# Separation Anxiety / Crate Poo-ing



## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

I never had this problem with our past Maltese before, so I need help!

London seems to have some sort of separation anxiety from me, as she will bark and whine if I leave the room while my husband is playing with her. I can deal with that, I guess, since eventually she will be housetrained and can go as she pleases.

The big problem is that when I put her in her crate (even for 1hr) to run an errand, she FLIPS OUT and will poo in her crate (& eat it all, too) and it gets stuck all over her. She will do this even if she has pooed outside just 20 minutes prior to going in her crate. When she goes in there, she will bark and whine like crazy. When I come back in the house, I do not hear her barking, but if I don't let her out RIGHT away, she will start barking again. She is fine at night, as her crate is by my side of the bed and will sleep for 4hrs at a time before having to go potty. She will bark or whine at night when she needs to go pee or poo, like a good girl.

I am getting so sick of this, and am very frustrated. I've tried putting her in her crate twice per day for 1hr each time while I'm doing housework to try and get her used to being in there more and to try and settle her fears of thinking mommy will leave her forever, but it's not working. I've also tried leaving a radio or television on, but that doesn't help.

This is separation anxiety, right? London has done this since day one, and I thought it would get better, but it hasn't. I want to be able to go somewhere during the day, like the grocery store, and not come back to a filthy dog. 

Any suggestions at all would help. Thank you!


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Are you able to gate a safe room off? I had one pup (Soda actually) who would poop if left in a pen and smear it everywhere. He was fine if left out - go figure. That might be something to try for a brief trial (10 minutes) and see what happens. 

Otherwise, I would start desensitizing her. 

Get this book: http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DTB667
I'll Be Home Soon! will give you a plan and Patricia McConnell is an awesome author and behaviorist.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

We don't really have an area we can gate off -- the entire upstairs is carpet, and the downstairs is hardwood, but a very open area with lots of archways. I know she won't hold her bladder/bowels if she's in a larger area...if we don't watch her closely while playing with her, she will start circling and will pee on the floor if we don't catch her fast enough. I will look into picking this book up tomorrow. Thank you for the recommendation.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

What about an x-pen?

Serious separation anxiety really should be diagnosed by a vet, IMO. Ollie had it. He's finishing up a 6 month course of meds for it and I also did behavior modificaiton. JMM gave you a link for that, I believe. They are simple exercises that you could start doing now.

btw, I'm assuming the crate is the right size--just big enough for her to lay down/turn around. Best of luck--keep us updated!


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

> What about an x-pen?
> 
> Serious separation anxiety really should be diagnosed by a vet, IMO. Ollie had it. He's finishing up a 6 month course of meds for it and I also did behavior modificaiton. JMM gave you a link for that, I believe. They are simple exercises that you could start doing now.
> 
> btw, I'm assuming the crate is the right size--just big enough for her to lay down/turn around. Best of luck--keep us updated![/B]


We don't have room anywhere for an xpen, literally. We first had London in the typical wire 24" crate with the divider in, but she still pooed in there, so we started putting her in her night time crate which is one of the pet taxi ones. She is much happier in that over the wire one, but still poos in it when I leave. 

Like I said, I will try picking up that book tomorrow. I hope it helps!


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## jazak (Feb 12, 2008)

I swore I did not have room for an xpen, but I bought one anyway. I figured it could come in handy if we went to other peoples houses, and until our fence is up around the yard if we are going to spen alot of time outside I feel bad if Max is only on a leash. Then I got lilly at only 5 weeks old. I knew that I was going to have a safe place for her that the kids and max couldn't get to her unless supervised. Lo and behold I do have room!!! I do not have it expanded all the way, it is 1 panel by 2 panels (24 in x 48 in) bed on one end and pee pad on other. Works like a charm. When she is in the pen she always only potties on the pad!!! Now when I leave max I just pull it all the way out 1 panel by 3 panels (24 in x 60 in) I do not have room for that when we are home, but it is so easy to adjust when we have to leave. (fyi----I am still taking lilly with me every where, for fear of hypoclycemia, so no they are not in the xpen together when I am not home). I would suggest trying, you may be suprised, I know I sure was.

Good luck.


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## Gail (Oct 14, 2007)

Try a child's playpen. That's what I used with Scarlett and she loved it.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

> I swore I did not have room for an xpen, but I bought one anyway. I figured it could come in handy if we went to other peoples houses, and until our fence is up around the yard if we are going to spen alot of time outside I feel bad if Max is only on a leash. Then I got lilly at only 5 weeks old. I knew that I was going to have a safe place for her that the kids and max couldn't get to her unless supervised. Lo and behold I do have room!!! I do not have it expanded all the way, it is 1 panel by 2 panels (24 in x 48 in) bed on one end and pee pad on other. Works like a charm. When she is in the pen she always only potties on the pad!!! Now when I leave max I just pull it all the way out 1 panel by 3 panels (24 in x 60 in) I do not have room for that when we are home, but it is so easy to adjust when we have to leave. (fyi----I am still taking lilly with me every where, for fear of hypoclycemia, so no they are not in the xpen together when I am not home). I would suggest trying, you may be suprised, I know I sure was.
> 
> Good luck.[/B]


I don't think an exercise pen would work well for us, even though we don't have room for one (the only place we could put it would be in the walkway area downstairs, but then we wouldn't have a way to get from one room to another!). I am very against using pee pads for our household, so this would only teach her that it's okay to potty on the floor when she's in there.

It's not that she doesn't like her crate -- she likes to go in there on her own terms during the day, it's just that she's not okay when I leave the house. She goes in for her shots on Tuesday, so I will talk to my vet about her anxiety and see if she thinks it's severe enough to look into further with meds, etc.

Thanks for all the input.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Oh, I forgot to mention that I don't have the financial ability to go out and purchase an xpen or anything like that right now -- my husband and I are in the process of redoing our kitchen completely...cabinets, countertops, sink, & faucet. We already have a stainless steel refrigerator & stove, but we will also need to replace the dishwasher...we can't even afford that right now!


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

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OH gosh, seriously, your baby is only 3 months old--I don't think you should be thinking about meds right now. Ollie was a year old when we started him on his and he was evaulated for HOURS, literally, over the course of more than a few visits by a vet specializing in behavior. Please don't even think of the medication route right now. I only mentioned that b/c my point is that the dog has to have been displaying signs for a long time and the level be severe and the dog is MUCH older than just a little baby. I'm sure your vet could get you on the right track. I think the more research you do, you will find a plan that works for her.


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## vjw (Dec 20, 2006)

Here's a couple of links to articles on separation anxiety. Maybe there'll be info. in them which will give you some ideas:




ASPCA Separation Anxiety

HSUS Separation Anxiety




Joy


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

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Don't worry, I wouldn't put her on meds at her young age. I meant that I would start talking to my vet about her anxiety, and see what the next step is for her if we needed medical treatment at some point.


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## Morkie4 (Oct 13, 2006)

Our Kallie was 2 1/2 years old when we adopted her and we were told she was crate trained, even given her crate when we adopted. Well, for the first two weeks, it was poo in the crate everytime we left. What a mess to clean up after returning to have to wash a dog and a crate. So I read a lot off the internet about sparation anxiety, everything that I could find. Next attempt was the "rescue remedy" to calm her; nope didn't work either. Next we tried to let her free roam..........that didn't work so well either. Called the vet and explained everything and asked if a second dog would help (even thought everything I read said NO) and of course he said no to that as well. After eight months of putting up with finding poo everytime we returned home, we were just about ready to give up when we said, let's get another dog anyway. So off we went and found our little Yorkie boy Toby. From the day he walked into our home, Kallie has NEVER pooed in our house again..............going on almost 2 years now. Not saying that will be YOUR solution but it sure worked for us!


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

> Our Kallie was 2 1/2 years old when we adopted her and we were told she was crate trained, even given her crate when we adopted. Well, for the first two weeks, it was poo in the crate everytime we left. What a mess to clean up after returning to have to wash a dog and a crate. So I read a lot off the internet about sparation anxiety, everything that I could find. Next attempt was the "rescue remedy" to calm her; nope didn't work either. Next we tried to let her free roam..........that didn't work so well either. Called the vet and explained everything and asked if a second dog would help (even thought everything I read said NO) and of course he said no to that as well. After eight months of putting up with finding poo everytime we returned home, we were just about ready to give up when we said, let's get another dog anyway. So off we went and found our little Yorkie boy Toby. From the day he walked into our home, Kallie has NEVER pooed in our house again..............going on almost 2 years now. Not saying that will be YOUR solution but it sure worked for us![/B]


Oooh, I LOVE the solution of getting another Maltese! :wub: :wub: Unfortunately, we do not have the funds for it...and I know my husband wouldn't go for that at all! I'm sure we will have a second Maltese at some point, but more like in 2-4 years. :HistericalSmiley: 

There is a beautiful Maltese girl in Idaho I found on petfinder.com that will be eligible for a home starting April 3rd (I believe). She's at the shelter waiting for her owner to claim her, but no one has, so far... :bysmilie: I just don't know if getting a 1yr old female is the best thing for us with having a 3 month old girl who has "problems". lol


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Order the book and go through the steps.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

> Order the book and go through the steps.[/B]


Thanks again for the book advice. I will be ordering it today or tomorrow.


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