[Ag-eq] separation anxiety was ~Re: sheep and dogs

[Jewel]

Nella!  The secret with preventing, or discouraging separation anxiety is to get the dog to 
understand that your departure from the house and later return is no big deal.
Is Monty a yard or house dog?
You can start at the beginning by leaving him for a  very short time and then come back in, but when 
you do, don't make a fuss of him;  just say "Hi!", but otherwise than that, ignore him and occupy 
yourself with other things for a few minutes before you pay him much attention.
The more he pesters you, the more you ignore him!  and only when he is quiet do you give him a rub.
With my dogs, I give them a signal phrase when I am leaving.  I don't know if it actually means 
anything to them, but I have never had a dog who is bothered by separation anxiety.  When I am going 
out, but the dog is not, I always say: "Keep a good watch!"

         Jewel --------------------------------------------------
From: <nfoster at extremezone.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2013 12:15 AM
To: "Jewel" <jewelblanch at kinect.co.nz>; "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" 
<ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] sheep and dogs


Jewel:

The trainer did use an electric shock collar.  Monty is rather head strong and
she had to turn it up quite high before he took notice.  First she used it when
ever he tried to jump the fence and after 3 tries of jumping and shocking Monty
decided that it wasn't a good idea.  Then we went into the paddock with the
goats and Monty showed no interest.  Oliver, the sheep is stalled right now
while he heals.  When Oliver is fully recovered the trainer will come back and
if Monty acts interested at all, he will recieve some shock therapy!

Monty had been getting out of the dog yard by digging under, so I put an
electric wire around the bottom of the fence.  Then he started jumping out, one
side is lower than the other 3 sides.  Now I will run a second wire around the
top of the fence.  I hope my charger is strong enough to power that much wire.

I've also thought about using a barrier fence.  It works by burrying a wire and
then the dog wears a collar, that will deliver an electric shock if the wire is
crosse.  Flags are placed along the wire so the dog can easily see his
boundries.  I'm not sure how much of a jolt these fences have, so it might not
work for Monty.  The trainer says that he is one of the less sensetive GSD that
she's seen.  Her shock collar had settings between 1 and 100 and she had to use
80 before he took notice.

I'm like you and if there is one more serious attack Monty will be a dead dog.
I'm willing to give him another chance; he was a rescue and I don't know a lot
about his history.  I'm trying to exercise him more and practice more
obedience.  The trainer thinks that this can be corrected.  She says that Monty
is just stubborn and needs more direction.  I know that I need to work with him
more and am willing to invest the time.

A couple of my friends seem to think that I'm terrible for using the shock
collar, but they would also think I'm terrible if I have to put him down.
People have suggested that I find him another home, but I think he would be
hard to place.  He is an escape artist, he has seperation anxiety and cannot be
trusted with live stock.  I'm not the kind of person that passes my problem dog
on to some one else.

 Monty isn't all bad, he has excellant house manners and is good with cats.
He's also good with other dogs and likes to ride in the car.

Does anyone have advice on how to work with the seperation anxiety?

Monty is going to be an on going project.

Nella