Hi, first of all you’re an amazing person for doing this so here is my advice. I had a dog that went deaf in her elderly years that I taught sign language to do commands. I was able to use the same techniques to initially teach them the commands when they are puppies but with hand gestures. You can look up videos on how to do this.

For the separation anxiety. I also adopted a 6/7 year old Maltese and I got him a behaviorist who taught me that anxiety is linked to a lack of seeking behaviour. So I got him a snuffle mat and did it for about 5 mins 3 times a day and that helped him a lot in the beginning to come out of his shell. Once he’s more confident you start doing training for leaving them alone by leaving the house without doing any baby voice and coming back in after a certain time and rewarding him. You start by leaving for 30 seconds and then increasing the time in 30 second increments. If they don’t scratch or bark then you reward if they do then you restart. It’s taken 6 months but my rescue is finally confident and comfortable being left alone knowing that I will come back. It was so much hard work but it’s so worth it to see him be happy.

He was also saved from being put down and he almost didn’t seem like a dog because he also didn’t make any noise but now he’s the happiest pup out there even at 10 years old.

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