I have a 5 year old yellow Lab. I got her about 2 months ago. She was a kennel dog and was never in a house and was never a family dog. She is a sweet heart and does awesome with everyone. She doesn't have a mean bone in her body.
Here's where the problem comes in. When left alone all day she is fine, doesn't pee or poop in the house. She goes all night without going in the house. If I am inside she is at my side no more then 3 feet away. When I give my son a bath there isn't enough room in my bathroom for all 3 of us, so I have to shut the door and lock her out. Well that's when she pees on the floor. If I am home and shut her out she pees on the floor even if there are other people in the house. Please help.
By Andrew
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Could you get a baby gate that fits temporarily in the door. Then your dog would not have the anxiety she does being separated from you. She could see you but not be in the bathroom with you.
Sounds like separation anxiety and yes, dogs (and cats) suffer from it even if they didn't go through the kind of trauma your dog has (never lived in a house as a family dog and at 5yo was rehomed).
The baby gate is an excellent suggestion; another would be to crate her when you need to contain her whilst you go about household duties where she can't see you. Pop in to talk to her, leave a radio or TV on low in the same room as the crate.
Training her to be comfortable in a crate will be a help in other ways, too. Every dog needs to be contained at one point or another in their life and if the crate is indoors with provisions made (like the radio and your frequent pop-ins to reassure her) she'll quickly come to understand you aren't going to abandon her forever.
The following links are about canine separation anxiety and the benefits of crate training:
www.canineseparationanxiety.co.uk/
www.humanesociety.org/
It's beyond fantastic that your dog has become attached to you and your family so quickly - her separation anxiety is a result of that and will ease almost as rapidly as it developed because you are clearly able and willing to provide her a loving, safe home:) Hang in there, it gets better!
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