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Here's a scenario: You leave your house and you've left Fluffy free to roam the house because he is a king. Cool. Fast forward to you returning home. Disaster. Complete crime scene. Do you think your dog has separation anxiety and he's destroyed your house because he can't stand to be away from you? Chances are... No.
There is true separation anxiety in dogs in which a dog becomes severely stressed and suffers "panic" much like humans when we have panic attacks, which should be discussed with your vet. HOWEVER, and of course we still love them like our children, some are totally fakin' it and it is likely our fault. We didn't teach them to eat the walls of course but we didn't really teach them they shouldn't right?
We unconsciencly train our dogs to misbehave or do things we don't agree with.
From the day we first bring our dogs home, puppies or shelter dogs, we are teaching them how to behave in our house. If we aren't establishing boundaries and what's acceptable and not acceptable, then our dogs are going to make them up. Dogs need a leader just like our kids. If you feel you've not established these things then my advice is to start from the beginning but keep in mind that it's not going to be "fixed" over night.
Come up with a good routine and reintroduce your dog to your home, regardless of if he's been a part of your family for a week or 2 years. It's not too late to restructure your relationship and giving our dogs confidence is really rewarding. You'll likely develop an even stronger bond in the process!
In the past, I would give Bella a trial run and leave her out while I ran an errand or two. The first time, she got into the trash and shredded it up. The second time I gave her a chance, she got into the trash and shredded it all up. Do you think I gave her another chance? Yes, but I put the trash out of reach and all was peace. Before I met Phillip, he had once let Marley stay home alone and she ate the walls and even ate a doorknob off so, since, she went everywhere with him because she couldn't be trusted to the house and she wasn't kennel trained. We ran another trial in which we allowed both Bella and Marley to be free in the house (trash in the closed bathroom), and they did perfectly fine. When something didn't work, we changed it so it would. We set our dogs up to succeed. Without us.
The main reason dogs are confused, in my opinion, is because they don't have a routine. We didnt give them the time they needed to learn and we are also confused. In the morning when I put Ren and Bishop out into the dog runs for the day, I don't put them in, I open the gate and they both run right in. It's a routine. It's the way it is. I never made a big deal out of any of our routines. They just follow my lead and that's it. My confidence makes them confident. My life is simple with my five dogs and everyone could have it easier if we all just set our dogs up for success and started over if they got it wrong.
I've been asked before "well every time I come home, there's pee and poo all over my house. What do I do?" My first inquiry is "well was she potty trained before you let her be free in the house?" They tell me not really which confuses me. Give your dog a chance to get it right. If you don't give them that time, then you can't be upset with them when they fail.
- Julie Thorne