9mo old still has separation anxiety

[Sage024]

If you’ve been keeping up with my posts, you can probably tell ive been having a hard time with my dobe. He’s 9 months, almost 10, and he’s always had separation anxiety, it got better for a while but now he’s regressed again and I feel like I can’t leave my apartment even just to pick up a delivery from across the street.

Is this somewhat normal for a Doberman? How do I get him to grow out of this? It’s not awful separation anxiety where he’s breaking out of his cage and injuring himself, but he barks and cries for ages. I know the method of leaving for small increments to make them indifferent but we did that before and now he’s regressed. Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[Kaiser2016]

Do you crate him when you leave? Sometimes a young dog can't handle all the space by themselves and they become overwhelmed by it. What time alone has he been getting so far?

 

[Sage024]

Do you crate him when you leave? Sometimes a young dog can't handle all the space by themselves and they become overwhelmed by it. What time alone has he been getting so far?

Yea I always crate him when I can’t watch him or if I’ll be out of the apartment unless I’m running down the hall quickly to throw out trash.

I work from home so I’m here all day, I use to leave him for an hour a day for the gym or errands but he regressed and now I can’t leave for the gym. I also use to be able to go to a movie at night or go out for drinks for a few hours but I can’t leave him at night now. Recently I’ve had him sleep in his crate more than in the bed and have him spend some hours in his crate while I work or am in another room in an attempt to get him use to not being with me constantly.

 

[Kaiser2016]

Can you leave him with a Kong or something safe to occupy him? If the Kong lasts only 20 minutes, then you can plan an outing for 15 minutes and hopefully build up his separation time slowly that way.

 

[Sage024]

Can you leave him with a Kong or something safe to occupy him? If the Kong lasts only 20 minutes, then you can plan an outing for 15 minutes and hopefully build up his separation time slowly that way.

I’ve left him with frozen kongs before but they don’t seem to hold his interest if I leave. Maybe I need to fill it with something more exciting than his wet food or kibble and a little pumpkin. There are these wolf fish skin or codfish skin chews that are safe that I leave him with and he goes nuts for them BUT they only last like 5 mins max. I do have a bully stick holder but I don’t know if he would be excited enough about a bully stick to stay distracted if I leave

 

[Doberman Gang]

How often do you crate him when you are home working? Thinking his kennel/crate as his crib or bedroom. Puppies need down time even when we are home. This is best done when they are still very young but him learning to settle and be in his kennel while you are there working is easier then when you leave. You may just have to go back to square one with sessions with at home. Don’t baby him, if he whines let him know that is not excepted be stern but fair, never out of anger or frustration. Just in a matter of fact manor. It will take sone time but you must be consistent so he understands the rules.

 

[Sage024]

How often do you crate him when you are home working? Thinking his kennel/crate as his crib or bedroom. Puppies need down time even when we are home. This is best done when they are still very young but him learning to settle and be in his kennel while you are there working is easier then when you leave. You may just have to go back to square one with sessions with at home. Don’t baby him, if he whines let him know that is not excepted be stern but fair, never out of anger or frustration. Just in a matter of fact manor. It will take sone time but you must be consistent so he understands the rules.

I use to crate him a lot more often when he was younger because it was too much to constantly keep him out of trouble while working. Then he became more trustworthy so I let him stay out most of the time. What’s an appropriate amount of time to keep him crated for? I figured keeping him cooped up for 8+ hours straight wouldn’t be fair if I’m home and he wouldn’t be able to learn to be good outside of the crate if he was in there all the time. I guess he’s still a pup but I probably do baby him too much still

 

[Ravenbird]

Recently I’ve had him sleep in his crate more than in the bed

THIS could be a problem. No beds, no couch, no furniture until he's good in his crate. Those are high value privileges and once he thinks it's a right, then the crate, in his opinion just sucks. Everything is already said what to do, but in addition I would say no beds, whether it's in the daytime or at night with you. You can always add it as a privilege later.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

I haven't researched this in terms of literature, but it seems to me separation anxiety is mostly genetic. So, yes, take the best steps you can and mitigate it.

My Oji has some level of it. He hasn't gone extreme on trying to break out of his crate (compared to terrible stories of dogs breaking their teeth attempting crate escapes) but he has taken his crate to the brink of going in the trash. He has never been able to accept me leaving the house without distress. If I simply try to step out to the street to bring in a trash can, he goes into crazy barking and possibly scratching at the door and if I go ahead and leave, there will probably be destruction and pee in the house. He has always peed in response to significant stress.

So I feel that I've done the majority of what I can to help him, but it's just something we have to live with for his lifetime. I hope your case is a lot more fixable.

 

[Sage024]

THIS could be a problem. No beds, no couch, no furniture until he's good in his crate. Those are high value privileges and once he thinks it's a right, then the crate, in his opinion just sucks. Everything is already said what to do, but in addition I would say no beds, whether it's in the daytime or at night with you. You can always add it as a privilege later.

I hope this helps. The trainer we are working with thinks it’s less anxiety and moreso possessiveness. Altho if it’s just possessiveness then idk why he would bark an hour into me being gone.

Side note do you have any other general tips for good manners/behaviors? He’s my first Doberman and my first dog and I think I baby him too much which may be why at 9 months he is still jumping and pulling on the leash and barking when I leave

 

[Sage024]

I haven't researched this in terms of literature, but it seems to me separation anxiety is mostly genetic. So, yes, take the best steps you can and mitigate it.

My Oji has some level of it. He hasn't gone extreme on trying to break out of his crate (compared to terrible stories of dogs breaking their teeth attempting crate escapes) but he has taken his crate to the brink of going in the trash. He has never been able to accept me leaving the house without distress. If I simply try to step out to the street to bring in a trash can, he goes into crazy barking and possibly scratching at the door and if I go ahead and leave, there will probably be destruction and pee in the house. He has always peed in response to significant stress.

So I feel that I've done the majority of what I can to help him, but it's just something we have to live with for his lifetime. I hope your case is a lot more fixable.

Oh gosh I hope not. What do you do then? Do you limit how often you go out?

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Oh gosh I hope not. What do you do then? Do you limit how often you go out?

No, I go out as much as I need or want to. I just have to take steps to secure him. This, however, does not tackle the noise problem. Most of the time, he does a lot of barking and various other noises in his crate. This is a problem when anyone in the house is trying to sleep, as there is no place in the house where you can't hear it. I can't put him crated in the garage either, as the neighbors would be disturbed. Crated in our car in the garage (with adequate ventilation for breathing of course) might be doable, but what a hassle and he might pee in the car. So, a diaper, but it can come off.

So, let's say it's nighttime and I need to run out and pick up groceries for the family (who is sleeping of course). What do I do?

A lot of times it's just a hassle because I simply need to go out front and rake a bit of leaves for a minute or just do something with the kids and it's like: Oh yeah. What. Do. I. Do. With. The. Dog. I cannot just walk out of my house. Let me go ahead and take 3 or 4 minutes to secure him in his crate.

Anyway, I hope your Dobe's problem can be fixed a lot more than mine. Probably.

 

[Rits]

You need to crate him during the day while you work. Maybe not the entire time for now but go back to square one, just like you did when he was a baby, and crate him for a bit as if you were out of the house for work. I work from home and my girl was excellent in the crate like yours up until recently. I have noticed a huge shift in her behavior and she has greatly matured enough where I could leave her out and she would lay in her spot next to my desk in the office. Then whenever we go to town it's a 30 min drive so I would take the dog to train her while in town so she would get that done and get my errands done all in one trip. Well, guess who raises a bit of a fuss now when crated

So the past few weeks we have been putting her away either, when she is whining and has had all her needs met, including training and exercised, but she won't settle while we are trying to watch TV. 5 min in the crate. Comes out to rejoin us when she's quiet. In the crate random nights to sleep by herself. In the crate random periods of time when I'm working. In the crate for a quick trip out then worked up to in the crate for longer trips. She has quickly caught on and in just a few weeks of re-crate training her, she settles down fairly quickly. It's tough because it's easier to just let her be out but she needs to be able to be crated at times and needs to be comfortable with it like she was not that long ago. Small doses of tough love. I always take a treat to the crate and teach it just like a trick. Sometimes she doesn't even get locked in. Say "kennel!" And she eagerly runs to it waiting for that treat. Make it a positive association so when you leave it'll be that much easier to put them up and go and they'll be less stressed.

 

[Ravenbird]

I hope this helps. The trainer we are working with thinks it’s less anxiety and moreso possessiveness. Altho if it’s just possessiveness then idk why he would bark an hour into me being gone.

Side note do you have any other general tips for good manners/behaviors? He’s my first Doberman and my first dog and I think I baby him too much which may be why at 9 months he is still jumping and pulling on the leash and barking when I leave

Babying him doesn't help either. Use total indifference when you put him in the crate and leave the room - no cooing "you be a good boy while I'm gone" and all that. Just toss in a treat, close the door and walk away. No talk, no touch, no eye contact. Same with returning. Don't exclaim in high voice "I'm back! Oooh, you've been such a good boyyyyy, see? Mommys back!" All that does is make your dog more anxious when you leave and more convinced you are needed to return. I didn't talk or make eye contact with my dog when I let her out of the crate for at least 2 or 3 minutes. No talk, no touch, no eye contact - memorize that!

Dobermans want and need their humans, they aren't happy to be alone, and I personally think this has escalated in the past 20 years or so. I had 2 Dobermans in the 1980's thru early 2000 and they were nothing like I'm seeing now. Even the best bred, well trained, socialized dogs are displaying a degree of stress. It DOES get better as they get older - mine is 2.5 years now and was much like yours at 9 months. I can leave her alone in the house for a couple of hours. I still have an X-pen around her bed in my bedroom, which I can now leave the door open all night, but if she gets clingy I can put her in and shut the door. I think it's that we are dealing with genetics, as in a recent thread about recording our vocal dogs! Few of us old timers can recall Dobermans this vocal, whiny & clingy back in the 70's and 80's and before.

Lots of good advice from everyone who commented - start playing around with it and give it time.

 

[AnnV]

Babying him doesn't help either. Use total indifference when you put him in the crate and leave the room - no cooing "you be a good boy while I'm gone" and all that. Just toss in a treat, close the door and walk away. No talk, no touch, no eye contact. Same with returning. Don't exclaim in high voice "I'm back! Oooh, you've been such a good boyyyyy, see? Mommys back!" All that does is make your dog more anxious when you leave and more convinced you are needed to return. I didn't talk or make eye contact with my dog when I let her out of the crate for at least 2 or 3 minutes. No talk, no touch, no eye contact - memorize that!

No Talk, no touch, no eye contact. Exactly.
Difficult when/if you relate emotionally to your dog as you would a human child. I too have been 'guilty' of this error, minus excess baby talk. Raising a young Doberman takes some self-awareness, it can be easy to give in to our own emotional needs, in the ways we wish to connect, rather than staying on track making sure we communicate with a dog.
I really suffered from not being able to pet and cuddle ours at all (because all he did was nip and bite) for the first seemingly endless number of months.

 

[Sage024]

No Talk, no touch, no eye contact. Exactly.
Difficult when/if you relate emotionally to your dog as you would a human child. I too have been 'guilty' of this error, minus excess baby talk. Raising a young Doberman takes some self-awareness, it can be easy to give in to our own emotional needs, in the ways we wish to connect, rather than staying on track making sure we communicate with a dog.
I really suffered from not being able to pet and cuddle ours at all (because all he did was nip and bite) for the first seemingly endless number of months.

It’s tough because I got him as an Emotional Support Animal, so I want to have him around and in the bed at night and such but I guess that’s just a bad recipe for a puppy. It’s also a little difficult because I got him at 4 months rather than 8 weeks, after his previous owner gave him up, so I think some of his insecurity and habits may be residual from those early months with the first owner. I’d like to eventually get to the point where he can be trusted in the house all day and be good when I leave but it’s hard to tell while he’s so young

 

[Two Dobes]

Hang in there....time will come when you will be able to trust him in the house; but he is just a pup now. Sounds like you are willing to put the work in, and soon you will see results! Consistency is the key

 

[Sage024]

Hang in there....time will come when you will be able to trust him in the house; but he is just a pup now. Sounds like you are willing to put the work in, and soon you will see results! Consistency is the key

I hope so! I’ve put so much time and money into training, he’s definitely a stubborn pup but this is also my first time training a dog, so I had/have so much to learn. He’s a good boy, we just need to keep working

 

[Ravenbird]

I really suffered from not being able to pet and cuddle ours at all (because all he did was nip and bite) for the first seemingly endless number of months.

I can relate. Asha was a really hard puppy, so serious, independent and didn't care anything about being close. I honestly thought she didn't like me, except if I walked out of the room she'd whine & cry & screech.

I’ve put so much time and money into training, he’s definitely a stubborn pup but this is also my first time training a dog, so I had/have so much to learn. He’s a good boy, we just need to keep working

You'll get there, and the end result will be so worth it. A Doberman for your first training experience is a pretty big challenge. Keep asking questions here, it's a good honest group and we're all here to help.