How to housetraiin dog with separation anxiety?
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Our one year-old basenji adopted two months ago urinates in the House when we leave. We leave him with a Kong filled with goodies but he does not eat it until we return. We have only been leaving for a short time, about half an hour. And we make sure that we take him PP before we leave. So it looks like the problem is separation anxiety because there are no problems when we are home. Believe where he was before he was left outside the house so was not housetrained. How do we house train him?
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@basenjifan said in How to housetraiin dog with separation anxiety?:
So it looks like the problem is separation anxiety because there are no problems when we are home. Believe where he was before he was left outside the house so was not housetrained. How do we house train him?
If there are no problems when you are home it sounds like he is housetrained. So it is separation anxiety you are dealing with. If you could set up a video camera and observe his behaviour when you leave it would be helpful. Many separation anxiety dogs are upset when you depart and settle down afterward. A distraction when you are leaving......I used a roller ball that dispenses treats......may help. It worked well for me. I would prepare it before I left and let him see it but not have it, to build anticipation. Got to the point where he wanted me to leave so he could have his ball! However, if he is too anxious to eat the goodies in the Kong this may not work with him.
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I wonder if you are leaving him alone for too long - even half an hour can seem like an eternity to an anxious Basenji. Try leaving and returning instantly - out of one door, in another. Then slowly lengthen the absences, 3 minutes, 5, 10 and gradually build up to the 30 minute absence. Do it very gradually, over a week or even two. So he knows for sure that you will be home again with him.
That he is clean when you are at home suggests he has been house-trained - and it is being left alone which worries him.
Good luck -
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It may also help to exercise/play hard before you go so he is tired.
On the treat thing, find something your dog salivates for, maybe tiny bits of beef or chicken that you can stuff in the kong or freeze into ice cubes, or put in a treat dispenser. Give them in the crate only. (put the ice cubes in a food bowl to decrease mess, obviously)
If none of this works, then you can do a plan b, which is put in a really large crate or pen with some sort of indoor potty system. Or, try a medication and continue training until no more peeing, then ween off.
