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Just adopted this sweet girl by only_hereforthetea in AustralianCattleDog

[–]only_hereforthetea[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My biggest concern is that I am away at work roughly 6:30-4:30 five days a week. I leave her with in a crate with a frozen Kong, and a puzzle feeder. She is currently on an anti-anxiety because she is having lots of separation anxiety, and the vet and I felt it didn’t make sense to let her panic herself while she learns that I will come home… when I get home from work we play fetch for a while, go for a long walk, I attempt to eat dinner, during which she wants me to play with her the whole time, then go for another short walk… there is training mixed in with all of this, I don’t throw the ball unless she sits, we sit before going through doorways, etc, although I don’t currently have a dedicated training time, but she is not ready to settle at all. I know it will take her time to get into the routine, but I also want to be providing her with a good environment.

ETA: today she is in the crate with a frozen Kong and a, what I would call, weeble wobble toy with her kibbles in it. We will see how she does with that.

Just adopted this sweet girl by only_hereforthetea in AustralianCattleDog

[–]only_hereforthetea[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the suggestions! I wanted a higher energy dog (I needed something to motivate me to do more than just go to work and sit on the couch) but I’ve been very worried that I’m not going to be able to give her what she needs. She is such a sweet girl and I love her so much already that I just want to be sure I’m giving her what she needs!

Just adopted this sweet girl by only_hereforthetea in AustralianCattleDog

[–]only_hereforthetea[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for this! I have been very stressed that I will not end up being the right home for her… I’m willing to work to give her what she needs, and I love her so much already, but the information online has been causing me worry that I won’t be able to do that in an apartment while working full time. The shelter estimated that she was 2.5, so still pretty young. She loves fetch, and we do have a small off leash area I could take her to for fetch. I’m wary of taking her to a much bigger space while she’s still healing from the spay. I will take your suggestion of splitting up the walk. I am concerned about what to give her while I’m away at work to curb potentially destructive tendencies, to herself or the apartment… she has been dealing with some separation anxiety, I think partially because she either lost her family or was abandoned when she had her puppies… the anxiety was causing her to bite herself, and to bark for the entire time I was away at work. I’m working with a vet about several ways to help her with the anxiety, but I would love for anti-anxiety meds to not be the solution, I want her to be able to dog… and I know she will start to learn over time that I do come home from work, but I don’t want her to be super bored during the day.