cry.
I then re-enter the house and give them praise for not crying.

Next time I go out I leave for a few more minutes, again only entering the house if the dog is not crying and giving praise.

Increase the amount of time you leave for and always come back before the dog starts crying (you will learn how long that threshold is pretty quickly)

This teaches the dog that you are going to come back and they are not being left alone forever.


Another technique is to not "baby" the dog.
Some dogs become overly attached to their owner and don't even like their owner being out of their line of sight, in this case the training needs to begin before you start going out

Start paying less attention to the dog, when he pushes for attention, don't give it to him
If he wants to be petted, make him wait.
As harsh as it sounds it is the only way to get the dog to start becoming less dependent on you.

After you have trained the dog to be less clingy you can move onto things like leaving the dog in the living room while you have a shower, or leaving him inside while you are out hanging up washing on the clothesline.

He's suffering from separation anxiety. It's something that many dogs go through, can be fixed, but it won't be easy.

I'm going to PM some of the other dog

experts that have more experience with this than I do. I'm afraid I'm not much help, I've never had a dog that went through this.

Thanks

Sorry this is just a cut and paste but I wrote this a while ago for questions just like this one, hopefully it helps :)

Separation anxiety.

Does your dog cry when you leave the room? Urinate only when you leave the house?
These are a few signs that your dog may be suffering from Separation Anxiety.

Some dogs do not like being left alone and some will think you are leaving them permanently and not coming back. Here are a few tips to help fix this problem.

When you leave, no matter how long for always have fresh water available. Toys are also a wonderful training tool as it will keep the dog distracted, I use kong toys stuffed with yummy food as a cure for boredom, having special toys or treats that the dog gets only when you go out are also a wonderful idea.

When training my own dogs for separation anxiety I first distract my dogs with their favourite toy and then exit my house through the front door.
I only leave for a minute or two, just long enough so that the dog does not bark or cry.
I then re-enter the house and give them praise for not crying.

Next time I go out I leave for a few more minutes, again only entering the house if the dog is not crying and giving praise.

Increase the amount of time you leave for and always come back before the dog starts crying (you will learn how long that threshold is pretty quickly)

This teaches the dog that you are going to come back and they are not being left alone forever.


Another technique is to not "baby" the dog.
Some dogs become overly attached to their owner and don't even like their owner being out of their line of sight, in this case the training needs to begin before you start going out

Start paying less attention to the dog, when he pushes for attention, don't give it to him
If he wants to be petted, make him wait.
As harsh as it sounds it is the only way to get the dog to start becoming less dependant on you.

After you have trained the dog to be less clingy you can move onto things like leaving the dog in the living room while you have a shower, or leaving him inside while you are out hanging up washing on the clothesline.

Thanks u will give this a try.

Your dog is really young and needs someone. Why dont you appoint a caretaker to sit the dog while you are away. It could be anyone who is willing to do the job for a few hours and who loves animals. This is the only way out. Or else your dog will continue howling and can even get violent.

I disagree.

If she were working 8 hours a day, and crating the dog for that entire time, then I'd suggest a caretaker. Not to be there the full 8 hours, but to come over to let the puppy have a potty break, take the puppy for a walk and a play. But, that's not what's going on with this OP.

Your suggestion is by far not the only way out, and no, her dog won't continue howling if she doesn't get a caretaker. As for violence, I'd like to see where you came up with that. Do you have any studies that prove this theory? Not something you found on the internet, an actual study done by actual dog experts, and published in a reputable forum.

I would highly suggest that the OP follows Shazzy's advice. When it comes to separation anxiety she knows her stuff, and she's proven that she knows her stuff.

I disagree.

If she were working 8 hours a day, and crating the dog for that entire time, then I'd suggest a caretaker. Not to be there the full 8 hours, but to come over to let the puppy have a potty break, take the puppy for a walk and a play. But, that's not what's going on with this OP.

Your suggestion is by far not the only way out, and no, her dog won't continue howling if she doesn't get a caretaker. As for violence, I'd like to see where you came up with that. Do you have any studies that prove this theory? Not something you found on the internet, an actual study done by actual dog experts, and published in a reputable forum.

I would highly suggest that the OP follows Shazzy's advice. When it comes to separation anxiety she knows her stuff, and she's proven that she knows her stuff.

Thanks alty I am going to take shazzys advice and also get him to some puppy classes. I have only had him 8weeks and he was a rescue dog so don't know what happened to him before he came to me. He is going in to get neutered tomorrow so after he has recovered The mission will start I have had dogs all my life and never had this prob. I will let you all know how I get on he's a clever wee guy so hopefully he will pick it up quickly thanks again alty and shazzy xx

Thanks alty I am going to take shazzys advice and also get him to some puppy classes. I have only had him 8weeks and he was a rescue dog so dont know what happened to him b4 he came to me. He is going in to get neutered tomorrow so after he has recovered The mission will start i have had dogs all my life and never had this prob. I will let u all know how I get on he's a clever wee guy so hopefully he will pick it up quickly thanks again alty and shazzy xx

We'd love pictures. That's pretty much what we charge for our advice. ;)

I hope it all goes well. Keep us posted.

We'd love pictures. That's pretty much what we charge for our advice. ;)

I hope it all goes well. Keep us posted.

Not a prob if I could figure out. How to put the pics on lol

Not a prob if I could figure out. How to put the pics on lol

I can walk you through it. :)

1. At the bottom of the box that you type in there's a link that says "go advanced". Click it.

2. A paperclip symbol will show up on the top option on the box that you type in. Click the paperclip.

3. A new box will pop up called "manage your attachments".

4. Hit the "browse" button.

5. Find the picture you want to post and double click on it.

6. Hit the "upload" button beside the browse button.

7. Under the section "Upload file from a URL", a link will appear. That's your picture.

8. Close the manage attachments window.

9. Click on the paperclip again. Your link for your picture will be there. Click on it.

10. Post. :)

You can post up to 5 pictures per post.

I can walk you through it. :)

1. At the bottom of the box that you type in there's a link that says "go advanced". Click it.
2. A paperclip symbol will show up on the top option on the box that you type in. Click the paperclip.

3. A new box will pop up called "manage your attachments".

4. Hit the "browse" button.

5. Find the picture you want to post and double click on it.

6. Hit the "upload" button beside the browse button.

7. Under the section "Upload file from a URL", a link will appear. That's your picture.

8. Close the manage attachments window.

9. Click on the paperclip again. Your link for your picture will be there. Click on it.

10. Post. :)

You can post up to 5 pictures per post.
Kl I will give it a try

Kl I will give it a try

Sounds good. :)

It's really sad that every time I tell someone how to post a picture, I actually have to go through the steps myself. I really should write a sticky about this so I could just click a link. ;)

I can walk you through it. :)

1. At the bottom of the box that you type in there's a link that says "go advanced". Click it.
2. A paperclip symbol will show up on the top option on the box that you type in. Click the paperclip.

3. A new box will pop up called "manage your attachments".

4. Hit the "browse" button.

5. Find the picture you want to post and double click on it.

6. Hit the "upload" button beside the browse button.

7. Under the section "Upload file from a URL", a link will appear. That's your picture.

8. Close the manage attachments window.

9. Click on the paperclip again. Your link for your picture will be there. Click on it.

10. Post. :)

You can post up to 5 pictures per post.
Kl I will give it a try I am on my iPhone just now and there is no go advanced so I will try tomorrow from the computer thanks 😉xx

Sounds good. :)

It's really sad that every time I tell someone how to post a picture, I actually have to go through the steps myself. I really should write a sticky about this so I could just click a link. ;)

Lol that might help 😜

Lol that might help 😜

I just did. I used to be able to make stickies in the pet forum, but we have a new skin, and now I can't, so I asked to mods to make it a sticky. Hopefully they do. :)

It would save a lot of time. Especially on the pet forum. We beg for pictures a lot. ;)

Just want to add, I have a 4 month old border collie mix in my family right now. Our little Rascal (he's well named).

I also have a beagle name Chewy (not a breed for the faint at heart). He's 3 years old.

Seven months ago we lost our lab/border collie cross (Indy) at the ripe old age of 16, and 5 months after that we lost our border collie mixed with Dog knows what (Jasper) at the age of 10. He died very suddenly. :(

So I'm very familiar with border collie mixes. If you have any questions at all, I'm more than happy to answer them, or PM someone that can. I couldn't help you with the separation anxiety. I've been lucky, I've never had a dog that experienced it, and our Jasper, that we just lost, was a rescue as well, at 4 months of age. :)