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For something that will help him
This is one of our dogs, a beautiful German Shepherd. He just turned 2 a couple of weeks ago. He’s been with us since he was 10 weeks old, and technically is supposed to be Dana, my boyfriend’s, dog. But…. Just like all of our others (except Rocky - whom I’ve had since he was seven weeks old, and I got him long before my boyfriend and I had even met), they all are super attached to Mom. Roscoe takes his attachment way over the top!
As soon as he was cured of Coccidia, we went to PetSmart with him (he’d had his shots that were age appropriate) and while there, signed him up for obedience classes. The instructor proved very helpful in training - and getting him into a harness that he could grow into. Even though the harness was “no pull”, it got to the point where I had to use two leashes to walk him outside. Got him a head collar, and that was a major help.
I believe in asking other people for help with things like separation anxiety. So, I joined groups for GSD on Facebook and started asking others for advice. One suggestion was to desensitize him - put him in the crate, lock the door, and then get up and sit down immediately. Keep on doing that, and when he stops jumping up to go crazy, take a step and then immediately step back to sit down. This is a very gradual process. And, Roscoe wasn’t buying into it.
Now, I probably didn’t help matters by doing this while wearing pajamas. It was winter time, and I wasn’t sitting in the house in shorts and a tank top! But, I eventually came to realize that it would be better if I actually put on outside clothes every day, so he wouldn’t think much about my going outside. So, I did and (eventually) he got accustomed to my being completely dressed, and even wearing shoes in the house. It’s taken over a year to get to this point, tho.
I’m afraid he will never get used to my walking out the door without him. So, when we had him in Basic Obedience, the trainer had us leave Roscoe in the room while Dana and I stepped out. That’s all we did, just stepped out and shut the door behind us. He went absolutely wild, and she agreed that he has horrible separation anxiety. Now, Roscoe only behaves that way when I attempt to go somewhere, although I can step onto the porch for a moment and he doesn’t bonk. Even shutting the door, and he’s good. But, let him see me with my purse? Nope - he’s not going to calm down.
She suggested giving him calming chews. Fine - we bought some. At first, it kinda slowed him down but not really. Then, one day, we took him to vet because he had managed to get one of those sticky burrs into his tail, and I couldn’t get it out. He wouldn’t let me touch his tail. I gave him TWO chews, an hour before his appointment. He fought going with the tech, and screamed like he was being killed the whole time (only about 5 minutes in real time) the vet was combing it out.
It got to the point where he wouldn’t come to me for any reason - but he’d still follow me to the bathroom, into the kitchen or bedroom, and sit in the kitchen while I was getting their food or doing laundry. Eating his food was another struggle. I put the calming chews into his food, and he blatantly would not touch it. I think he didn’t like how the chews made him feel.
He’s picked up (very quickly) with associating certain things with mom leaving the house. Like the vet recommended Rescue Remedy, through Chewy.com. That’s another reason he wouldn’t come to me - I was squirting it directly into his mouth. Dakota, while a high-energy dog, is much older than Roscoe and doesn’t really need anything for anxiety. Rocky has always been this cool, calm and collected dog - so he didn’t need it either. Putting it into Roscoe’s food didn’t seem to help at all, so into the water bowl that all of them drink out of. :/