george108
Well-known member
Since we got Chrissie four weeks ago she's been quite unsettled at night. She's fine when we're up and about with her but as soon as it's bedtime she paces around the house. In fairness she has improved slightly but is wide awake from about 4.30am onwards. I work shift, mixture of days and nights so we don't have the dogs sleeping in with us but let them in at about 8am. On a few occasions when it's gone past 7am Chrissie has peed and pooped in the house. We think this is probably from distress. I was home at 3.30am this morning and she pooped outside and when my oh got up at 7.30 Chrissie had pooped/peed in the kitchen. It's not that this is the problem but we just don't know what to do to make her feel more secure.
We suspected that she suffered from separation anxiety so we set up the camcorder and left the house several times. She was scratching like crazy at the front door/glass and pacing a lot. We leave her for short periods and are gradually increasing the time. The longest she's been left is 1hr 15m and she appeared to be ok. She chews like crazy and we hear her chewing her squeaky at night (which we take off her now) so we think she gets distressed when we go to bed. In ways she seems fine and appears very confident but the poor little girl also gets nervous and she cowers a lot. We just don't know which way to turn now.
We're going away for 3 days in September and are leaving her with a relative but we have no idea what she's going to be like. We've tried crate training her to see if she feels more secure and while she was happy to be in the crate playing once she makes no effort to stay in it. Even now as I type this my oh have just left for the shop and George is sitting beside me while Chrissie is pacing from the hall to the kitchen.
Can anyone give me any advice? My oh is out of work so obediance classes wouldn't exactly be an option right now (unless of course they would definitely work).
We've been in touch with the shelter where we got her to try and find out about her medical history. They contacted her previous owner (who wasn't happy to see them) and she said she had no problems medically and the reason she didn't want her back because she was "too hyper."
I honestly can't say what type of past Chrissie had but I suspect she was put out a lot, either as punishment or just left outside. She hated being outside when we got her but she now knows that that's where we play and get a treat! Thanks in advance.
We suspected that she suffered from separation anxiety so we set up the camcorder and left the house several times. She was scratching like crazy at the front door/glass and pacing a lot. We leave her for short periods and are gradually increasing the time. The longest she's been left is 1hr 15m and she appeared to be ok. She chews like crazy and we hear her chewing her squeaky at night (which we take off her now) so we think she gets distressed when we go to bed. In ways she seems fine and appears very confident but the poor little girl also gets nervous and she cowers a lot. We just don't know which way to turn now.
We're going away for 3 days in September and are leaving her with a relative but we have no idea what she's going to be like. We've tried crate training her to see if she feels more secure and while she was happy to be in the crate playing once she makes no effort to stay in it. Even now as I type this my oh have just left for the shop and George is sitting beside me while Chrissie is pacing from the hall to the kitchen.
Can anyone give me any advice? My oh is out of work so obediance classes wouldn't exactly be an option right now (unless of course they would definitely work).
We've been in touch with the shelter where we got her to try and find out about her medical history. They contacted her previous owner (who wasn't happy to see them) and she said she had no problems medically and the reason she didn't want her back because she was "too hyper."
I honestly can't say what type of past Chrissie had but I suspect she was put out a lot, either as punishment or just left outside. She hated being outside when we got her but she now knows that that's where we play and get a treat! Thanks in advance.