I just wanted to share the improvements I have seen in him within the last two months.
Duncan still prefers to be by my side when I work from home and will make up a nice bed in my home office, but he has become more independent and will sometimes go to a different room of the house to take a nap without having any issues.
One of my biggest triumphs is that we have overcome his separation anxiety. For the first month, whenever I left the home, I would always put him in my kitchen and gate him in, but no matter how many toys he had, or how comfortable I made his bed, or how many times I let him out before I left, he would always pee all over the kitchen and pace endlessly until I returned. I could tell that me being away and him being gated was a huge stress for him.
Once he became familiar with my home and his surroundings, I started letting him home alone WITHOUT being gated in the kitchen for small amounts of time to see how he did. I gave him free range of my living room and kitchen, but closed the doors to my other rooms so he didn't have access to them. When I leave, I have him go on the couch with a blanket, turn the TV on, and give him a treat. I would only leave for a few minutes at a time to show that I always came back. I started increasing the time and now we are up to 4 hours where he is fine on his own and I always come home to find him asleep on the couch - no pacing, and no pee!
I had a business trip this weekend, so I had a friend take care of him for a few days. My friend works during the day, but Duncan was able to be alone for 8 hours a day with a half hour visit for lunch from my friend and he did great! When I came home, he was so full of energy and I can see a big improvement in his demeanor and confidence.
-- Alyssa Renwick
Just goes to show you can teach and old dog new tricks. With unconditional love from his wonderful foster mom, we are thrilled to learn of his improvement!
No comments:
Post a Comment