I know some dogs can be challenging. I know you go through a lot with a dog and you wonder, “What am I doing wrong? Why is my dog doing these things?” Sometimes you can see a behaviorist or a trainer but not everyone has that at their disposal, and sometimes those things do not work. My dog, Olivia, came to me in October of 2018. She had actually been my friend’s dog for over a year, but my friend was at her wits end with Olivia. Olivia had been abandoned with her owner passing away in 2017. I named her Olivia. We do not know what her first owner called her. I felt like because she came to my home, she needed a new start and a new name. So in October of 2018, she became Olivia. Olivia has debilitating separation anxiety. It took a long time to figure this out. At her last home, she destroyed crates, but again, I thought maybe I could do some thing different to help her. When she came to me, I immediately got toys and things for her to chew on because I thought that was the problem. At first that did help. She did a lot better with having things to stimulate her mind. I tried to get her more exercise because she’s an active dog. She loves to jump and she can jump so high. Also, she loves to run. So I thought that I could help her. She did fine for a while but after a while, she started to destroy things–household things like headphones and blankets. Forget trying to put anything cozy in her crate with her because it gets destroyed. I did take her to obedience class and she did fine. I have been working with her at home on simple obedience. It took a while at first. She would not respond to any of the commands and she’s not especially food motivated. So I thought this dog has some sort of a learning block. No, I took her to class and she did all the pieces like we had been doing obedience forever. My area does not have a behaviorist and online training would not work for our family situation or structure. So I’m on my own. Remember, she also has a strong prey drive. She chases mice and feral cats which are frequent in my area. She has destroyed drywall and flooring which are very expensive to repair.
Olivia, at one point, was tethered to me all night long just to make sure she did not destroy anything. Of course being tethered to me helped her. At the time I should’ve thought that this was separation anxiety because being tethered to me was great for her but I didn’t even think about it. She can be a little snappy when she’s guarding her food , and she gets very excited when friends come over and can be a little mouthy. She’s not like that with me, though, which is really strange. So this dog is definitely very challenging. She even got out of the dog park fence. She is an escape artist. She has escaped out of crates. Basically, she has destroyed and escaped from three crates in three months. I cannot even put her in a crate anymore. I even tried blocking the crate. She still escaped. So a month ago I made a very controversial decision. I went to visit a friend and the separation anxiety got so bad she lost her mind every time I left the room. So I took her to the vet and put her on medication. It is called reconcile. Hopefully things will get better. Yes, I thought about rehoming her but I did not think that would be good for her. I do not think anyone can handle the things that she does. Plus, we have a really good bond. She is a sweet dog and as long as I’m home with her, she’s very independent. She does not usually have a problem when I leave the room unless I shut the door. Then, she goes crazy.
Paws of Happiness 