Like many dogs who perhaps haven’t had to the best start in life, our foster dog Torres came to us with anxiety issues, particulary Separation Anxiety. In conjunction with Gracehounds, the charity for which we are fostering Torres, we have used various methods to try & combat this & I am happy to say that Torres is now a much less anxious dog than he was.
If only a hug could fix it all…
1 month agao, Torres was assessed by local dog psychologist, Maxwell Muir of Action 4 Dogs,& my partner & I, with support from Gracehounds, subsequently implemented a tailored behavioural training program over a number of weeks. Following his assessment, Maxwell’s recommendations for Torres were:
- Keep a diary recording all Torres’ ‘bad’ behaviour (e.g. whining, barking, chewing, soiling) including when, where & any obvious triggers.
- Very gradually increase the time Torres is left alone (at first just in one room of the house), starting with seconds & using ‘stay’ command.
- Use assertive body language, hand gestures & a low calm voice to deal with Torres’ excited behaviour (e.g. jumping up, nipping, barking, whining).
- Try a long lead on walks to encourage sniffing & toileting.
- Do not leave Torres alone (even in the company of other dogs) at all, unless part of the above gradual increase.
- Check food for any E numbers & try to eliminate from diet.
- Upon adoption, transfer to his home will have to be very gradual (e.g. over several weeks) & there is a chance that progress made with his separation anxiety will slip at this time, with the new owner(s) having to continue the process. (He must go to a home where he will not regularly be left alone.)
4 weeks later, Torres seems generally more relaxed for more of the time. He pants less (excluding times when it is due to heat, of course!) & spends less time pacing the way he did before. He is far more likely to go & find a quiet spot in another room to us or a corner of the garden where we are not directly within sight, & he seems to seek this out without any (conscious) intervention on our part. He also settles much more quickly upon transferring him between my own care & that of Gracehounds or my partner, which has had to happen more frequently in order to ensure that he is not left without human company for prolonged periods.
Torres looking handsome
While I have to admit we haven’t stuck rigidly to the incremental increases suggested, we have gradually increased the duration of time which Torres is left in the company of my own dogs over the past 4 weeks & he seems to have tolerated this well. The ultimate test was when I left him at home with Max & Molly for a period of 2.5 hours – we set up a video camera to record the dogs’ activity for the entire duration we were absent. I am very happy to say that, with the exception of a 5 minute lapse in the middle of the tape where Torres & the other 2 decided to ‘play’ with a box of tea-bags (click here to see the hilarious footage of this incident!), Torres spent the whole time resting peacefully (apparently asleep) on the sofa.
Torres’ behaviour towards other dogs has improved as well – he seems to wind up my own 2 dogs less so than previously (I think because he is calmer & less attention-seeking) & has interacted positively with several other greyhounds / lurchers who he has been introduced to via Gracehounds. In addition, I have been walking him with some medium sized non-sighthounds (e.g. labradors) on a regular basis as part of my dog walking business venture &, to my surprise, he has actually been a calming influence on them(!) & not reacted negatively in any way. He is generally less boisterous with other dogs than he has been in the past.
Although still on a mix on kibble, meat & cereal, we are trying Torres on a lower protein kibble. While I’m unsure if this has had any direct effects on his behaviour, it certainly doesn’t seem to have made anything worse & he appears to like it just as well as his old food. He will now toilet on (familiar) walks, which he would never do before (preferring to save it all up for our garden!). We have also tried using a (slightly) long lead with him, as well as ‘coupling’ him with our other male dog, Max, & both these seem to have encouraged him to take time to sniff & toilet whilst on walks.
In addition to the dog behaviourist‘s assessment & recommendations, Torres has been seen on several occasions now by local complementary therapist, Margaret Campbell. Although the technique that she uses is not one with which I was previously familiar (or had any faith would work), Torres has definitely responded positively to the Bi-Aura therapy that she has been doing with him: he becomes calm & relaxed during the treatment & this calmness seems to last for several hours afterwards as well. It remains to be seen whether this therapy will have a lasting beneficial effect on Torres’ anxiety.
An altogether more relaxed Torres plays in the garden
Torres has really come on leaps & bounds, &, after an initial period when I was filled with fear & worry that he would never be re-homeable, I am now much more confident that, when the right person / people come along, he will make a fine pet. I am also amazed by how much has changed in just a few weeks with, what seems like, relatively little work on our part. We have by no means conquered all Torres‘ Separation Anxiety, but we have certainly made a lot of progress.
You can read an article which Maxwell Muir has written about Stress in Dogs here & find out more about Gracehounds‘ dogs available for rehoming here.
Molly relaxes while Moss plays
seeking shade together under the table
