I have a 5 year old male Pit Bull, and I have to put him in a cage every time I leave. When I go to bed he has to be in his cage or in the room I'm in with the door shut. If he is away from me too long he will go to the bathroom in the house. I feel like he is nervous if he can't see me or knows I'm gone. How can I stop this? I don't like leaving him in a cage. I want him to be free to walk the house.
By Giovanna
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At his age there probably isn't much you can do to cure his separation anxiety and the best place for him when you are out is the crate.
I used to leave the TV on low in another room for my young Boxers but in all the years I raised AKC Boxers in the US (40+) there were times no matter what I did for an anxious puppy; he/she grew up to be an anxious adult. So I learned to live with it-dogs have individual personalities and some are just anxious by nature so we worked around it:)
By the way, with an anxious older dog, draping a duvet or blanket over the back half of the crate seemed to be an extra soothing thing to do for the dog. Although dogs evolved from lupine to canine a very long time ago, certain things like den behaviours have remained-dogs, like wolves, are thrilled (and soothed) by a den like place to call their own.
Good luck with your lad, he sounds like a lovely fellow who absolutely adores you:)
You might also try having his crate in the room you are in (when you are home) and leaving the door open. Drape the back of the crate with a blanket. Make the crate as comfortable as possible and throw some treats in there to encourage him to go in. Let him know that this crate is his "den" - a safe place to retreat to.
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