[Dailydrool] Separation anxiety in Basset puppy

[Alla Babushkina Virdee]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and new to having a puppy. Dascha is a beautiful and
fantastic Basset, five months old and generally friendly and happy. She has,
however, had a pretty bad life. Her previous owner bought her from a pet
store, which likely means she came from a puppy mill. He quickly realized
that he didn't actually want a puppy, and decided to give her up. After I
saw his ad on craigslist, I knew that we had to bring Dascha home. She has
adjusted well overall, but has quite a bit of separation anxiety. If I or my
husband are on the other side of the room, she will follow us. We have been
trying to leave her in a room by herself, but she cries so much it seems
cruel to do so for more than five minutes. The problem is, we live in a city
where noise regulations are fairly strict; we know quite a number of dog
owners, and almost all of them have had run-ins with their neighbors and the
police over the noise level of their dog. I am on vacation now, but when I
go back to work, Dascha will have to learn to be on her own for two to three
hours at a time (my husband and I have different work schedules). A friend
with a yappy terrier has suggested I try citronella collars on Dascha, but
I'm not sure since that seems to be addressing the symptoms rather than the
root cause of the problem. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to deal
with separation anxiety in my very persistent and very loving puppy?
Thanks for any advice.
Alla, caretaker of Dascha the Basset
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