Rachael asked for help with a separation anxiety problem she has with her 11 year old Jack Russell terrier:
“my 11 year old jack russel lives with me i grew up with her got her an got her when i was 10 an then moved away when i was 16 got her again at xmas, an love her here, but whenever i go to work she barks and pulls the carpet up i’m worried she does this for a long time, i know when she lived with my mum she had other dogs around, and when i’m with her its fine and once i get settled in a job she calms a little when i leave her
but how can i help her calm don when i go? and not wail all day, i just want to make her feel more at ease, i cant get another dog, and ive tried leaveg toy and bones and things for her to play with but it doesnt work, i love having her with me an am getting worried my neighbors will start to complain, please help i need solutions!!”
Here’s some guidance on helping the dog….
This question is one that I have personal experience with on some levels! My first dog was a Jack Russell that I got as a boy. By the time I was ready to leave home and move in with my girlfriend, there were two other JRTs in the house. I was faced with the option of taking “my dog” with me, where she would be alone for many hours, or leaving her with her pack. I decided to let her see out her days living with my parents, but there is nothing wrong in you wanting your dog to live with you.
Separation anxiety can have many causes, and is not always something that can be dealt with quickly. I outlined the approach to dealing with separation issues in an earlier post (you can view it here). The key advice though is that you need to encourage the dog to be more independent. There is no place for long goodbyes and lots of fuss upon your return when rehabilitating an anxious dog. Once she realizes you are always going to come back, she should be calmer in the house.
Crating her or otherwise confining her to a smaller space where she feels less overwhelmed might also help. Many trainers and behaviorists suggest leaving a TV or radio on while you are out, but I went one better with my dogs! One Saturday when the entire family was home all day, I set up the microphone from my PC in the living room and recorded us going about our routine as usual. I burned the resulting recording onto a CD, and was able to leave the CD playing on a loop all the time we were out! This is something you can try if you have access to a digital recording device (many MP3 players and even some mobile phones have this capability nowadays) or PC/laptop with a mic and have software capable of creating audio CDs (such as Nero or later versions of windows media player), otherwise a plain old cassette will do for departures of up to an hour
Remember also that Jack Russell Terriers are very active dogs, and if she is not getting enough exercise and mental stimulation, this could be compounding her destructive and noisy behavior. Even if it means getting up a half hour earlier on a morning, you really need to ensure she has had plenty of chance to burn off some energy before you leave her to go out to work.
You should try to get into the habit of not letting her be with you all the time you are in the house with her. I know this is hard, but it will help her become less stressed about you being out of her sight.
The carpet pulling is her natural digging instinct and also a symptom of her anxiety. Hopefully this will decrease as the anxiety is dealt with, but otherwise you will need to set aside some time to give her some training using distraction/noise aversion. Catch her in the act and use a noise maker (can of dried beans, an old horn or similar) to startle her and she should soon start to behave herself.
Tags: dog training, jack russell terrier, separation anxiety
[...] go into more detail about managing the going out routine in these two earlier posts: Jack Russell Separation Anxiety and Boston Terrier Chewing, and would suggest you follow the guidance detailed in them with your [...]