Dog with separation anxiety

Looking for help for my daughter with a rescue yellow lab she got.

Dog is 3ish years old female. Was originally owned by an Amish puppy mill and we understood that she was kept in an outdoor kennel.

I’m convinced they beat the dog. If you talk loud, loud voices on tv, or any sudden movement and the poor dog slinks down and hides her head. Or she’ll crawl under a coffee table and ball up and shake.

Lindsey has tried crating her when she’s gone and the dog goes out of her mind while Lindsey is gone. The dog is already bonding with Lindsey and is glued to her when she’s home. But when Lindsey leaves, all hell breaks loose. She has completely chewed up the plastic liner in the crate, torn up the padded bed, and will chew off the zip ties used to secure the crate panels. She had such a violent episode in the crate that she got all the metal clips or latches to come loose and open the side panels on the crate.

So Lindsey left her out of the crate for an hour to see how she would do. The dog got Lindsey’s shoes, clothes,…. and had a pile on the living room floor. She chewed up furniture, remotes, and other stuff. Ironically, the dog does not touch chew toys or other dog stuff Lindsey got her.
When Lindsey is home, the dog has an extremely laid back demeanor. She lays on Lindsey’s feet, doesn’t “demand” to be petted, doesn’t lick her, or anything you anticipate from a lab. She just chills out and was to lay at your feet.

I’ve never had a dog with separation anxiety like this and don’t know what to suggest next. We want the dog to be safe, but at the rate it tears things up and chews, it’s hard to leave her to be free in Lindsey’s house.
Any suggestions?

We have a German Shepard that we rescued & kinda have the same thing going on. We got her at 7 months. I think the other dogs she was with previously were rough on her in her puppy days. When we first got her, she would chew on the legs of the couch, find the 12 rolls of TP & take a bite out of all of them, eat the loaf of bread off the counter.. We’ve had her almost 2 years now & she has gotten a LOT better & kinda grown out of it. Even tried my luck & brought her to the skid house this last weekend & she did great! As long as she knows where we are, she is wonderful.

The only real advise I can give is to “Dog Proof” the house. All trash is put away and not accessible, all bedroom doors are shut. We will leave a cardboard box of sorts out for her that she will tear up as soon as we leave the house (have watched this on camera, kinda funny), & she will re-arrange the rugs in the house. But she doesn’t chew on furniture anymore & for some reason, never gets into anything in the laundry room where the little box is. I know it isn’t much help but leaving out the cardboard box has seemed to work for us. Seems like after she tears that up she will lay down & just wait for us to get home.

I don’t know how long she’s had the dog, but hopefully she will get into a good routine & settle down a little bit. Hope everything works out! Too many dogs out there that need a good home..

I agree with IceNEyes, dog proof the house. Also, while gone contain the dog in an area of the house that is least susceptible to damage. A hallway or basement with tile or cement floor with nothing available on which to chew is ideal. Baby gates have worked for us in the past to block off space.

First thing I would try is leave for progressively longer periods and get into a “goodbye routine”. Give the dog a scratch on the head and as you’re walking out the door toss a treat or two across the floor so he has to chase it, that should get the dogs mind off you leaving. Then to prove you will be coming back, get into the car and leave for 5 minutes. Then come back and greet him again. Then do it all again but leave for 10 minutes, then 20, 30, 60, etc. Depending on how the dog reacts it may be slower progressions but keep the routine the same as you would as you typically leave the house daily. If the dog doesn’t improve then it may be a medication is needed to ease the anxiety or depression.

Oh so sorry to hear the dog is having a rough time. It’s hard to hear stories of rescues and what they’ve had to endure. Have you tried using a Thundershirt? They’re designed to provide gentle, constant pressure to your dog’s body, producing a calming effect and help your pet with dog separation anxiety, travel stress, fear or thunder and other loud noises, and other canine anxieties.

A friend of mine’s dog wears regular dog shirts most of the time to help with his anxiety. And he doesn’t have to wear the thick Thundershirts, he just wears fun dog shirts and it definitely helps.

Good luck to you guys and hopefully the pup starts to adjust to his new life.

any update on the pup????? feel bad for both. interested in how you dealt with it!!!!!!!!

I took my cat to the vet for a similar reason earlier today. Clearly has some major anxiety issues when I’m not around. Long story short, vet said the best thing I could do is use a product called Feliway, which is a pheromone diffuser. Additionally, they make the same product but for dogs, called Adaptil. Vet said there are sprays, but for her dog and cat at home she uses the plug in diffuser. She is a big fan herself. Might be worth a shot for your daughter!

There is a calming collar called dap that some dogs do better with. The above behavioral modifications mentioned by others can help but some dogs need antiexty meds in combo with. Also get tons of exercise. Some have found cbd oil to help.

Good luck

Above are some good suggestions. Are there any training classes you could get advice from? I believe the humane society has a phone line with behavior specialists..
Could also look into this, purina calming care probiotic, it’s a powder you put on the dogs food once a day, proven to help some dogs anxiety.
https://www.proplanvetdirect.com/calming-care-canine-nutritional-supplement

Thanks for the help. Scout is doing much better. She has really attached herself to Lindsey and a few of us. Using a crate is out of the question. But she is doing ok with roaming the house. Loud noises and sudden movement still makes her flinch, but not to the extent it had been. The kids are up to about 3-4 hours of being away before Scout get anxious and chews stuff. Its a process, but Lindsey is taking her time and its coming together well. Scout is going to be a spoiled pooch

First, I commend your daughter for rescuing this lab. My wife rescued a yellow lab and she too had unbelievable separation anxiety and destroyed numerous things in her house. She too destroyed crates and went “crazy.” What I’m about to suggest may not even be an option. Our vet suggested a 2nd dog; a stray beagle-boxer mix in this situation. Bringing a new dog into the situation has it’s own set of circumstances, of course, and did in our situation. However, after some time, the two bonded and became best friends and all but eliminated our lab’s separation anxiety. She still had to be around us or her new friend and always kept track of one of her “pack mates” her entire life. Our lab went on to be one of the greatest dogs we’ve had as well as our little beagle-boxer. It sounds like your lab’s situation has improved but thought I’d throw this out there. Good luck to your daughter and her dog.