MOM! Play with me!
She went nuts with crying and barking from the gate, jumping all over the place. I continued to get ready and closed my bedroom door so that the sight of me wouldn't distract her. Then I hear the crash. Martha has bull-dozed down the gate. (In her defense, the baby gate just doesn’t work that well. My house has settled a little bit and the doorway is uneven.)
So, I open the door and start to yell at Martha!
Then I realized that I was yelling at the dog after I had been the one who took her out of her kennel early. Gah.
Martha's favorite Toy
After breakfast and long walk, she was none too happy to get back into the crate when I headed off for school. I actually shoved her in there. Nice.
On the way home from school I stopped at giant pet retailer to get a bigger collar. I had a small to medium and the next size up looked kind of close so I picked the large size. Of course, it’s just a little bit too big for her!
Once I got home, Martha put on her official new collar and we took a walk on her official new blue leash. Martha was really perky and walked on her new leash like a champ. I was so proud of her. She didn’t veer off the sidewalk and if she stopped to smell something, all I had to do was make a kissing noise for her to regain her stride.
Then we got home and I decided to get some lunch. Since Martha was behaving so well I decided to just put the gate up. Pandemonium ensued. She went nuts and as I walked down the stairs, she clobbered the gate once again. I ran back up the stairs and she’d gone to the bathroom on the floor – in a span of like thirty seconds and after we’d just been outside for an hour!
I all but threw her into the kennel in frustration and cleaned up the mess. I didn’t even care when she cried as I left!
I came back with lunch, let her out and she was good again. I was frustrated with myself because I feel like I was doing the wrong things and slacking off today out of tiredness.
This afternoon we worked on ‘sit’ again. Still slow going on that one, but she has become a master at ‘release’ aka ‘give it to mommy’ when it comes to toys.
I’m back to finishing my paper, she’s taking a nap and we’re starting the crate training from scratch since Martha is now scared to death of it.
Revised crate training - now located in 'her inside spot' with lid removed. Also, I think she might be a little too long for this kennel. She always sleeps with her head hanging out like this. What do y'all think? She can turn around in it...and after I just typed the head comment she's curled up in a ball inside it...oh wait, in typing that she's back to head popped out.
Any suggestions on this separation anxiety stuff? She’s really bad. She’ll cry if I walk outside to take the trash out without her and she’ll cry when I close the door to the bathroom. It’s a little ridiculous! I've been really careful not to make ANY kind of deal when I leave the house and I really don't dote on her at all. She's usually very chill as long as she's within five-ten feet of me. Otherwise - hysteria.
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1 comments:
my dog also has severe separation anxiety. he's 3.5yrs old now and i've had him for 3 years. he still gets it, but it does get better. part of the reason is his history...in the first 5 months of his life he was stray, lived w/ another family, then finally went to the spca. but the longer he's with me the more he trusts me and knows i will always come back. but i still have to crate him when i leave the house. i'm trying to train him otherwise so i can leave him, but it's tough. he'll be good for a while, but then one day he'll randomly tear the house apart.
i think what works best is slowly training him (her in your case). start by leaving her alone for 2 mins to take out the trash. next 5 mins for something else. i think the key is like any other type of training...repetition. the problem i'm having with santos is that i dont do it enough. but i'm hesitant to start now, cuz i'm graduating in 3 weeks and moving somewhere else that he'll be unfamiliar with. but i definitely will start again there. but once she realizes that you'll always come back, it will get better.
that said, some things might never change. it's been 3 years and my dog still follows me into my bedroom every time. it used to kind of annoy me, the fact that he couldnt be apart. but now i kind of like the fact that he always wants to be with me. and she'll calm down after a while, when she's more used to you.
ok this is becoming long and incoherent. end novel.
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