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Dogs can be funny. Sometimes there's nothing that you can do when a dog hasn't had a good past.
I watched a show recently where there was a dog that had been abused, and after months of special care and training it was still so scared of children that they said it wasn't fit for re-homing, so had to be put down. The other dog that came from the same household would only be released to someone that was retired because they needed someone with them at all times as it couldn't get over all the bad that happened in the past when the owners just left them repeatedly.
Probably not what you want to hear, but sometimes there's not much you can do when it's had a bad past.
It will take a lot of work and patience. Dogs need structure and their own routine so they know whats coming. You can try
- Take her for a long walk or run before you go out / to work.
- Leave the radio on, so she can hear people talking.
- Get her interactive toys with treats in them like these. Kong's are expensive but they are tough and hard to break. It should divert her attention to try and get the treats out of the holes
- Don't make a fuss when you leave the house but be excited to see her when you come back.
- Depending on where she is, leave a few doors open, so she isn't claustrophobic.
- If she has a favourite treat, give her that before you go out, so she knows she hasn't done anything wrong.
Sooo the wife and I got ourselves a dog about a month ago. She's a black lab mix, she's about 3.5 years old, her name is Dora and she's a rescue dog. Apparently she showed up in a pound about two years ago way underweight and malnourished, and nobody knows anything from before that. She was taken in by an animal rescue agency and placed with a foster family until we got her.
She's very good with us most of the time, loves cuddles and walks, she's great with kids and other dogs but it takes her a while to warm to new adults usually. She's toilet trained and knows a few commands (sit, off, come here, wait, down, let's go, etc.)
We're having some serious issues in that she HATES being left alone. She'll bark and whine and cry loudly whenever she knows we're leaving the house and some of the neighbours have complained and even contacted city council about her. Obviously as we are her third family she's justified in being worried that we're not coming back when we leave. We've gotten a few tips and hints and ideas and we've tried some of them, but few seem to have any effect at all. She still follows us around the house and when we take her out, she'll bark if we try and go even ten feet away from her.
I know a bunch of you 4w'ers have dog experience, anyone have any useful stories about training a rescue dog to be content with their own company and stop being so clingy/needy?
Last edited by ré_mullé (Thu-13-Nov-2014 14:17:54)