Urinating Pointer:  Is it Separation Anxiety?

Strongsville, Ohio

Dog Age:  6 months

Dog Sex:  Female

Neutered:  No

Dog Breed:  German Short Hair Pointer

Training History:  She has done very well with our training her.  She can sit, stay, come when called, give you her paw, and she is learning to heel very well.

Number of Humans in household:  3 adults and 1 teenager

Other Pet Info:  none

How Long has dog been owned:  2 months

Other Info:  Our vet gave us Clomicalm to try with her for separation anxiety because of her urinating in her cage whenever she is left alone.  She's fine in the house with us at home;  she does not go to the bathroom in our house.  Obviously, I can't leave her alone in the house so I put her in her crate.  At night she does not go [urinate] in her crate.  I assume this is because she knows people are in the house.  She only goes [urinates] in her crate, and all the time when she is left alone in the house.  I've tried different things, giving her treats in a kong toy to occupy her and some chew toys when I'm gone.  She won't eat anything when I'm gone.  I turn on the radio for her, that doesn't work.  I've tried putting her in there 15 minutes before I leave, that doesn't work.  I don't scold her.  I don't immediately go to her when I walk in the door.  I wait 5 minutes, but she always goes [urinates] in her cage during the day when I leave.

Question:  How can I break her of this habit of urinating in her cage when she is left alone during the day?  (She only urinates in her cage.)

How have you attempted to solve this problem?  See above, I already explained what I have done.  She is taken for walks, she is played with outdoors, etc.  (Also she is never left in that cage during the day for more than 3 1/2 hours a day and obviously I can't leave a puppy alone in the house by herself.)

Dear Pointer Owner,

Thank you for writing the Dog Days Behavior Center.

You've used the word "obviously" twice in your inquiry:  At the beginning:  "Obviously, I can't leave her alone in the house so I put her in her crate" and at the end:  "...and obviously I can't leave a puppy alone in the house by herself."

Although crates are often very helpful for housetraining a pup, and for reducing the quantity of normal young pup destruction until s/he is properly chew-trained, it is not at all obvious to me why your 6-month old has to be in a crate while you are gone.  You have not described any destructive behavior, and if she is housetrained, then she is ready to be weaned out of the crate.

So why are you compelled to put her in the crate when you leave the house?  If she's peeing in the house — ever —  then you have to housetrain her.  A dog is either housetrained, or she isn't housetrained.  If there are "accidents" without illness, then your dog is not housetrained.  Go to our Housetraining section on page ___ or our  website page at http://www.dogdaysusa.com/behaviorcenter_housetraining.asp and follow the directions exactly EXCEPT substitute every use of the crate with the following alternate:  Put her on her leash and tie her to your wrist or your belt loop so that she is with you at all times.  Obviously you won't be able to do this unless you're home, so you'll have to just puppy-proof the kitchen and leave her in there when you can't be training her.  The housetraining section has tips for this kind of situation. 

If she's in the crate due to destructive behavior or inappropriate chewing, ask yourself:  Have I taken the time to properly chew train this dog?  If she's chewing inappropriately, she needs more chew training.  go to our mouth training page at http://www.dogdaysUSA.com/behaviorcenter_mouthtraining.asp#chewing  (or page __ in this book) and make sure you take time out of your day for this crucial element of puppy training.

It is very possible that the crate, because it is always associated with your absence, is the stress-inducing cue!   If you put her in a puppy-proofed kitchen (not in crate) with 4-5 stuffed Kong toys and leave the house for 3 seconds, what will she do?  If she can remain calm, then you can add a little time.  How about 8 seconds?  12 seconds?  18 seconds, 20 seconds?  30 seconds?  2 minutes?  5 minutes?  7 minutes?  11 minutes?  

Try it.  Gradually increase her time but shorten it sometimes as you move up (see samples below).  Do NOT move to a longer time period if she shows any sign of anxiety, including vocalization, urination or destruction.  If this happens, go back to shorter successful times for several trials and the try to gradually increase again. 

Decreasingly Short Departure Time Samples

Samples of different dogs  (courtesy of Victoria Voith, DVM Phd and Peter Borchelt Phd):

Dog 1:  3 seconds, 5 seconds, 3 seconds, 6 seconds, 8 seconds, 5 seconds, 10, 6, 8, 15, 9, 18, 20, 12, 30, 40, 35, 50

Dog 2:  1 minute, 1, 3, 5, 2, 5, 10, 5, 15, 5, 10, 15, 20

Dog 3:  1 minute, 1, 1, 1, 1.5, 1, 1, 1.5, 1, 2, 1, 1.5, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2

Dog 4:  1, 1, 2, 1, 4, 1, 6, 10 (dog barked), 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 5, 7, 3, 3, 5, 9, 8, 10, 12, 7, 15, 12, 25, 10, 15, 13, 40

This gradual process alone may solve your problem, and wean her from the crate at the same time.  Some people combine this method with Clomicalm for most effectiveness and then wean from the Clomicalm over time. 

If you're ramping up quickly without provoking any signs of anxiety, then we know the culprit is the crate.  However, if you can't get past the first few seconds without whimpering, vocalizing, panting, pacing, etc., then your dog actually has separation anxiety.  You'll have to work backward and desensitize her to the usual cues to your departures:  What do you and your family normally do BEFORE you leave the house on days when pup will be left alone in the crate?  All of these things comprise the cues which normally predicate separation anxiety behaviors such as urinating, vocalizing and chewing inappropriately.  The first step to fixing her problem is to decrease the power these cues have over her anxiety level by repeating them many times — without leaving the house.

Common Separation Anxiety Cues:

1) Dog owner gets out of bed at usual workday time

2) Puts on robe

3) Opens curtains

4) Lets dog out to pee

5) Turns on TV

6) Feeds dog

7) Makes coffee

8) Showers

9) Brushes teeth

10) Gets dressed

11) Eats breakfast

12) Reads paper

13) Puts on shoes

14) Walks dog

15) Gives dog biscuit

16) Turns off TV

17) Turns on radio

18) Gets keys

19) Puts dog in crate

20) Puts on coat

21) Gets purse or briefcase

22) Approaches door

23) Leaves house.

Make a list of your entire pre-departure routine.  Now go through each step in their usual order and watch her .  Stop when she starts to show any sign of nervousness (staring, panting, barking, pacing, neurotic following, whining, staring, etc.).   Now repeat the actions in their usual order up to but not including the cue that accompanies her first sign of stress.  Do not leave the house.  Go do something else.  Repeat them again in a few minutes and several more times that day, always without leaving.

Repeat the same the next day.  The third day see if you can add the next cue, the one that set her off 2 days ago.  But you still don't leave.  If she doesn't show a sign of stress, repeat again and gradually add each subsequent cue up until you normally leave.  When you are able to get through all the cues in succession without observing any sign of nervousness whatsoever, you may finally start taking the very short departures as shown above in Decreasingly Short Departure Time Samples.

If you have to leave the house at any time during these 3 days (a reasonable probability), try to mix up the order of the stress-inducing cues but expect the usual response anyway.  You're not going to see a big change until all the cues plus all the departure times are rendered powerless through practice and desensitization.  If there's one specific thing that always sets her off, try doing it way  beforehand so that it becomes less of a stress-cue for her.  Example:  If putting your shoes on is the biggie, then put them on much earlier in the succession, or maybe leave them just outside the door and put them on after you've left. 

If a particular cue really sets her back, try to do it as much as possible any time you're at home and staying there to desensitize her to it and kill the association with your absence.  The radio, for example, may now be an ugly sound to her because for months it has signaled long departures in a urine-soaked crate.  Put the radio on as much as you can during times that you are home so that the association is with your presence, not with your absence.

Incidentally, all of these exercises can be done with her going into the crate or not, but I believe the crate is the toughest cue you'll have to work with, which means that in order to remove the association with your absences, you'll have to put her in it for most of the time that you are home.  That's no life for your energetic gal and could even backfire on you if she just ends up living in the crate day and night. 

Separation anxiety can be one of the toughest behavior problems to solve, but the solution is often be very straightforward: 

1) Make sure she's truly housetrained

2) Make sure she's thoroughly chew trained. 

3) Desensitize her to your departure cues

4) Then desensitize to increasing departure times. 

The hardest part of this process are the setbacks you'll experience when you actually have to leave the house longer than she's able to handle.   It could take a day but it might take a month, or more.  Can you bring her to a dog daycare, or to someone's house while you work for a week or two while you work on this?  It'll be worth the expense in the long run, and your dog might actually start looking forward to your departures!

Normally in these cases you'll spend most of your time desensitizing her to the cues to your departure, and then in the very beginning stages of your absence.  After that, adding larger chunks of time is easier (as in Dog 4 above).  It would be great if you could have the assistance of a good behaviorist in your area (always get several excellent references) but try this alone if you can't find someone you trust who uses positive methods.  It probably won't be as time-consuming as it reads right now, and definitely will be worth it in the long run.  The medications she is on now take time to get into the system and I don't know how long she's been on them but they could increase her success and speed the whole process.  After she's doing well for a while, talk to your veterinarian about weaning her off the meds too.

The obedience training, the food-stuffed Kongs®, the radio, the "ignoring" her when you leave and arrive, the play time, the walks… These are all very important and definitely on the right track.   Keep doing them.  I'd also throw in some very vigorous exercise, in addition to the walks and playtime.  German shorthairs have a lot of energy and need to run off leash often.  Can you find a local park or other fenced area where you can run her?  If not, teach her to fetch and run her this way for a minimum of 30 minutes daily.

Good luck and thanks for writing.