oops - i meant for a grin but it didn’t work!
As a new little wrinkle in this, my dog now knows how to get out of the crate. I was gone for a few hours today, and he greeted me at the door. Interesting, I’m pretty sure I put him in the crate.
Locked him up a few minutes ago and waited in the living room. Thirty seconds later, he’s out again.
I don’t know whether to hug him or strangle him.
What happens if you don’t crate him when you go out?
Just curious …
Well, I got to find that out, indirectly, yesterday when he got out of the crate.
There was some pee on the floor.
He had pulled the entire blinds off the window, so that he could see out to see if I was out there, presumably.
He had knocked over the television, because it was near another window that he could see out.
He cleared all the books off a shelf near yet another window.
The door was scratched up, presumably where he tried to get out. He actually can open most doors, deadbolts are no match, but this one is a bit tricky.
When I came in he was panting, presumably from running around and knocking everything over in an attempt to see out windows.
Oh, and I was only gone for an hour.
Though, I didn’t hear him barking from outside as I was approaching, and I was listening for it, and would have heard it. That’s not to say that he was quiet the whole time.
I’m giving this one more week, and if I see no improvement by the weekend, I’m going to try the clomicalm. If I do this, I’m going to try to get him uncrated as long as I’m at it.
I tried the Rescue Remedy for the past few days, and it doesn’t seem to affect him at all.
One more question. Well, I’m sure it won’t be the last!
I’m working on the cue, and leaving. So, I go into the bedroom and turn on the radio, put on shoes, leave the apartment for a time of under one minute, and come back in. But, am I not supposed to lengthen the time until he doesn’t react at all? I mean, he follows me into the bedroom and then to the front door, and stands by the front door while I’m gone, but he doesn’t get upset in under a minute (at least not visibly upset). Is that time to progress to two minutes, or is the goal to have him just lay there while I’m doing all of this?
Hello … from what I’ve read, if he does okay with 1 minute - i.e. you hear no whining, scratching, destruction, and when you go back in, he hasn’t peed, then it’s time to increase it to 1 minute, 15 seconds … (since he gets so anxious, I would go up by very small intervals).
If he does okay with that, go to 1 minute, 30 seconds, etc. I think you’re only supposed to work on it for 15 minutes or so at a time.
If, say, at 2 minutes 30 seconds, you hear him start to whine, go in, calm him by putting your hands on him, and talking to him but NOT praising or reassuring him, maybe just talking in a soothing, nice voice about the weather or something. Then try it again for just 2 minutes, and if that goes well, try for 2 minutes 15 seconds, and so on.
I believe you’re supposed to do this several times a day (or whatever is realistic for you and your schedule). There is a dog trainer, his name is Stanley Coren, and I have seen his show several times on t.v. You could look for one of his books or perhaps he has a web page.
Have you tried the doggiedoor board? They deal with S/A a LOT on there - it seems to be a very very common complaint.
Also, what about looking for a boxer-specific messageboard? I don’t know much about boxers, but our border collie has such strong border collie traits, that I have found a specific message board very helpful in some instances. Perhaps boxers have their own strong genetic traits? Plus, you may find it less ummmm … I can’t think of the word right now, but perhaps it will be more straightforward and practical and realistic than the messageboard(s) you’ve checked out previously.
Hey, I just wanted to thank people for their help. I’ve been working with the cue (turning on the radio) and leaving. I can now leave for a few minutes and he will just sit or stand by the door. He is clearly not happy with me leaving, but he doesn’t cry or really do anything. I’m not planning on moving past a few minutes for at least a few weeks; I’d rather do this too slowly than too quickly.
Though for a few days there, instead of the cue helping, he would just get upset whenever he heard music.
He is still peeing in the crate every day, but I don’t give him his cue for this departure, because it is going to be a long one.
I’m still going to get him on the clomicalm within the week, because I think that will help all of this along, and help my neighbors not report me.