Separation anxiety

If you come to rehoming please look at the red foundation. Specifically for sausages and they look for appropriate 5* homes. Sausages are such tricky little dogs, the separation anxiety can be crazy. Sorry you are going through this

Rehoming an anxious dog is probably one of the ideas ever. That’s only going to cause his anxiety to be a hell of a lot worse. Dachshunds are a needy breed (I used to have one and now have a dachshund cross) and the toileting inside and barking is something they’re all prone for. Stimulation and enrichment is what he needs. Chances are he notices you’re gone and he gets bored. Giving him a long lasting stuffed toy or treat will keep him occupied and distracted. I mean I am in no way a dog trainer but have plenty of experience working with different breeds. But I do know that rehoming him will not fix the problem.

@Betty unfortunately this is something we've already tried but he shows no interest in any form of enrichment when he's on his own whether it's toys, treats bones etc x

Sounds like his training may need to start from scratch. Like leaving him for five minutes while you just sit outside the house and if he’s quiet then you go back in and reward him. Gradually build up the time scale. They are an extremely stubborn breed and they take a lot of training. My old girl was exactly the same. It just takes time. It really wouldn’t be fair on him to be put in another home when you’ve had him all this time

@Betty I understand that, but what you've suggested is exactly what most of the behaviourists have done with him and we've obviously done this repeatedly with him too but in the end, the trainers have given up. I'm at a complete loss with what to do which is why I'm considering rehoming him because it's equally not as fair for him to be stressed while he's alone

Please do not rehome a dog through a random app there are dog specific rescues out there maybe contact dog trust they seem to take on easier dogs to rehome and quite strict who the dog goes too thats where my dog is from xxxx

Is there anyway he can go to a dog play place all day? Like doggy daycare takes the stress away from you when your out i have a friend who has a large dog anytime hes going out for the day or evening he will book him into places like this as he has severe separation aniexty also c

What’s he like with other dogs? Does he find comfort with them or is he territorial? Xx

@Lisa he got kicked out of doggy day care for "worry barking" the whole time, honestly I feel like we've tried every option. We're absolutely devastated at this point 😭

@Angharad he gets on well with other dogs, we regularly have my mums or my in laws dogs stay with us while they're on holiday. We've tried leaving him alone with them to see if getting another dog would help, but he's still the same unfortunately x

Is worry barking a thing? Lol wow never knew a dog could get kicked out what about boarding kennels but the nice ones not the horrible kennels anytime you need to go out for the day or evening? Xx i know these dogs are known to be needy and have aniexty i think its just a part of there breed x definitely try contacting dogs trust there amazing rescues and there kennels are nof even kennels its like a beautiful room each dog has with there own toys duvets honestly the care they put into rehoming there dogs are amazing they never put a healthy dog down either so how ever long it takes they will find the perfect fit just give a call see what they say xx

Sounds like the trainers aren’t doing their job. They would never usually give up that easily. I’d have a look at using someone else to help you

@Lisa honestly it was awful, we got given a whole report card on him and everything. We were going to try another doggy day care that introduced them slowly by starting with just half an hour sessions to settle in anxious dogs but they ended up shutting down with immediate effect a week before he was due to start and they were the only two doggy day cares in our city x

I’m going through the exact same thing with my spaniel, I have a really good dog trainer called Angela she does it all via zoom calls! Do you think there is a underlying issue with the dog as in health problem, as she has been really helpful trying to get to the bottom of my dog with her problems as I strongly believe there is more to my dog than separation anxiety!xx

Can you retrain him from scratch using a professional?

I’ve had loads of trainers give up on my boy he’s a chihuahua pug and do you know what when I going the right person and worked with him intensely for a few months he’s finally almost sorted but it’s persevering and there will be a set back but you restart and work at it again. I had a mind set of I’ll never rehome a pet and I will fix the problem

Sounds like you’ve made up your mind

My dachshund is the same, he won’t even eat treats left for him or bother with any toys (even ones filled with peanut butter) - all he can focus on is worry barking and anxious whining to the point he dribbles down himself, it’s heartbreaking. We also have a cat and 3 other dogs and this makes no difference, he just wants me home. He even does this if other people are home, it’s just me and my parents who he feels comfortable with. We are lucky that my parents are retired and so take him a lot of the time. No advice unfortunately but feel your pain and it must be a horrible decision to make, are you in the UK?

Its so hard iim in the same boat, I'm still training him but it does get me down not being able to leave him x

@Zoe no I haven't, that's why I've asked on here because I don't know if it's better for him to be somewhere that he'll have someone with him 24/7

@Lottie my pup is exactly the same, only comfortable with me, my partner and our parents, anyone else and he barks and cries the whole time. Yes we're in the UK 😊

We have a Doberman that howls and cries the whole time we’re out (10mins or 3hrs makes no difference) enrichment toys, treats etc don’t work he doesn’t touch them until we get home and then he loves them 🙄 we’ve tried loads of things to be honest and I wanted to rehome him but my partner point blank refused, there’s just no-one he would trust to love him the way he does. So honestly? I’ve given up worrying about it, he can howl and cry all he likes and I’ve stopped thinking about it or curtailing my life to fit around him. Luckily he’s never destroyed anything or toileted inside but I know it could happen if the anxiety gets worse, I just can’t keep our lives and enjoyment on hold for a dog that’s treated like an absolute king but hates being alone. People will think I’m heartless but so much time and money has been thrown at him I’m just done. Ultimately that tiny dog isn’t going to be disturbing any neighbours, if you don’t want to rehome him, he’ll just have to cry xx

@April thank you, this is reassuring, unfortunately he is very loud and my neighbours can hear him as if he's in their house 😂 thankfully though, we have a lovely neighbour who is really understanding. However, we're living at my mums for the next month to look after her pets while she's on holiday and her neighbours (who are 7 houses away) have just spoken to me today being quite aggressive telling me to "shut that bloody dog up" I tried to explain he had anxiety and we always try to limit the time we're away from him but the guy just waved me off and wasn't having any of it. X

Wow that’s crazy! How thin are the walls?! You can hear my dog in the street but not inside someone else’s house, I can understand that being frustrating for them 🙁 it’s so hard, people are so dismissive of it, like you’re obviously not trying hard enough, I’ve just honestly not found anything that works 😔

We have a super anxious GSD, the only thing that worked for us was fully crate training, (will take months to do this properly and make it a positive place, put the dog in it even when you don't go out so that you they know it's not always where they go when you leave) and covering his crate, popping music on etc so he never actually hears us leave. Once crate trained you pretty much have your life back haha, I know you said youv tried a crate before but it really is the slowest process ever to make them like it, people just shove dogs in and hope for the best. Failing that if your against a crate watch videos or tiktoks on 'door is a bore' technique, that's also worked for us if we leave him out for 3 hours etc while out. It's where you break down every step that causes the dog anxiety and do it literally 30 times over and over until they are basically numb to it, also takes forever but worth it in the end! Like get up and put your hand on the door handle like your about to leave but don't actually leave,

Yeah my neighbour is a tit....she's always inboxing me if the dog barks and I'm out 😢spent most of mat leave in the house which also doesn't help my dog get used to being on his own x

You need to write in to Graham from dogs behaving very badly hahaha ! No seriously , what happenes if you ignore him and how do you know he's barking whilst your out do you have camera on him ? Be honest with yourself are you feeding in to it ? Is it your anxiety that's projecting on to him that's what Graham would ask ! Dogs can be trained and daschund are known for there barking , you will never find someone they can go to who's gonna be home all the time - don't give up on him , have the trainers given up on your dog as for me you need to find s new one they are shocking where do you live ? I know a behaviourist is so good she would literally not stop even if it took months to get it right because it can be done , you also hwhebto he honest and say have you been consistent every day for a good few months or given up at times we all have stress and feel like given in thr towel but in order for things to change cant give up no mattee how bad it gets , dnt abandoned him

@ktd that’s the worst show ever. He does not train the dogs. He uses other trainers techniques as his own and doesn’t give them credit. Not to mention the fact it’s never the dogs behaviour that’s the issues it’s the way the owners deal with it

@Angela she's causing you issues I'd make friends with her leave her parcels of choc and take her out for coffee and she'll learn to understand it's jiludt for the short term and if she doesn't understand f*c* her don't waste your time she can't get you kicked out

Your parents neighbours sound like idiots cheeky of em if he doesn't understand that sounds like a him problem and he can jog on

Who does he think he is

@Betty my point ....

Whoever gives him the techniques don't matter , they work

But I respect your opinion and view of Graham :)

Sounds ridiculous but have you tried leaving a radio on for him? My mum has a daschund and does this which acts as a bit of comfort. Also, is he a full male? I know they recommend not having dachshunds done based on what my parents have said but you can get a chemical castration chip which has the same effect as them being done but dissolves over time and wears off. There is a 6 month and 12 month one. We did this before having our dog castrated because it can make them better or worse and it actually made him more chill so we then went for the full op.

@Kirsty yes unfortunately we've tried leaving the radio on and that didn't work 😞 But yes he is an entire male, the vet did speak to us about trying the castration chip but said it would likely make him worse so we didn't really think any further into it. However, if there are stories of it working for some then it may be worth looking into again, thank you! X

Id definitely consider it as whilst my dog is not a dachshund, I do know a daschund that it did work for who has severe anxiety too! X

Why can't you just tolerate his barking

And let him bark whilst your out ? To me rehoming doesn't sound the right thing as he will be left at some point and if your saying it doesn't work everything everybody has suggested including experts and you say it's not your behaviour can you not just let him be him and learn to live with how he is

As if you've tried everything no one else you give him to will do anything different is it a case of just accepting him as he is and f**k to everything else and you learning to tolerate it and the anxiety it causes ?

Either that or you need to change how your approaching it ? If you can't change him what can you change ?