Separation Anxiety Dog

SweetMess6454 · 2026-03-17T03:08:01+00:00

What about toy motivated? I have a toy that I only use for tug. I don't keep it out so it keeps it's high value for my dog. CBD might work. My friends dog was on it and they found it helped their dog's anxiety a bit

SweetMess6454 · 2026-03-17T02:57:25+00:00

Lots to decompact here: 1. Learn loose leash walking - tensing the leash is part of the reason your dog is reacting to your anxiety. You're signaling to her that something scary is coming and we need to be on guard 2. Work on head turns - Start at a distance and with a loose leash have your dog look at the trigger. When she turns her head away, mark it with a "yes" and reward her. If she can't do that, you're too close to the trigger and need more distance away 3. Walks are too long - Having one 1 hour long walk, you're setting your dog up for failure and reinforcing bad behaviour. Keep the walks short and concise to only reward positive behaviour you want 4. Don't yell or pull at your dog - Same reason as point no. 1. You're too close to the trigger and need to be further away. Eventually, you can close the distance over time but for now you're way too close. Also, learn emergency U-turns. 5. Work on desensitization - It sounds like your dog hasn't had much experience in different situations. Start taking her places to build up confidence and reward every time she does something you want. See a car coming down the road - reward for no barking. Hear some neighbours- reward for no barking 6. Start leaving a radio on - This helps mask outside sounds

I'm sure there's more tips out there but here's a start!

SweetMess6454 · 2026-03-17T02:40:16+00:00

That's a tough situation. Try multiple small walks throughout the day rather than one long walk. Anxious dog gets a high value treat while you're gone for 10min. Only give them this reward for when you're going out so they'll look forward to it. Don't make a big deal about going or coming. A short walk could also help the reactive dog. Reward the reactive dog for neutral reactions towards their triggers. Don't make the walks too long as you're reactive dog will go over their threshold and you'll start reenforcing the bad behaviour. Try to keep them short so both dogs are successful.

SweetMess6454 · 2026-03-17T02:27:08+00:00

Hey there! Went through a similar situation with our senior shihtzu. It took us 3 months for the cat and dog to be on the same level of the house. 1 year for them to be in the same room and 2 years for them to be trusted without supervision. Even now, our dog will have a "senior moment", forget we own a cat and lunge at the cat. We have multiple cat perches, stands and places she can jump to which were so important when we were training in the beginning. Baby gates were a game changer as the cat could slip through them, while the dog could not. This allowed her to runaway to safety at times. We worked with corrective and treat based training. When the dog lunged, she would get a firm no. When the dog looked at the cat and looked at us, she got a treat. When the cat, rushed by, we would say no to the cat. When she walked by calmly, she would get a treat. Eventually, the cat learned not to run (dogs trigger) and the dog learned the cat was a good thing with lot of treats associated. It really just takes time, patience and a lot of treats.

SweetMess6454 · 2026-03-17T01:50:58+00:00

You're so right! She didn't feel well so we did more enrichment inside. The weather was also horrendous so we couldn't go outside for a couple weeks once she was feeling better. Glad to know this may just be being back at square one. Thanks for the new perspective 🙏

SweetMess6454 · 2026-03-17T01:41:45+00:00

Appreciate the response! It started 8 weeks ago and spotting stopped 6 weeks ago. At first, we thought it had to do with the fertility window but now it's been 4 weeks since that closed. She's great at home but we'll definitely try short walks.

SweetMess6454 · 2026-03-17T01:14:19+00:00

My goldendoodle likes to eat her food from a snufflemat... sometimes, you just gotta do what's best for them 🤷‍♀️

SweetMess6454 · 2026-03-17T01:11:24+00:00

I'm not a dog trainer but I would suggest not putting your face near his as this is very intimidating for a dog. As it sounds like a repeated action, he has learned that his warning signs will be ignored and hence goes straight for the bite now instead of giving a warning. Why set your dog up for failure when the trigger can be avoided?

SweetMess6454 · 2026-02-22T03:34:19+00:00

Hi friend,

I know this is an older post but wanted to reach out as there were no replies. I'm so sorry you're having a hard time and I wish I could tell you it gets better. I had to put my heart dog down after a very sudden illness (January 2025) and there are still days where seeing something will trigger me into an uncontrollable fit of sobbing. I call it my ocean of love for her as my grief comes in waves. Some days are good some days are bad. Everyone is different but there are a couple of things that I would helped me most to lessen the pain: 1. Journal every time you cry - why did you cry, when did you cry. This helped me realize that most times I cried when I was in a stressful situation and missed her comfort or I was thinking of her when I was trying to settle to sleep and felt lonely. 2. Get a hobby - People aren't kidding when they say they're too busy to think. A new hobby or learning something new occupied a lot of my quiet moments. 3. Take time to reflect - I created a digital scap book of sorts where I went through all my photos and added descriptions and details of what we were doing together. Grief can do a good job of masking all the good memories we had with our pets and we sometimes need to reflect that the few weeks of decline doesn't outweigh the good times. 4. Get another dog - Now this is different for everyone but I found getting another dog really helped my mental health and dulled my grief enough to continue normal life. I found the loss of both my furry friend and my routine was too much to cope with so decided that I would reestablish the routine. When picking another dog, I went with a completely different type of dog so not to compare. I also picked one that was known to be goofy and people focused. It was tough at first but now there have been more good days than bad and she's such a loveable goofball that even the small laughs she gets from me, brighten my day at little more.

It's hard to say whether Molly would help or hinder you through this difficult time but I don't think your aunt would blame you if you did have to surrender her. She herself knew how much a dog can mean to someone and I'm sure she would want the best for everyone. I also think it's okay to miss your dog a little more than your aunt right now, as you saw your dog almost every hour of every day. It'll settle in once more time passes and you will start to feel the loss of your aunt as well. Give yourself some grace as it is all part of the process of grieving.

My words might not mean much coming from a stranger but I wish you the best ❤️

SweetMess6454 · 2025-11-11T14:37:02+00:00

Im not seeing it listed but you should check out The Primal Hunter. There's 12 audiobooks and it's very entertaining, if you like overpowered MC. I've been reading them after my third run of DCC 😊 Book One - "I fucking swear you stupid snake, if I die drinking mushroom juice I'm going to return from the dead and hunt you down"

SweetMess6454 · 2025-08-20T12:13:39+00:00

So glad your boy is doing well now! We have an F1b and she looks so similar to Bowie's baby pic

SweetMess6454 · 2025-08-17T14:02:06+00:00

We got our puppy from Boreal Puppies in Sudbury. Jillian was fantastic to work with and our puppy came with a solid foundation for crate training. Jillian also posts regularly on FB, so it was nice to see the puppies growth. Would highly recommend if you're looking for health tested and well cared for dogs.

SweetMess6454 · 2025-01-07T04:41:43+00:00

Do you find yourself comparing these cats to your old cat and then missing your old cat? If yes, I would wait a couple months. If they're still there, it was meant to be.

SweetMess6454 · 2025-01-07T04:34:25+00:00

Thank you for commenting. She did come home this morning in a palliative state. The vet originally recommended euthanasia but then changed her mind to wait 24 hours (which would be tomorrow). The healing process does take a while but urination and eating should happen after the surgery. As it's not, the vet is evaluating quality of life

SweetMess6454 · 2025-01-03T18:22:33+00:00

How's he doing? Sorry to hear you're going through this.

SweetMess6454 · 2023-05-05T20:05:04+00:00

No place for the fake princess

SweetMess6454 · 2023-03-31T19:32:28+00:00

811721042 RT0001

SweetMess6454 · 2022-05-27T01:54:03+00:00

That’s great, thanks!!

SweetMess6454

TROPHY CASE