What should I do about my new dog who has severe separation anxiety?
What should I do about my new dog who has severe separation anxiety? Dogs Training Discussions
The dog is a one year old border collie mix and has been living with us for two months. He is very sweet and well behaved when we are around him. Anytime we leave our house he starts whining and yelping immediately, he will scratch at the doors to try and get out of the house. We have tried to crate train, use products such as Comfort Zone with DAP, homeopet anxiety drops, bark collars, etc and nothing has worked. We exercise him regularly, practice our comings and goings for short periods of time and he has plenty of chew toys such as kongs, stuffed animals, and bones to keep him busy during the day. Our vet recommended we see an animal behaviorist and put our dog on essentially doggy-prozac. The behaviorists we have spoken with will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $450 to $600. The dog is great but I'd probably have to return him before I could drop that much money on him. He attends doggie day care 2 days a week and obedience class 1day. Any advice would be appreciated.