seperation anxiety?

Hello,

New to the site, was told to check it out by my friend countrywolf07! Having some issues with our Lab/Chesapeake Bay Retriever. She is a year old and she is fixed, we got her when she was 9 months old and we believe she may have been abused. By this we mean she seems to like getting in trouble so she has to go in her kennel which is the only thing she seems to respond to (we hate it but don't know what else to do...) well, she will sit, shake, come, wait, and other commands (we're working on lay, off and stay). We have both worked full time as long as we have had her, and on top of that I have a part time job and I'm a full time student. We try to pay attention to her, but often can't let her into the main house due to her getting into everything. First off anyone have any advice on this? We let her out for an hour or more every evening, and sometimes most of the day on weekends, but she's just exhausting, even if we fill a kong with peanut butter she's up and into stuff as soon as she's satisfied she's gotten enough out. Moving on. About a month after we got her, we ran to the store after messing around with the screen door, and when we got back she'd eaten the entire left side of the door jamb... then 2 days later we went to buy a replacement door jamb kit and she ate the other side while we were gone. She got in trouble and all was good and dandy for about 2-3 weeks. I was home and ran upstairs to change my clothes and when I came back down (within maybe a 5-10 min time span) she had chewed the drywall off one side of the door (opposite the direction I had gone in). Me going upstairs to change is something i do every day and that day i didn't even take a 15-20 min nap as I might normally do... well yesterday, i came home, played with her for a bit, took her potty, told her and the cats that I would be home shortly and went to the dentist, when I came home she had eaten out kitchen cabinet... Now, I'm at wits end. She has toys (4 ropes, 3 kongs) and 2 balls (one kong tennis ball thing and one actual tennis ball). Does anyone know how to deal with separation anxiety? With her destructive behaviors and short attention span it's not possible to keep her with us at all times, but I don't feel right kenneling her if I want to go run on the treadmill, and at the same time I'm afraid she will hurt herself trying if I do. Any suggestions much appreciated. I'm a first time dog owner, my fiance has had dogs all his life.

Okay, this is an oft discussed topic here. Don't feel bad asking for help, and there is hope!

See:
http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=160507

Sounds to me like she doesn't have enough activity. No matter what you do to train her, if she doesn't get enough exercise, it won't work. She's obviously an active breed, so she needs some good stamina exercise. As said many a time- a tired dog is a good dog!

We read your posting and think we can definitely help you and your dog! If you havent heard of Thundershirt you might want to check out our website or facebook page. We have had a lot of success helping dogs with many different issues and would love to help you too! Please let us know if you have any questions and we hope that you will give Thundershirt a try:)

I agree with dab_20. Dog is way to young to be kenneled so much and then only free an hour a day. I adopted a black lab back in 06 and he also pulled down wood on side of door, plus broke through metal kennel and tore up carpet. It can be remedied but not without lots of patience. You don't need a gimmick like a shirt because that won't be a cure all. Look at the link Karen provided and if you have any questions, pm me. Whatever you do, don't scold her after she's done something in relation to the SA. That only reinforces the fear and makes it worse.

If you do treadmill time each day, is it big enough for her to run with you? She might enjoy that ...

Instead of running on the treadmill, can you take her for a jog?

We had our first training session with a new trainer yesterday. A lot of what she said makes sense. But she also said that dogs need a lot of sleep, and that part of our problem might be that she's getting grumpy just as we do and she doesn't want to miss anything. I can't take her for a jog outside because the cold that we're starting to experience sets off my asthma, and the treadmill is definitely not beg enough for her butt! We also learned that although we have many toys, she should have bones and the toys should be for "fun time" instead of just all the time. We've also moved her kennel into our bedroom, which will drive us nuts for hopefully only a week or so, but is supposed to help with separation anxiety, and when we come home we were told to ignore her for 5-10 min and not to make any sort of big deal about getting her out of her kennel. I'd read that someplace on this board too. Does anyone else kennel their dog at night? we felt bad last night not giving her anything to chew on, but she's so loud! Thanks again for all the help! I'll give updates as we get things figured out!! And sorry I haven't been back in a while, life got crazy! (we're putting in a safer fence outside for her and trying to tire her butt out!)

I understand about the cold-activated asthma, and sorry the treadmill isn't big enough for both of you! I am glad you found a trainer that seems good so far, and do keep us updated!