[Dailydrool] Riley, separation anxiety revisited, the power of ritual

[Val Brewer]

I am not a dog trainer. Well, my husband says I am an exceptionally poor dog 
trainer--I train dogs to have bad habits (I once trained a dog to bark at me 
whenever I was on the phone by giving him biscuits to shut him up while I 
talked--I have learned a lot since then).

However, we have had a lot of experience with our two bassets, Bo and Harley, 
regarding separation anxiety. Both hounds are rescues. We are the third home for 
the first and the seventh home for the second (our heart hound). Both have had 
separation anxiety problems--Bo's moderate, and Harley's off the chart. Bo is 
good now (we got Harley to keep him company). Harley still has problems, but 
we've made significant strides. Harley used to howl like a banshee if left--even 
with Bo around--and Harley remains my shadow when I am home, which is usually.

We tried citronella bark collars, which worked at first and then did not. 
BUT--we learned from both hounds the miracle of ritual. Before Harley, we used 
to take a big cow joint and fill it with cream cheese and give it to Bo when we 
left the house (this was absolutely the only time he ever got this treat). Bo 
would save the joint until we returned home again and then relish it. It was 
like a transitional object for him, which he kept nearby--we suspect to remind 
him we would return--until we did. We could not do this once Harley joined the 
family--the two dogs would fight, even if each had his own joint--and Harley 
(the dominant of the two) would end up with both bones. That's when we started 
with the citronella collars. I don't remember how we discovered that the 
citronella wasn't working--Harley would howl through it as I recall. But 
eventually, bringing out the collars and giving a voice message in a voice an 
octave lower than usual: "We'll be back", got set up as a signal we were leaving 
and would be back.  Now we take out the collars and put them on both dogs 
(though we haven't filled them with citronella for over a year). We give each 
dog a biscuit and tell them in our best Schwartznegger imitation "We'll be 
bach". Harley sees the collar, takes the biscuit and goes and lies in his bed. 
He saves the biscuit until we return. Bo takes his biscuit and goes out into the 
backyard under a big tree and waits until we return to eat his. I don't know 
what the magic is--but clearly it is routine and ritual. Somehow the ritual 
clues the dogs into the fact that this is a special occasion and we will be 
returning.

We have other problems with our hounds (Harley gets very upset at the sight of 
boxes or suitcases), and if Harley starts barking in a guard dog/alert mode it 
is hard for him to stop unless there is a human nearby to say "It's okay. Stop 
now". But the ritual seems to have addressed the separation problems.

I don't have any great ideas on the sofa issue. I think Robert's suggestions 
were right on. Or covering the sofa with a big blanket that you hide in the 
laundry room when guests come. There are some very good dog trainer Droolers who 
will probably have better suggestions than mine, but I can attest to the power 
of ritual (and transitional objects?) for our boys. 


      
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