# HELP!! FED UP. dog anxiety, whining all the time, seeking attention



## Superstar-xo (May 11, 2015)

Hi, I will try to include as many details as possible but it might be a long post.
I really need some tips for my husky who's now 1year old. We rescued him from a shelter when he was 2month and he always had some troubled behaviour. (I won't talk about all them since there not an issue anymore). 

The one behaviour we can't seems to solve is his crying for attention. When he was a puppy he would whine all the time and we always thought it was normal since he was a puppy and told ourself it would past with time. He's still young, but he's 1 year old now.. and he still cry like he did when he was 2month old! I know huskies are vocal, I have another husky and we know how they are. But this one is different..it's not even a howl it sound like a puppy crying..for attention! 

He's crate trained and sleep in it with no problem at night. He will eat in it and sometimes sleep in it during the day. But in the morning, he will wake us up when ever he wants. It's not steady hours too..sometimes it's 5am, 6 or 7.. it's when ever he decides. 

He just want to wake us up and go for a walk. Both of them LOVE their walk in the morning but the older one knows that he has to wait for us to get up. The younger one will cry until we're up. 
For a few months now, we tried ignoring him until he shut up, it seems like it makes him try harder for attention. We also tried to tell him no go to sleep, he will shut up for a while but then go back at it again even tho we would tell him again "go to sleep". We tried those two methods for a few months .. some morning it will work but the next one he's back at it again. 
We go for long walks late at night so he can be tired and he is, he will go to sleep..but still cries in the morning. We put his toys and bones in his crate at night so he can chew on them in the morning. We bought dark curtains so it would keep the room dark and we put a blanket over his crate. We can't just let him loose because he can't be trusted..he will chew anything for attention and he will jump and whine if our door is close. We tried a few time having him sleeping in our room but it's the same problem, he will whine for attention until we wakeup and make a mess in the room, chew anything. 

Does anyone have tips ? I don't know what to do anymore. We did try shock collar, which does help a little bit. The only thing that worked is when my boyfriend sleeps on the couch next to his crate but it doesn't work all the time either. 

He also has separation anxiety when we leave. We also tried everything like leaving tv on, giving him his kong and bones only when we leave, not saying big hellos and goodbyes, ignoring him when he's following us everywhere to make him gain more independence, putting his shock collar and desensitization as the dog trainers suggest. He's a bit better now when we leave, but the morning issue is getting me upset. I don't see how we can do that for another 10-12years..It's exhausting. 

I do love him that's why i'm searching answers, but i'm fed up. I always thought that a misbehaved dog was the result of a poor training..until I got him.


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## Alla (Mar 25, 2015)

Unfortunately I don’t have many ideas for you, but wanted to say that I feel for your situation. I had exactly the same problem when I first got my GSD. She kept barking and whining from early morning until whenever we got up. 

With us the problem was solved by letting her sleep uncrated in our room with the door to the rest of the house closed. She just wanted to be close. It looks like you’ve tried that already. 

I just would say keep trying new things. Different circumstances, combinations. There are proponents of the “try one thing for months and see if it works” method, but what worked for us was just trying different ideas every night, until something clicked. We changed only one variable each night and noted what made it better and what made it worse, and eventually arrived at an answer that “clicked”. 

(Btw, if she is destructive via chewing, you can try to have her sleep in a (properly introduced) muzzle if you try to let her out of her crate for sleep.)

Best of luck, I feel for you. <3


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Honestly it sounds like he needs more mental/physical exercise. What do you do with him in terms of walks, training, etc.?


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## jade5280 (Feb 20, 2013)

Can you put the crate somewhere where you cannot hear him whine? If the issue is him waking you up this seems like the best solution. I would discontinue use of the shock collar, I do not think that this is an effective tool for your circumstances. 

At 1 year he is still very puppy like, he may grow out of it.


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## pawsaddict (Apr 17, 2013)

jade5280 said:


> Can you put the crate somewhere where you cannot hear him whine? If the issue is him waking you up this seems like the best solution. I would discontinue use of the shock collar, I do not think that this is an effective tool for your circumstances.
> 
> At 1 year he is still very puppy like, he may grow out of it.


If you can't move the crate, ear plugs would probably help drown out the whining. I do agree with taquitos that he may need more physical and mental stimulation.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Definitely stop with the shock collar. Throw the damn thing away.

Look, a husky is a high energy, intelligent breed and high energy, intelligent dogs are nightmares when they're not given enough mental and physical stimulation. Are you giving him enough mental and physical stimulation? What kind of training and what kind of exercise does he get, daily?

Have you trained him to settle? Not all dogs, especially young dogs, know how to calm themselves (i.e., "settle"). Sometimes, we have to train dogs how to do that. It's Yer Choice is a great exercise in teaching dogs self control.

If it is anxiety, if it's not just lack of exercise and mental stimulation combined with a lack of self control, have you talked to a vet about it? Prozac is cheap and easy to get and a lifesaver for anxious dogs.


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## Superstar-xo (May 11, 2015)

Thank you, it's always nice to have some support  I might try to let him sleep in our room again, since he's a bit older now. We we're thinking about the muzzle too. Perhaps, let him sleep in his crate and in the morning when he start crying, let him out and put the muzzle. Then we could go back to sleep and let him loose in the living room. I never used one, but I think it's dangerous if you leave it on too long so not sure if it's good to put it on all night.


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## natalietportera (May 27, 2015)

years ago we had a police dog, belgium malenoise (spelling?) and my husband was the K-9 officer. He would whine all hours during the night while in his crate. How we fixed this problem, although irritating, we moved his crate beside our bed. Every time he would cry my husband would pop the top of the crate very hard and say NO! I don't know if this will work for your dog but it did then. Good luck


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

natalietportera said:


> years ago we had a police dog, belgium malenoise (spelling?) and my husband was the K-9 officer. He would whine all hours during the night while in his crate. How we fixed this problem, although irritating, we moved his crate beside our bed. Every time he would cry my husband would pop the top of the crate very hard and say NO! I don't know if this will work for your dog but it did then. Good luck


This is a great way to teach your dog that the crate is scary, which kind of defeats the purpose. The crate should be a safe place, not a scary one.


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## Superstar-xo (May 11, 2015)

natalietportera said:


> years ago we had a police dog, belgium malenoise (spelling?) and my husband was the K-9 officer. He would whine all hours during the night while in his crate. How we fixed this problem, although irritating, we moved his crate beside our bed. Every time he would cry my husband would pop the top of the crate very hard and say NO! I don't know if this will work for your dog but it did then. Good luck


I could try ! We don't have much space in our room tho. But definitely could try. At first this is what I was doing, I would go in the living room... and says a firm no..go to sleep and say it until he was calm.. but I notice quickly that he liked the attention. So now we're trying to ignore him.


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## Superstar-xo (May 11, 2015)

Amaryllis said:


> Definitely stop with the shock collar. Throw the damn thing away.
> 
> Look, a husky is a high energy, intelligent breed and high energy, intelligent dogs are nightmares when they're not given enough mental and physical stimulation. Are you giving him enough mental and physical stimulation? What kind of training and what kind of exercise does he get, daily?
> 
> ...



We don't use the shock collar anymore, we we're desperate when we tried it. Here's our usual routine : In the morning my boyfriend go for a walk with both of them. The two dogs usually play\fight together for a while and then he walk with them for about 1hour. Around noon we usually both go for another walk but a bit shorter. In the afternoon, we jog with them for about 30mins sometimes longer if it's not too hot. After supper, we take them out, go for another long walk. And just before bed time, we bring them to the park, sometimes we stay for an hour and half, there's time we even stayed 3hours. They get really exhausted..but he still has the energy to cry in the morning. 

He knows basic commands and words like: sit, stay, sleep, no, good boy, crate and calmly (that I use if he pulls too much). He's not an excited dog inside the house, he's not even vocal actually we never heard him, he won't beg for food or bark when he see other dogs, etc.. the only time really is when he want's attention he start crying. When he was younger he would even cry if my boyfriend close the door to go to the bathroom..I don't think it's normal behaviour. 

What would you suggest for mental stimulation? I make them sit when ever I give them they food or water and before we go for a walk. 

Here's another thing that make me believe he's doing it for attention : Let's say I tell him go to sleep, he will go to sleep. But he can't stay relax for long. 15seconds after he either comes see us for attention, or let's say we ignore him he will go see our other dog..if he doesn't want to be bothered..he'll go see the cat lol. Then I tell him again go to sleep. And 15seconds after..the same thing. He goes see me, I don't pet him..he go see my boyfriend and cry until we look at him.


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## Superstar-xo (May 11, 2015)

pawsaddict said:


> If you can't move the crate, ear plugs would probably help drown out the whining. I do agree with taquitos that he may need more physical and mental stimulation.


We don't mind the sound that much.. we're just fed up because it's seems like he's not learning and he keeps doing his whining. We're just worried because it seems like he's getting older and it's only getting worse, not better..and that's our issue..we don't want him to be like that all his life!


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## Superstar-xo (May 11, 2015)

taquitos said:


> Honestly it sounds like he needs more mental/physical exercise. What do you do with him in terms of walks, training, etc.?


Here's our usual routine : In the morning my boyfriend go for a walk with both of them. The two dogs usually play\fight together for a while and then he walk with them for about 1hour. Around noon we usually both go for another walk but a bit shorter. In the afternoon, we jog with them for about 30mins sometimes longer if it's not too hot. After supper, we take them out, go for another long walk. And just before bed time, we bring them to the park, sometimes we stay for an hour and half, there's time we even stayed 3hours. They get really exhausted..but he still has the energy to cry in the morning. 

He knows basic commands and words like: sit, stay, sleep, no, good boy, crate and calmly (that I use if he pulls too much). He's not an excited dog inside the house, he's not even vocal actually we never heard him, he won't beg for food or bark when he see other dogs, etc.. the only time really is when he want's attention he start crying. When he was younger he would even cry if my boyfriend close the door to go to the bathroom..I don't think it's normal behaviour. 

What would you suggest for mental stimulation? I make them sit when ever I give them they food or water and before we go for a walk. He also has many toys, bones. 

Here's another thing that make me believe he's doing it for attention : Let's say I tell him go to sleep, he will go to sleep. But he can't stay relax for long. 15seconds after he either comes see us for attention, or let's say we ignore him he will go see our other dog..if he doesn't want to be bothered..he'll go see the cat lol. Then I tell him again go to sleep. And 15seconds after..the same thing. He goes see me, I don't pet him..he go see my boyfriend and cry until we look at him.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Superstar-xo said:


> Here's our usual routine : In the morning my boyfriend go for a walk with both of them. The two dogs usually play\fight together for a while and then he walk with them for about 1hour. Around noon we usually both go for another walk but a bit shorter. In the afternoon, we jog with them for about 30mins sometimes longer if it's not too hot. After supper, we take them out, go for another long walk. And just before bed time, we bring them to the park, sometimes we stay for an hour and half, there's time we even stayed 3hours. They get really exhausted..but he still has the energy to cry in the morning.
> 
> He knows basic commands and words like: sit, stay, sleep, no, good boy, crate and calmly (that I use if he pulls too much). He's not an excited dog inside the house, he's not even vocal actually we never heard him, he won't beg for food or bark when he see other dogs, etc.. the only time really is when he want's attention he start crying. When he was younger he would even cry if my boyfriend close the door to go to the bathroom..I don't think it's normal behaviour.
> 
> ...


That sounds like a pretty good exercise routine, but I would try to give him more mental exercise if possible. Have you tried food puzzles (like the Kong wobbler), or have you looked into clicker training? You can try spending 15-20 mins everyday or every other day to teach him some new and fun tricks to keep him (and you!) entertained.

He could very possibly be doing it for attention though! My dog went through a phase like that when I first adopted him. He was about your dog's age -- around 1 year old. He's a Pom (possibly mixed with Chi) -- both breeds notorious for being yappy lol. Well when he was around ~1 he discovered barking. I taught him "speak" but he hadn't figured out that he would only be rewarded on cue... So for about a month or two all he would do is barkbarkbarkbarkbark when he wanted attention!! To fix the problem, the moment he started barking like that I would get up, completely ignore him and go to another room and close the door behind me. I would wait a couple of mins and then come back out. I did this over and over and it took a few weeks but he finally figured it out.

I would look up "doggy zen" in the training stickies section and start practicing being calm at home too. Good luck!


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

I agree that it might be enough physical exercise, but mentally, he's not being challenged. 

Stop feeding from a bowl. Feed from puzzle toys instead. This will keep him occupied for a time and work out his brain.

Train It's Yer Choice and doggy zen. Both teach him to calm himself and the training itself will help work out his mind.

Train tricks. Any stupid thing you can think of. My last dog was intelligent and training stupid tricks helped a lot with him. By the time he died, he knew over 200 commands. Just running through 50 a night before bed was better than a walk for tiring him out!

Stop seeing his pleas for attention as bad. He's not bad, he's bored, he doesn't know how to calm himself, or he's anxious. He's trying to tell you, over and over again, that he needs something. He doesn't know what that something is, just that you're the people and the people fix things.

Again, if training doesn't help, definitely have a conversation with your vet about anxiety. It is a real mental disorder in dogs, and they really suffer when they have it.

Oh, and don't bash the crate when he whines. That's just mean.


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## Superstar-xo (May 11, 2015)

taquitos said:


> That sounds like a pretty good exercise routine, but I would try to give him more mental exercise if possible. Have you tried food puzzles (like the Kong wobbler), or have you looked into clicker training? You can try spending 15-20 mins everyday or every other day to teach him some new and fun tricks to keep him (and you!) entertained.
> 
> He could very possibly be doing it for attention though! My dog went through a phase like that when I first adopted him. He was about your dog's age -- around 1 year old. He's a Pom (possibly mixed with Chi) -- both breeds notorious for being yappy lol. Well when he was around ~1 he discovered barking. I taught him "speak" but he hadn't figured out that he would only be rewarded on cue... So for about a month or two all he would do is barkbarkbarkbarkbark when he wanted attention!! To fix the problem, the moment he started barking like that I would get up, completely ignore him and go to another room and close the door behind me. I would wait a couple of mins and then come back out. I did this over and over and it took a few weeks but he finally figured it out.
> 
> I would look up "doggy zen" in the training stickies section and start practicing being calm at home too. Good luck!


Thank you  I will definitely try more mental exercise. Teach him new tricks. And I will look for the "doggy zen". 

I appreciate everyone's tips. I'm just so worried he will stay that way.. I know he's still very young. I guess I shouldn't compare him..but our other husky was so much more mature at that age.


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## Alla (Mar 25, 2015)

> He's trying to tell you, over and over again, that he needs something. He doesn't know what that something is, just that you're the people and the people fix things.


This, basically. That's why I suggested trying different things, keep changing, put him in different rooms, locations, with you, without you, crated, uncrated, in one room, in whole house, with training X before bed, with training Y before bed, with long-lasting treats, without, with the other dog, without the other dog, etc etc etc.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Superstar-xo said:


> Thank you  I will definitely try more mental exercise. Teach him new tricks. And I will look for the "doggy zen".
> 
> I appreciate everyone's tips. I'm just so worried he will stay that way.. I know he's still very young. I guess I shouldn't compare him..but our other husky was so much more mature at that age.


My previous dog was the rebirth of Albert Einstein. My current dog is so stupid it's amazing. (I love him, don't worry.) They're both golden retriever mixes. 

I think your dog will be fine if you have some patience and learn some new techniques.


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## Superstar-xo (May 11, 2015)

Amaryllis said:


> I agree that it might be enough physical exercise, but mentally, he's not being challenged.
> 
> Stop feeding from a bowl. Feed from puzzle toys instead. This will keep him occupied for a time and work out his brain.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your reply ! I really appreciate. I will try it out then. 
We also never tried any kind of anxiety medication or "calming scent" and "calming shirt" that they sell because we weren't sure if it was actually working. We will try the mental stimulation first and then talk to the vet if nothing works. 

ps: no worries, we dont bash on the crate anymore.. but we did try it at some point with a firm no. Doesn't seems really effective.


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

Yes, more mental stimulation as Taquitos and Amaryllis suggested! Some other ideas: walk in or visit different places, take a class, try nose work (there's probably good DIY info somewhere). Perhaps try something like urban mushing or bikejoring or one of the pulling sports (look for posts by Sassafras, she does that type of training with her dogs).

And, if you're still not seeing a change, a vet visit is an excellent idea.



> For a few months now, we tried ignoring him until he shut up, it seems like it makes him try harder for attention. We also tried to tell him no go to sleep, he will shut up for a while but then go back at it again even tho we would tell him again "go to sleep". We tried those two methods for a few months .. some morning it will work but the next one he's back at it again.


I didn't see this addressed: If you're trying to eliminate a behavior by ignoring it, there's something called extinction burst. Basically, the dog will offer the behavior more often and with more intensity before he stops. Or, it's always darkest just before dawn.

Plus, if you give any type of attention (even a harsh "no"), it's reinforcing to the dog and more difficult to eliminate. Think about slot machines - people don't win very often, but keep playing because next time might be the big winner.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

People have a lot of good ideas above, but also realize that a lot of huskies are just super vocal. It doesn't necessarily HAVE to mean anything is wrong. My dog Toast is like that, too. If he experiences any feeling whatsoever, he is talking about it. It stopped bothering me when I recognized it didn't mean there was a problem that needed to be fixed. 

Now I don't know your dog so maybe he IS distressed when he's doing it, just something to consider.


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## natalietportera (May 27, 2015)

I never said it was ideal. I said my husband did it and it worked. Keep in mind police k9 have to be treated differently then a regular house pet. They are trained in the academy and obedience school to enforce a dog is not a pet. In his case he was to sniff drugs and be loved not your typical scenario. He loved his crate and it had no bearings on his comfort in there. But it broke him of crying for no reason in middle of night. 

Anyway something else you could try is taking him alone without the other husky and spending one on one with him. Being that you adopted him he may feel out of place. You never really know what goes on in ones house with a pet. So maybe he has some trust issues. Get into his head as if he is a person. Lol. I know sounds crazy but most ( not all) pets are crying for a reason. To figure out why is the hard part.


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## Superstar-xo (May 11, 2015)

cookieface said:


> I didn't see this addressed: If you're trying to eliminate a behavior by ignoring it, there's something called extinction burst. Basically, the dog will offer the behavior more often and with more intensity before he stops. Or, it's always darkest just before dawn.
> 
> Plus, if you give any type of attention (even a harsh "no"), it's reinforcing to the dog and more difficult to eliminate. Think about slot machines - people don't win very often, but keep playing because next time might be the big winner.


You have a good point. We knew about that. That's why we waited so long to ask for advice..we thought that eventually it would go away. That's why we kept ignoring him even when it was worst. But after about 8months, I think it's obviously not working. He doesn't seems to understand that crying = no attention. So we thought maybe we should let him know that this is not the behaviour we wants since he didn't seems to make the connection. 

So we tried saying a firm "no" (I agree, it can be like "rewarding" his need for attention but we we're desperate) then we would go back to bed and ignore him. We would also just let him out the cage once he's calm and we wouldn't go right away for a walk, we would just ignore him for a while. We did the "no" for a week and after that we went back at just ignoring him. He knows this behaviour is not acceptable. As soon as he heard noise, like my boyfriend going to the bathroom..he shut up right away. But then he's back at it afterward. It's been maybe 3months since we told him "no" and we just ignore him ..still the same..no change. I'm trying more mental stimulation now. Let see how it goes. So far there's little change.


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## Superstar-xo (May 11, 2015)

natalietportera said:


> Anyway something else you could try is taking him alone without the other husky and spending one on one with him. Being that you adopted him he may feel out of place. You never really know what goes on in ones house with a pet. So maybe he has some trust issues. Get into his head as if he is a person. Lol. I know sounds crazy but most ( not all) pets are crying for a reason. To figure out why is the hard part.


Yes, that's what I do when my boyfriend is at work..I would walk the dog separately. Go for 30minutes walk with one..then afterward go with the other one. But he goes crazy when the other one is not around. I'm starting to think it might be a lack of confidence. Is that even possible with dogs? 
When I go for a walk with the other one.. the younger one will howl and cry. He ignore his kong.. and he keep staring the door anxiously (I video taped him). He don't move until we come back..or if he does he goes from the window to the door and back to the window. 

When he was a puppy, he used to refuse to pee or do anything if the other one wasn't there.. (And he was doing his business outside at the time, it's not like he didn't knew what to do) That's when we realize they needed more time separate. 

Let's say we go for a walk with both dogs, but my boyfriend goes the other way with the older one and I choose to go another way with the younger one (We do this to try to make him gain more independence). During all the walk (maybe 30-45mins), he will cry and search for the other dog NON STOP. He looks everywhere and he won't pee until me and my boyfriend meet halfway during the walk and he see's the other dog..then we would walk together and then he will finally pee. I think he's just so anxious and looking for the other dog that he won't even think about peeing. If I call his name to get his attention he start to cry and look everywhere for the other dog. 

I know that's normal when dog see's another one to be excited and cry but is it normal to act like that for 30mins? Even when the dog is obviously not around?


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## gingerwrinklepup (May 19, 2015)

Agree with more mental stimulation! Put your crate or a loose bed in your living room, do a 10 minute training session so he's tired and then give him a bed command, once he's on there get him to lay and slowly release treats to him until he looks like he's going to sleep. Once he's got that down in the living room try it other places. Even outside sitting on a park bench he should be able to lay down and focus on you/other people without reacting physically.

Do the dogs sleep together in their crate? Maybe you could try that if they're so attached to each other?

I think you need to go back to basics, get the crate in your room and if he cries/whines just put your hand over the side of the bed for him to sniff and reassure. This is temporary and you slowly move the crate further away over time until they're back in the original place you want. This is how I ALWAYS recommend introducing night time sleeping for puppies now because studies have shown just because an animal stops a behavior doesn't mean the reason for doing that behavior is gone. Whining is a very easy example to understand, the dog/puppy will whine and whine until exhausted or learns the whining isn't getting them attention but the anxiety is still there, he just knows to be quiet because that isn't solving the issues. Leaving puppies to "cry it out" is believed to actually cause separation anxiety in the future.

You could even try have the crate in your room, hide a kong in a drawer and preferably just before his usual whining time or when you hear him start moving give it to him. The problem is he's already whining/making noise by the time you get to him so hes already self reinforced himself. Getting in there before the whining will get this behavior sorted much quicker.

As for the separation anxiety with your other dog, try using the method on this website http://empoweredanimals.com/ but weirdly, use it in reverse.
Use a distance that he's comfortable with and start working away from the dog instead of toward.


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## TheDawgHaus (May 18, 2015)

Regrettably, I have put my dog on prozac just a couple days ago. His separation anxiety barking has angered one of my neighbors and after 6 weeks of having him (shelter dog) it's just not getting any better. I am desperate to keep him so I have tried herbal remedies, etc...recommended by an animal communicator with no improvement. I've had a dog with severe separation anxiety before and realize no matter what people say, sometimes there is no natural cure. 

It was tough living with a dog who could not be without me, especially since I live alone. But i adopted him as a senior, I loved him with all my heart and was willing to live with his debilitating separation anxiety for the last few years of his life. He was a severely abused Rescue. 

This time my dog is much younger and I can not go through that again, especially for what could be as long as 10 years. So I've finally broken down and am trying Prozac (fluoxetine). In your title you say your dog has anxiety? Anyone who suffers from anxiety knows there usually isn't a natural fix. I've also read when a dog is always anxious the chemicals that make him that way could take over permanently. Frightening!

For my situation if my dog doesn't stop barking/howling even when I just walk to the mail box I will have to rehome him. I live in a condo so I live in very close proximity to neighbors.

I'm hoping that is the solution to my problem, probably not yours but thought I'd share with you in case it helps.

How is he doing now, btw?


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