Today I am going to write about a hardship I have been suffering.
I am not sure if I have told you, but I just hate being left alone. I used to have my reliable brother Cookie with me when my humans were out. But, since he crossed the rainbow bridge last December, I have had to stay all by myself, which I just can't stand!But, gradually I learned to stay quiet and instead I started digging my bed.
Many humans have recommended that I get a Kong so that I can stay occupied for one hour or two without feeling anxious. But, my humans didn't buy me one, because they remembered that I had quickly destroyed a Puppy Kong when I was a puppy, and they thought that Kongs would not last long.
A while ago, my friends Bella and Barry the Beagles' human wrote about an extremely durable Kong called KONG Extreme Goodie Bone in their blog. According to the post, Bella and Barry's new Extreme Kongs had lasted at least for a week at the time of the post, unlike standard Kongs, which lasted only three days. So, my humans bought me the so called toughest Kong.
When I tried my new Kong with peanut butter smeared inside for the first time while my humans were out, I dropped it under my thick bed by mistake after only three minutes, and couldn't pull it back, so I started digging my bed as I usually do.
So, when my humans had to go out the next time, my mum replaced the bed in the crate with another one with edges that would hopefully prevent the Kong slipping off the bed. This time my Kong, filled with some biscuits as well as peanut butter, didn't slip off the bed, but one hour later I found myself digging my bed again.
After one hour's chewing, my Kong became like this.
BIG Sigh...
I think it's partly my humans' fault. They should read Honey the Great Dane's post more carefully. My humans haven't made enough effort to desensitise me. But, after this latest failed attempt with the Kong, they must have been convinced of the need for it. So, hopefully I will be able to stay alone for a longer period of time in the near future.
It has been a while since the hu-dad had to help a canine with this, but try freezing the peanut butter. Lasts much longer inside the Kong and can really keep a beagle occupied. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteHi Cinnamon - yes it does seem like the "Extreme" kongs are not as good as I hoped. Our power chewer is also starting to destroy his, although it took a bit longer than 1 hour!
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain Cinnamon!
ReplyDeleteyour pal,
Digby
Hi Cinnamon - I was being sneaky and reading your post at work earlier (shhh don't tell). Now I have had time to read your blog properly.
ReplyDeleteAs a pup Bella was a very stressy dog - well she still is in a number of ways. The advice that we were given was:
1 - always exercise the dog before leaving them. Exercise helps to make them tired so they sleep, but also should help calm nerves.
2 - always give them something to do - has your mum tried bones? Obviously you couldn't eat a meaty bone on your nice cosy bed so you might need to move your bed around a bit.
3 - Does your mum leave the radio or tv going to keep you company?
As a pup we decided not to crate Bella all day when we were at work - it was just too long for her to be shut in a crate. We leave Bella and Barry in the yard, they have a nice cosy kennel to sleep in, always get a morning walk, and then they either get a bone, or I cut treats up into tiny pieces and scatter them across the yard for them to find. By the time they realise we are gone its time for nap. They are very good at knowing what time we should be home in the evening, and usually will be waiting patiently on the driveway for us.
I hope you and your mum find a solution that works for you :o)
Hi Cinnamon,
ReplyDeleteOur person reckons she could help you. But needs a little more information. She deals with alot of doggies that have this problem. Me(Jasper) was one of them...I don't do it anymore though :)
Hopefully your barking stops soon!
Licks and lots of slobber,
Lexi and Jasper the Danes
oh man, it was like watching a horror movie! for reals. i hate the sound of a puppy in distress, even if it's for their own good.
ReplyDeletei don't use crates much (but will when we travel). but i do know they are very handy and it takes time and patience to learn to have a calm dog in the crate.
also you should never open the crate door when the puppy is barking or crying, only open the door and let her/him out when she/he is calm.
one other thing you can do is start slowly with shorter periods of time. then increase the time and the go BACK To shorter periods of time in the crate. since you're at the 15 minute mark of when she is stressed, i would seriously work on 5 minute increments. because you don't want to open the crate when she's stressed and barkey.
these are my "best guesses" for how to do it since i've never really crate trained. i've read about it but never did it.
One thing my mom just found out about when she transported a couple beagles is MELATONIN. 3mg for the tiny beagles (15lbs) and they were calm and slept most of the trip. There is also L-theanine (my mom takes it and melatonin to sleep) that is available for dogs for anxiety. Research on the web and talk to a vet--it helped change a beagles fear of storms, too!
ReplyDeletelove & wags,
River
hello cinnamon its dennis the vizsla dog hay it luks to me as if yoo ar trying to karve the kong into a sokket rench wot yoo can yooze to dismantel the krate and eskayp!!! gud luk with that!!! ok bye
ReplyDeletePoor baby. Those little howls break my heart.
ReplyDeleteHey Cinnamon, whoops we forgot to comment when we read thi latest post - I'm very impressed that you chewed up your black kong! Wow you must have a powerful jaw and strong teeth. That was sad watching you in your crate, you really don't like it at all do you, we can't offer any advice because Pepper doesn't get separation anxiety. Perhaps you could have a look at Laura's blog, http://laurawaudby.blogspot.com/, she's posted alot about helping her dog Vito get over his anxiety, sounds like hard work though! I liked seeing the pictures of Cookie and Cinnamon at Meola, we're really lucky its so close :)
ReplyDeleteHi Cinnamon - sorry I haven't had time to visit you in a while!
ReplyDeleteWow - you are really a powerful chewer, aren't you?! My humans actually bought the black Kong for me but I didn't like it! I have a very soft mouth and don't like to chew hard things. So I wouldn't touch it. My humans wished they bought me the smaller, softer Kong - what a waste of money!! :-)
It looks like you have already got lots of good advice about your separation anxiety. Yes, Laura (http://laurawaudby.blogspot.com/) also worked for a long time with her dog, Vito, for his SA so I think she would have some very good advice and experience to share. Also, I think Lexi's human is a very experienced trainer so I would be interested to hear what she says. I think it is more helpful when you can have somebody come to assess the situation in real life - it is hard sometimes to help over the internet.
Anyway, let us know what solutions you decide to try and how it goes!
Good luck!
Slobbers,
Honey the Great Dane
poor Cinnamon. where's Mint? she really misses Cookie. it's been six months, yeah, hopefully she'll get better and tolerate her crate (that she loves) and being alone for a while.
ReplyDeleteSapphire barks in her pen while i hit the shower. she whines if i'm around but eventually gives up after 15mins or so. I leave her outdoors in my shady and secured porch, and she usually snooze away in the open crate or tucked somewhere in a corner. Just don't trust her enough (at all!) to be left inside the house!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! From watching the video it doesn't look like she has a truly bad case of SA, but she definitely isn't happy! I suggest buying Patricia McConnell's "I'll be home soon" as it lays out a SA protocol pretty nicely. I posted a tiny bit about it on my blog in this post:
ReplyDeletehttp://laurawaudby.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-really-fix-seperation-anxiety.html
and if you click under the label "SA" you can read all of my many trials under the program. Since Cinnamon doesn't seem too horrible and because she was fine until you lost your other dog, if you were to go through a program it would probably go much faster. And yes, it helped Vito immensely to not be crated as he tended to panic more when left alone when crated. I've done a billion crate games with him so he doesn't mind a crate and can even be crated now at dog shows when other people are there and I'm not, but he still can't be left home alone in a crate.
As for the kong, the black kong is the most durable but really the normal kong shape is much stronger then the bone one. With Vito though I used bones. Mainly bully sticks, some pigs ear. Once I got up to about 5 minutes of departure I started just scattering them all throughout the house. I have also occasionally used his tricky treat ball.
I wish I could say that Vito and are are over it but it continues to be a journey. Before we moved I could leave him for 3 hours. Now we moved 3 months ago and for the most part we're back on track but last time he was a wreck again, I think because he could hear the people upstairs in our duplex. I'm hoping your work will be quick and maybe a simple freedom from the crate will help a lot! But if she is howling partly from boredom then you do open the door for possible destruction...!