[nagdu] Important lesson learned. Dogs cannot be trusted.

[Raven Tolliver]

Abigail,
I'm sorry that this happened, and I hope your girl is doing well.
Please don't think that you will never be able to trust a dog alone.
There are plenty of people with dogs who can leave them home alone
with free reign of the house, and come back to a perfectly content dog
and a house in good order.
Separation anxiety is something to work on, more so with some dogs
than others. But it's important to work on it at each new home or
dwelling. For instance, living on a college campus, you might end up
living in 2 to 5 different places, and even after college, you might
do some moving around. Know that even if you worked on separation
anxiety at one place, that that training and conditioning might not
always carry over to the next place you live. Some dogs are incredible
with generalizing, understanding what is home, even when you move over
and over, and will not experience great stress when their handler
leaves them alone for a while. Other dogs have a harder time dealing
with the absence of their handler, and will misbehave out of stress,
boredom, and desperation.
You could end up with one of the former dogs one day, but for now, you
have a dog with some moderate to severe separation anxiety. She will
always be a work in progress; keep working with her on separation
anxiety despite what happened. And don't have such deep mistrust for
any dog you ever have. Trust is something that has to be earned, yes.
But allow a dog to learn; provide learning opportunities for them to
explore and earn your trust.
One thing you can do in the future is to make sure there is no food
out where your dog can get to it if you're leaving her by herself. I
know you can't control what your roommate does, but you can try to see
that things are not left out when you need to leave your dog at home,
even if it is for 15 minutes.
If you need some pointers on working with your girl on separation
anxiety, just ask.
-- 
Raven
You are valuable because of your potential, not because of what you
have or what you do.

Naturally-reared guide dogs
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/nrguidedogs

On 3/1/15, Abigail Bolling via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> My girl has an interesting way of displaying her separation anxiety!
> Mainly, getting into things that she's not supposed to and making me make
> her throw up. Yes guys, I am talking a lot of food.
> She decided on Friday, when I left her at home with my roommate, to jump on
> my dining room table and eat a lot of big busy bones, which I give her for
> treats.as if that wasn't enough, she decided to eat a chocolate brownie
> cliff bar, that my boyfriend had left also sitting on the
> table.unfortunately, the simple protein bar contained a lot of cocoa
> powder.as if that wasn't enough, she decided to finish off half a bag of
> Dove milk chocolate!
> Moral to the story? My girl cannot be trusted in the apartment!we had been
> working on the table being a no zone. And that she was not even to try to
> look up at the top. Obviously, that did not work.
>
> I had to take her to the 24 hour vet hospital, and spend upwards of $200 so
> they could make her throw up. I didn't have any hydrogen peroxide in the
> apartment, and the baking soda water idea did not work. My dog has a stomach
> made of steel.of course she had to do this the night before the trainer was
> supposed to visit us for her barking issue. The trainer suggested to me that
> even though I had been working with her for three years, there are some
> things that I should never do with any dog in the future. Mainly, leave them
> unattended for a period of time in the apartment.i'm sharing this, because I
> feel like it was a good lesson for me and I wanted to pass it on. No matter
> how long you have worked with dogs, or have worked with your particular dog
> right now, they are unpredictable little boogers, and like to get into
> trouble. I swear, my dog is more toddler then she is dog.seriously, she acts
> like a two-year-old! :-)
> Hopefully your pups never get into chocolate and you guys don't have to pay
> to learn this lesson that I had to learn. :-) I wish you all the best, and I
> hope your puppies are loving to eat their dog food in not trying to get into
> things they shouldn't! :-)
>
>
> Abigail Bolling
> "Keep a smile on your face and a song in your heart, and just let the music
> play." (Julie Anderson Diamond)
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