Separation Anxiety in Dogs?

I have a 2 year old sheltie who has a bad case of separation anxiety. I’m at a loss on what to do! I’ve tried just leaving her out, but she chews on everything. I’ve tried to crate her, but she digs into her crate and hurts her paws. And her barking sounds like I’m torturing her. Is there anyone out there that has some kind of experience with this??

This isn’t an uncommon problem with shelties. Your vet can prescribe an antidepressant called Clomicalm which is used to treat anxiety in conjunction with behaviour therapy.

You need to get your dog used to being alone – start in very short increments, gradually increasing the time. When you leave, you need to just leave – do not say good-bye, don’t look at the dog, don’t make any kind of fuss about leaving, just walk out the door. When you come in, hard as it is, you need to ignore the dog for a few minutes while you take off your coat, whatever. Then greet the dog but do it very calmly, do not make a fuss.

If you can do this over a period of time and be very low key about coming and going, your dog (perhaps with help from the meds.) should get better.

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