With my energetic, separation anxiety dog, I also got a selection of puzzle toys and rotated them. You’ll find a selection at your nearest pet-warehouse.
Things like this wobble toy, which distributes treats. Kong makes something similar.
I really like this cube. It lets you change the difficulty.
You might also try some heavy duty chews. Not rawhide, but possibly bully sticks, or Nylabones if he likes those.
Okay. So I make a few mistakes. Give me a break - I’ve been a dog owner for less than two weeks after not being one for fifteen years. Anyway … the mistake I made today was two-fold. Firstly, somehow I managed to lock the door to Bob’s room from the inside and, smart as he is, I couldn’t get him to unlock it from his side, so I had to shoulder it open. Fortunately, it’s a cheap door. It didn’t take much to get it open and I can still latch it closed. But when I got it open that’s when I discovered my second mistake. Shitty ventilation. Holy shit it must have been 90 or more in that room. I got him and watered el pronto, but he didn’t seem any worse for the wear. Yes, I felt like a total asshole. Judge me if you must.
I got Bob a nice big hearty meal and some snacks and I managed to figure out how to cool the room down and keep it cool (new screen, extra fan, strategically placed dresser so the window can remain halfway open and he should be escape proof). Once he was back to earth I worked with him to get him back into the room and he wasn’t too eager. I had to employ some Cesar Milan shit, which he responds to really well - the ol’ arms akimbo, a snapped finger and a “hey” and Bob is right down on his belly. After some fits and starts I got him to lie down and stay while I was around the corner, slightly out of sight, with the door open and then come when called. So that’s good but he really didn’t like it.
After a little play time I took him on a nice mile-and-a-half walk and when we got back I immediately ran through the exercises in the room again and did few trick things (he can do shake and other paw really good - he didn’t know it before) and now he’s got the night off.
Bob’s a good boy.
Yes he is!
Fortunately dogs forgive us flawed humans for the mistakes we make. That’s one reason they are the best!
There are way better dog training resources out there than Cesar Milan. Behaviorists (like, the actual scientists) have debunked his methods, and he’s done some pretty bad stuff. I can recommend Victoria Stillwell, but I’m sure there are others. Clicker training is really easy, and lets you move away from treats with a dog like Bob pretty quickly. It lets the dog know exactly when he did what you want, and for a dog who wants to please you, learning can happen really fast.
I hope Mort is getting some extra attention too.
Good for you for sticking with trying to get it all sorted out, and for not blaming the animals. (That doesn’t mean you have to blame yourself, either. Maybe just think of the three of you as conducting a series of experiments to see what happens.)
I wonder if you might need to stick to a place for Bob while you’re at work for a couple weeks to really get a sense of how it works. It seems to me like he might need a stable routine that he can get used to. Dogs coming from shelters often have a “decompression” period where there might be some problem behaviors that will go away as the dog gets more confident and comfortable, which usually requires learning a routine and knowing what is expected of him. So, even if you want to change something right now, you might want to put it off until your current routine is at least 2 weeks old, unless it’s a safety issue.
Agreeing with pretty much everything eschrodinger said (though I haven’t read Victoria Stillwell); and expanding on the last bit:
Both Bob and Mort need areas within the house that are their territory; and need to be able to count on having those spaces available to them. Moving Bob around is interfering with his ability to claim his own space, and is likely to aggravate any problems caused by insecurity. Pick a room he seems comfortable in, and which is not Mort’s favorite place, and stick with that. Keep the crate in that room, leaving it open when he has the run of the room (and get a sturdier crate.)
– also, given that he’s gone through a screen once, I very much doubt that any standard screen will hold him now. A fan taking up the open window space might work – if it’s a double hung window, at least, they make fans designed to fit; or, if you can do it, heavy hardware cloth firmly attached on top of the screen. If the window will open from the top down, it would also probably work to open it partway from the top and partway from the bottom but not wide enough at either opening for him to fit through – depending on the style and sturdiness of window construction it might work, even if you can’t open it at top and bottom, to open it so that the opening’s too small for him to get through.
And very much do give Mort extra attention.
Bob had a great day. I presume. He spent the day in his room again, with all his things, in a much cooler environment and he seemed happy when I sprung him. Actually, before I let him out I went down to check on Mort, feed him, scoop some poop for him, scratch his belly a little and nary a whine nor a bark from Bob upstairs. He was, as I said, very happy to see me, but much more under control. I don’t know if his few whines were of excitement to see me or to accompany his pee-pee dance. I hope he had a good day in there because from my perspective it went perfectly. A few more excercises tonight to get him to stay in there calmly so he does balk going in. He didn’t this morning so I hope he won’t tomorrow either. I think this may work out. It is a very food-centric room, so I think he gets it. I feed him in there and when ever I give him a kibble-Kong he has to lie down in his crate first - he’s learned this and is eager to comply for some sweet, sweet vulcanized rubber and beef by-products.
I brought him for a nice long walk right out off the bat. I was going to wait, but I was feeling perky so after he peed for twenty minutes and took a huge dump, we went for a mile and half walk, which was lucky because as soon as we got back it started pouring rain. Like biblical. Looks like it’s let up so maybe we’ll get another short walk in for his evening constitutional.
Bobby-Boy is a good boy.
I just want to add to the other comments to say that this is a great thread. Love the pics! I’m vicariously reliving the “getting a new dog” experience! 
You need a go-pro camera set up in his room and see what he’s up to, when you’re away. Or a baby monitor with a camera. That would be neat to see.
I’m so happy to hear of Bobs success.
Keep posting his updates.
Bob is like a board mascot now!
I’m coming into this thread late, but some hopefully helpful observations. Bob reminds me of my Weim, in that: he is bright, misses you, and needs a job. With the screens, I don’t think you can leave any windows open while you are separated from Bob. Bob has figured out what windows are. (Don’t laugh: it was a rude awakening to my terrier and sheepdog owning inlaws to find a dog that knew to stand on her hind legs and look for her human through those glass things. Bob’s figured out he can get through screens to be where he wants.)
Bob doesn’t like his crate. Now, anyways. Which isn’t unusual. Where does Bob go when he breaks out of his crate? Your bed? The couch? The bay window? IME, a separation anxiety feeling dog goes to somewhere where you’re likely to be or to come back to. In my case, it was the bed and the front door. (My Weim ripped a front claw trying to dig out of her crate. When I eventually let her have the run of the house in desperation, I found a warm spot on my bed, and by the door, with no other damage. I didn’t have a cat though. Further, the dog was calm as could be in the back seat of the car.
Figured I’d eventually come back to it, I guess.)
Is Bob dominant at all: tries to lead you through doors, or into new situations; puts his paw on top of you; tries to place himself above you or your guests? Does Bob have a yard during the day that he has access to? As to counter surfing, yeah, they do that. Pick up your laundry too: mine loved eating socks, or anything that smelled like me, and especially anything from a female house guest—especially underwear.
I love reading the stories, and I’m happy you have him.
Actually, Bob likes his crate just fine. He fairly sprints into it when I have kibble-Kong for him. He’ll even lie down it with the door latched and chill out - as long as I’m with him. Now I think I have it worked out. Bob has his own room - it’s like an office sized thing - but plenty of room for his crate, his bed, his bowls and he could stretch out on the floor as much as he’d like. It’s also the coolest room in the house now so I don’t think he knows how good he’s got it.
Bob shows practically no dominance at all. He can get a little jumpy-on-ya when he’s excited, but he takes correction very well, and he’ll go down on his side for me very easily. Calms down quickly. When he’s tired/calm, he’s very polite. On walks, he can get distracted, but 90% of the time he’s right at my side with a slack lead. He’s doing really well and he’s done really well in his room during the day for the last three days so I’m feeling really hopeful.Today he came out of his room happy but not out of control, took a nice long pee and nice big poop, and then we played around in the back yard for about a half an hour. I’ll take him for his usual mile-and-a-half later once it cools down a little.
This weekend I’m going back to operation Meet Mort. Bob is doing really well and I think I have a good game plan for keeping Mort safe and Bob calm. My goal is to one day be sitting on my couch with my dog at my side and my cat on my lap. I swear to Batty’s Left Nut I’ll make that happen sooner or later.
So here’s the bad Bob story for the day. I grilled myself a turkey-cranberry-jalapeno burger on the back deck. Side note: This is so not me, but lately I’ve been seeing the up side of things and just sitting on my back deck with the grill going and my dog laying down chewing a bone in the grass was almost overwhelming to me for a moment. But … here’s the thing. As I said Bob is generally very polite. I’ve trusted him with a chicken salad sandwich a foot from him while I got up to throw something away in the kitchen and he never touched it. I think today temptation was just too much for him. He was rooting around for his Kong at my feet and I just stepped away to grab my glasses and I looked back to see my cheeseburger in his mouth. As soon as he saw me he dropped it, before I could even say anything.
So of course two things happened at that point. 1 - I had Bob lay on his side and stare at my cheeseburger that he dropped on the floor. And B - I ate the cheeseburger. Hey, man, turkey-cranberry-jalapeno … no way I’m letting that go to waste. Twenty-five second and only a trace of dog spit rule, I say.
Things are really looking up Jack and Bobby*. I had a lot of fun with Bob in the back yard earlier but I had him on like a ten foot lead - just two leashes tied together - that I felt the need to keep a hold of. I tell you, I don’t think it was really needed. The way we were playing he didn’t look like he was interested in going anywhere. But, you never know … which brings me to my point. I decided to order a tie-out cable for the back yard, so Bob can have a little more freedom without risk of running away. I must have hit the magic number of things ordered from Amazon because I just got a 30 day free trial of Prime, which includes free two day delivery. I should have gotten a dog years ago. Check that - I wasn’t prepared. Bob came along at the perfect time.
*yes, I too just realized the Kennedy thing … creepy.
It’s so sweet, isn’t it? I think dogs give humans so much, but a feeling of well being is a big one.
And, dude? WTH? You ate a burger a dog had in his mouth and WAS ON THE GROUND! Are you insane?
(Don’t mind me I’m a germaphobe)
I think it added a certain* je ne sais quoi*.
Yes, I think it’s safe to say it did.
Je sais and can tell you exactly quoi it added, but to be fair, I’d very likely have eaten the burger too. Plus seeing you, the dominant alpha, eating your food that he couldn’t get away with trying to steal from you is a good lesson for Bob.
Dogs do have a way of making life a little more perfect.
As for dog spit, I’ve no doubt ingested gallons of it over my lifetime (and cat spit too), and I’m fiiiiiiiiine. 
Bob had another good day in his room, but he was all full of piss and vinegar when I sprung him. A solid D- on the walk down to the poopy spot at the end of the street. Lunged enough to tug a good yank on me after some squirrels and he was so excited he was hard to calm down. Eventually he did, but he was just on the alert from the jump. Back at home he was okay and he hung out in the grass again while I grilled another burger - no thievery attempts this time. Then I took him out for his usual long walk and the first quarter mile … C+, only because he took correction a little quicker. I was just fighting off frustration because I had to stop him every hundred feet to get him from walking in front of me. After about a mile he tuckered out enough to earn an A- on the way back. He got a demerit when he jumped after a cyclist I didn’t see coming up from our rear. I need to get him out to the dog park again this weekend and drain some of his energy.
If I’m reading him right he’s getting a little more comfortable and he’s testing a limit or two, but I haven’t got too frustrated with him and he understands I’m in charge. I’m trying to remember to just be consistent and he’ll come right around. Don’t get me wrong he’s still the perfectly polite dog when he’s tired and/or calm, meal time is a dream, he has no problem with his crate (though I don’t latch him in anymore). So I’m just ironing out the details at this point.
Every dog has his day. Nobody’s perfect. I predict he be fine most of the time.
My RatTerrier could not resist a squirrel chase. She would not be trained out of it. She calmed down the older she got, as if to say: “I choose the squirrel, the squirrel does not choose me”
Give Bob a bellyrub from me!
How’s Mort?
Bob had another testy walk this morning, but he was great on the way back and he was great on his afternoon walk, so like I said, we’re feeling each other out and things are going the way I want them. He got a little barky at a jogger this morning, which I didn’t like one little bit. That was a lie down on your side right on the sidewalk and let everybody bask in your shame moment. Other than that, things are going well.
Mort is getting a little more anxious to see what’s going on upstairs but he’s still not in a mood to walk through that cat door yet. Bob is getting much better about respecting the door itself and later on I’m going to put him through a few paces respecting the actual space downstairs before I even bring Mort into the equation. My goal for the evening is just to have Bob laying down politely ignoring Mort, who will be in his crate - and I’ll go from there.
I think I’m still in the adjustment period, so I know everything is not going perfectly but everything is feeling very hopeful. I see a fine outcome.
I swear sometimes I think he understands English. Or he reads me really well. Yesterday I was making a sandwich in the kitchen and he was sniffing around my plate and, almost absentmindedly, I muttered, “Bob, back off,” and he took two steps back and laid down. Amazing. Just now he was sniffing around me and being a bit of a pest - I’d just brought all of his toys but I forgot his Kong filled with kibble in his crate, and again, almost off-handed I said, “Where’s your kibble-Kong; go get your kibble-Kong,” and he turned, walked directly into his room and returned with his Kong. He’s slobbering over it on his bed right now.
I have to remember these little moments the next time he attempts to rip my wrist out of my socket when he sees a squirrel.