Helen
03-26-2006, 03:14 PM
I need help. In the past month or so, Charlie has developed a strange behavior. He's completely fine if both BF and I are leaving him at the same time. We can go upstairs to bed or leave the house, and Charlie is calm and quiet. The problem is when just one of us leaves - like if I go upstairs to go to sleep early, or if one of us goes out for awhile by ourselves. Charlie seems to become distraught - you can tell by the way he barks, he jumps up and down non-stop, etc. Twice now he's grabbed onto our pants - I really hope that he wasn't actually trying to bite us, but I just don't know. It seems like he's just so desperate for us not to go. Once whoever is leaving is gone, he settles down immediately. It seems to be the act of leaving that makes him crazy, not the fact that one of us is gone.
Nothing that I can think of has changed, but he didn't always act like this. We don't make a big deal out of leaving. We don't have any other alpha problems with him: I can stick my fingers in his food, take away his bone, etc. What do you guys think? Today was the second time he grabbed onto BF's pants (he was leaving, I was staying). I immediately told him "No", grabbed him and put him in his crate.
When going upstairs to sleep by myself, when I see him starting to get worked up (it's not every time) I've started to make him sit and stay while I go through the gate and then give him a treat. That seems to have worked for that particular situation. Do you think we should make him be calm like that and then reward it? Or is this a deeper problem than that? It confuses me because I don't think it's actually separation anxiety, since like I said, he's fine once the person is gone. And he's fine if both of us leave at the same time. I'm afraid if we don't get a hold of this now, the grabbing of the pants could lead to something worse.
Sorry this was so long. I really look forward to hearing what y'all have to say.
Nothing that I can think of has changed, but he didn't always act like this. We don't make a big deal out of leaving. We don't have any other alpha problems with him: I can stick my fingers in his food, take away his bone, etc. What do you guys think? Today was the second time he grabbed onto BF's pants (he was leaving, I was staying). I immediately told him "No", grabbed him and put him in his crate.
When going upstairs to sleep by myself, when I see him starting to get worked up (it's not every time) I've started to make him sit and stay while I go through the gate and then give him a treat. That seems to have worked for that particular situation. Do you think we should make him be calm like that and then reward it? Or is this a deeper problem than that? It confuses me because I don't think it's actually separation anxiety, since like I said, he's fine once the person is gone. And he's fine if both of us leave at the same time. I'm afraid if we don't get a hold of this now, the grabbing of the pants could lead to something worse.
Sorry this was so long. I really look forward to hearing what y'all have to say.