I'm going to type out a sheet from the humane society. You don't have to necessarily do everything they suggest, just judge your dog and what you think will help. There will be a lot of trial and error in the process.

Home Environment and General Interaction with the Dog
1. In general, make the dog less demanding of attention from owners. Owner should not pet or interact with dog when dog demands it. Instead, require the dog to wait, obey a command or become calm and relaxed before receiving attention. Ignore dog until he lies down and stops pestering.
2. If acclimating shelter dog with seperation anxiety to new home, be careful not to dote on dog during the first few weeks. Make dog feel comfortable, loved and secure, but DO NOT CODDLE.
3. Attention should be regularly scheduled so that anxiety is not allowed to build up.
4. Provide plenty of owner initiated play and exercise (DAILY), so that energy is burned off.

Departure and Return
5. Arrivals and departures should be quiet, calm events.
-Prior to leaving, provide happy fun interaction with dog, followed by downtime, then begin departure
-Do not pay attention to dog during normal departure sequence; NO CODDLING if dog begins to show signs of stress
6. Upon return, do not make an immediate fuss over the dog; instead, ignore or give simple acknowledgement only. First go about tasks (unload groceries, greet family, change clothes) then interact with dog.
7. Vary sequence of departure routine.
-Make preparations the night before (pack lunch, put briefcase by door)
-Back car out of garage first, then come back inside and finish leaving sequence
8. Make departure cues less predictive by repeating discrete behaviors.
-Back car out of garage without leaving
-Put dog outside(or in crate) without leaving
-Get purse, toss keys, put on work clothes without leaving
-Do repetitively, 10x per day

Tips and Training Exercises to Ease Seperation Anxiety
9. What distress cues does dog exhibit before owner leaves? Do not reinforce. Reward calm behavior. Desensitize to cues - any event that triggers anxiety in dog should be uncoupled from departure (See exercises above).
10. On weekends or when owners are around, play a piece of recognizable music. In futre, use when owner is leaving. Serves as bridging stimulus.
11. Accustom dog to being left alone for brief periods
-In general, owner should be out of sight, briefly and frequently
-Leave room when dog is being calm, not focused on owner, occupied with a toy or other activity
-Put in crate (if that is where dog stays during owner's absence), go to another room for brief period
-Must return before dog becomes anxious (even if at first this is only a minute)
-If dog stays calm, reward with praise (mostly verbal)
-Gradually increase time of out-of-sight periods.
12. Practive desensitization, crating, discrete behavior cue exercises.
13. Make crating fun. Use highly desirable rewards (food, toys) when dog goes voluntarily to crate. Reserve certain toys , food, treats for use only when dog is crated while owner is gone.
14. Use pet sitters, especially during reconditioning, to help alleviate anxiety if owner is away at work all day.

Whew, got it all typed. Let me know if you have any questions. If I find my other sheets on this, I'll type those too.

[This message has been edited by aly (edited June 08, 2001).]