J
Jade17
Guest
I’ll apologize in advance; this is going to be long! I’m a former zoo keeper who is now working in wildlife, so I love to help people with pet problems, but I’m a little long-winded. We’re a young couple as well, so trust me, I feel you’re budget constraints and long hours at work! We have 2 pups, and here are some budget-friendly tips that can help:
First of all, reading up on anxiety will help you understand more about why your dog does what she does. These articles are nice and short, and addresses some of the comments on here about dog anxiety (such as why another dog may not be the best option):
cesarsway.com/dogbehavior/fearandanxiety/Leaving-Your-Dog-Home-Alone
humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/separation_anxiety.html
Remember that you and your husband are her only living companions, so it’s both stressful and boring to be away from you so long! When my fiance and I have long work-weeks, our dogs go nuts. In fact yesterday was one of those days, and one of them ate a magazine WHILE we were home just because she could!
A set routine including exercise and training will help your dog immensely. Routine is the key word there, because she knows you’re leaving, and she knows you’re coming back! We go on a fast-paced, intense, 30-minute morning walks. It’s hard to get out of bed at first, but I found it refreshing. Plus I feel safe out in the early morning light rather than late at night. While I’m fixing my breakfast, I have them sit, stay, lay down, hand me their paw, speak, roll over, etc, then feed them breakfast. They like the mental stimulation and stay focused on listening to me since I have the food. I like that they don’t bug me while I’m eating too. I do this at the same time every morning, and our dogs have responded really well to that consistency.
Our big dog is anxious, so we have “safe places” for her in the house. Her cage is one such place, and while she is there nothing bad can ever happen, no matter what she ate. No yelling, no forcing her to go there, and no “scary things” enter that area while she is there. We reward her with her treats and her favorite toys for going to her crate, but don’t make a big deal about her leaving it. In doing this, she voluntarily goes to her crate to sleep at night, and naps in it during the day; door open and all. We began crate training by giving her treats when she would come near it when we called. We added blankets she liked and toys to the crate, and when she went in, rewarded her heavily. We she decided to come out, we didn’t react for the first couple of minutes (otherwise, leaving her crate would feel more like leaving jail). We continued to do this until it was a “happy place”. We got her from a shelter, and this reduced her left-over anxiety from there pretty quickly. You can do this with a room, a bed, whatever area your dog likes! You can do it in small steps too to get her used to you leaving. Once she’s comfortable in the area (perhaps a room), close the door for 10 seconds and see if she stays calm. Resist the urge to talk to her, since it would interrupt her calm behavior. As soon as she starts to grow anxious, open the door, and make no reaction for the first minute or two. Play for a bit, then bring her back into the room. Give her a treat, and leave. Repeat until you can leave her for a bit longer each time. It helps establish the mindset of “it’s okay, my owner is coming back and I like this place.”
When we get home, we actually ignore our dogs (no talking to them or looking at them) until they are relatively calm (so think how you would like her to act when a guest comes over…no jumping or barking). This helps them not to go crazy when we have guests, and to not sit around all day anticipating our return. It’s just part of the routine; nothing to go crazy about. When they’re calm, we pet and great them. After work, we do walks, when possible (and still comfortably light outside), fetch outside, tug-o-war, etc. I’m sure you do this already. If I’m swamped and have no time, I’ll throw a ball down the stairs for a game of fetch for 15 minutes while I’m cooking dinner. It’s a really tiring game for them!
I rotate their toys to keep it interesting, but I hold out on the best ones. They make puzzle toys for dogs:
petsolutions.com/C/Dog-Puzzle-Toys.aspx
Those ones are expensive, but sometimes they come up at a decent price from this site (free shipping from here!):
doggyloot.com/
I also “make” some of my own stuff, but only give them to them when I can keep an eye on them. Empty peanut butter jars are awesome. Let them lick it clean, then poke a few holes in there big enough for food to escape! Fill it up with their dinner so they have to roll it around to get the food out. Plastic water bottles, old butter containers, cereal boxes can all be used the same way. It’s a little clean-up, but I would rather pick up cardboard shreds than pieces of my carpet.
If your dog is friendly, the local dog park can be fun and stimulating for your dog!
Here are a few ideas for cheap dog-walkers and classes:
1.) In high school and middle school, my friends walked dogs in their subdivision for pennies of what it would cost to hire a “professional”.
2.) I took an animal behavior class in undergrad. The students in there were pretty good at training, but didn’t have the reputation of established trainers in the area. To build up their resume, they offered dog training classes at like 5 or 10 bucks a class, and consulted on the side. Search on craigslist, or if you’re in a city, see if the local college has an animal behavior-type or vet program. You may be able to email the professors and have him/her see if any of the students are interested in giving you a couple of classes. Flyers work too.
I know this is a small novel, but I hope some of it is helpful!
First of all, reading up on anxiety will help you understand more about why your dog does what she does. These articles are nice and short, and addresses some of the comments on here about dog anxiety (such as why another dog may not be the best option):
cesarsway.com/dogbehavior/fearandanxiety/Leaving-Your-Dog-Home-Alone
humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/separation_anxiety.html
Remember that you and your husband are her only living companions, so it’s both stressful and boring to be away from you so long! When my fiance and I have long work-weeks, our dogs go nuts. In fact yesterday was one of those days, and one of them ate a magazine WHILE we were home just because she could!
A set routine including exercise and training will help your dog immensely. Routine is the key word there, because she knows you’re leaving, and she knows you’re coming back! We go on a fast-paced, intense, 30-minute morning walks. It’s hard to get out of bed at first, but I found it refreshing. Plus I feel safe out in the early morning light rather than late at night. While I’m fixing my breakfast, I have them sit, stay, lay down, hand me their paw, speak, roll over, etc, then feed them breakfast. They like the mental stimulation and stay focused on listening to me since I have the food. I like that they don’t bug me while I’m eating too. I do this at the same time every morning, and our dogs have responded really well to that consistency.
Our big dog is anxious, so we have “safe places” for her in the house. Her cage is one such place, and while she is there nothing bad can ever happen, no matter what she ate. No yelling, no forcing her to go there, and no “scary things” enter that area while she is there. We reward her with her treats and her favorite toys for going to her crate, but don’t make a big deal about her leaving it. In doing this, she voluntarily goes to her crate to sleep at night, and naps in it during the day; door open and all. We began crate training by giving her treats when she would come near it when we called. We added blankets she liked and toys to the crate, and when she went in, rewarded her heavily. We she decided to come out, we didn’t react for the first couple of minutes (otherwise, leaving her crate would feel more like leaving jail). We continued to do this until it was a “happy place”. We got her from a shelter, and this reduced her left-over anxiety from there pretty quickly. You can do this with a room, a bed, whatever area your dog likes! You can do it in small steps too to get her used to you leaving. Once she’s comfortable in the area (perhaps a room), close the door for 10 seconds and see if she stays calm. Resist the urge to talk to her, since it would interrupt her calm behavior. As soon as she starts to grow anxious, open the door, and make no reaction for the first minute or two. Play for a bit, then bring her back into the room. Give her a treat, and leave. Repeat until you can leave her for a bit longer each time. It helps establish the mindset of “it’s okay, my owner is coming back and I like this place.”
When we get home, we actually ignore our dogs (no talking to them or looking at them) until they are relatively calm (so think how you would like her to act when a guest comes over…no jumping or barking). This helps them not to go crazy when we have guests, and to not sit around all day anticipating our return. It’s just part of the routine; nothing to go crazy about. When they’re calm, we pet and great them. After work, we do walks, when possible (and still comfortably light outside), fetch outside, tug-o-war, etc. I’m sure you do this already. If I’m swamped and have no time, I’ll throw a ball down the stairs for a game of fetch for 15 minutes while I’m cooking dinner. It’s a really tiring game for them!
I rotate their toys to keep it interesting, but I hold out on the best ones. They make puzzle toys for dogs:
petsolutions.com/C/Dog-Puzzle-Toys.aspx
Those ones are expensive, but sometimes they come up at a decent price from this site (free shipping from here!):
doggyloot.com/
I also “make” some of my own stuff, but only give them to them when I can keep an eye on them. Empty peanut butter jars are awesome. Let them lick it clean, then poke a few holes in there big enough for food to escape! Fill it up with their dinner so they have to roll it around to get the food out. Plastic water bottles, old butter containers, cereal boxes can all be used the same way. It’s a little clean-up, but I would rather pick up cardboard shreds than pieces of my carpet.
If your dog is friendly, the local dog park can be fun and stimulating for your dog!
Here are a few ideas for cheap dog-walkers and classes:
1.) In high school and middle school, my friends walked dogs in their subdivision for pennies of what it would cost to hire a “professional”.
2.) I took an animal behavior class in undergrad. The students in there were pretty good at training, but didn’t have the reputation of established trainers in the area. To build up their resume, they offered dog training classes at like 5 or 10 bucks a class, and consulted on the side. Search on craigslist, or if you’re in a city, see if the local college has an animal behavior-type or vet program. You may be able to email the professors and have him/her see if any of the students are interested in giving you a couple of classes. Flyers work too.
I know this is a small novel, but I hope some of it is helpful!
