Lonely Dog Syndrome

A lot of my clients only have one dog,

Most of my clients work all day long and leave their dog behind at home.

All of my clients just love their dogs to bits and want to do the best for them.

So how is it that they end up with dogs who are nervy, jumpy around people, fearful of other dogs and suffer very obvious separation disorder when they are left alone in the car or at home.

Some manifestations of Lonely Dog Syndrome.

  • the dog never grows out of chewing everything around him, furniture, carpet, drapes, books, or if left outdoors chews his kennel, and bedding.
  • the dog never grows out of digging, very deep holes, when left outside on his own.
  • the dog barks incessantly at every single distraction, chases sparrows.
  • the dog is very aggressive to everyone who comes into his yard area.
  • the dog is very hyper and jumps up at his owners when they return, shredding their clothes and drawing blood when his claws make accidental contact with owner's skin.

The first observation everyone makes is that the dog lacks exercise but this is not always the case. A lot of dogs who suffer LDS get really good exercise, the answer is really in the habit of the dog. By the time all of the above have become a gross problem and the back yard is in tatters, nobody can hang washing on the line any more and tempers within the household have become very frayed, it is almost too late to train for new behavior, and this is usually when the client calls me. By now the dog is 14 or 15 months old and has not grown out of puppy behavior.

So we have to talk about the obvious. If the dog never sees other dogs, how will he know not to do all of the above. If he was with other dogs 24/7, he would be tumbling with them, playing tug with them, running around with them and totally absorbed into the other beings around him. The only behavior he knows is the manic stuff, it has become his normal.

One of the things I instantly ask the owners to put in place is 'crating'. Crating deliberately restricts the movement of the dog. We need to teach a dog to crate. Do not just suddenly get a crate and stuff the poor thing in there. Put the crate in a busy part of the house, where there is a TV, family noise etc. Leave the door open, put his favourite things in there and his food bowl with a few dog nuts in it, and just ignore the whole thing for 24 hours. By the time it has been there that long he will think it is part of the furniture. On day two sit down and play ball, toy tug and treat feed at the entrance and then just accidently throw a little bit of treat food into the crate. When he finally goes in there of his own free will, do not shut the door. The door can be shut when he is eating all his meals in there, has drunk from his water bowl in there by going in on his own, say about four days later. Always treat feed your dog into the crate. Good boy , get in the box. Treat and close the door. Do it all very slowly, do not try to jam the door shut with him half in. Do not handle him into his crate. When he likes his crate and they really do, get a nice soft crate for the car, so when dog goes on holiday he has his own home away from home and there is no trauma. If you anchor your soft crate properly in the car, dog is safe in his travels with you. It is always good to confine or restrict dog in the car for very obvious reasons.

Dogs home in your backyard is another thing. It will be better for dog to be outdoors when you are not at home, he can toilet whenever her wants and has his own space. Many people think that leaving their dogs free in the back yard is somehow 'caring' as dog has lots of room. When I am not home I prefer that my dogs don't have too much freedom. I find they don't make good decisions, somewhat like children growing into teens. The decision making process is very unformed. Due to the fact that people do enter your property in your absence, dog will be much safer in a locked kennel and run. This will avoid the possibility that he can be removed easily from the property or escape onto the road because people are idiots and leave gates open.

If you have not had a kennel and run up to now, it is once again going to be a bit of a slow process to put it in place. If you rush it, you will end up with Noise Control from your local Council ringing you at work to say that your dog is barking the neighbourhood down and everyone is sick sick sick of your dog's noise etc. You probably know this scenario if you are a dog owner.

So now two months later, the lawn is starting to grow back, the washing can be hung in the mornings and dog is reasonably happy in our absence, except that we are now on 'Kennel two' as he has already demolished 'Kennel one'. Oh dear

I am often asked if I believe in tying a dog to a kennel with a chain or rope or whatever. Answer, sort of. There are times when tethering is a good option to deliberately restrict movement and teach new behavior, but I don't believe tying a dog by his neck collar via a chain to a fixed object for up to 10 hours a day six days a week, leads to a happy dog outcome. I want to create an area of safety for him with the pen and crate system. A place where he feels completely secure and can sleep away the hours when his owners and family are away, or he is on a long car trip, or needs to be crated while an injury heals, or he needs to recover from a trauma, peacefully and calmly.

Look for next episode - Entertaining your dog in your absence -

from Raewyn Saville.