Anxitity with new dog

They need to get professional help for the dog now. Training and housing changes are not going to make an immediate difference for this problem, and the behavior needs to change now.

In cases this severe, the dog needs chemical help to change what is going on in his brain. SSRI drugs,or tricyclic antidepressand plus anti-anxiety medications when being left alone can start the process and allow training to succeed.

Separation Anxiety

They need to talk to their vet today.

Doug, DVM

KarenS144 wrote:
Wow... a lot could go wrong here.

Have they had large dogs before?

How old is the pitty? Have they had him scanned for a chip? Any vet should be able to do that.

Is there an animal shelter in the area to notify that they've found this dog in case the owner is looking for him?

While they may want to keep him, is it best for the dog if they do? With both working and being gone all day, it will not be easy to train him properly. If he can't be kept safe, protect the house and the other pets till he is, it might be best to take him to a shelter or find a rescue for him.

If they're going to try to keep him, he should be neutered ASAP. Crate training him is very important as well and may not be easy to do. Tying him would be the absolute last resort. Purchasing a an outdoor kennel to keep him in, is slightly better.

Bully breeds can be wonderful dogs but are not for everyone. They are very strong dogs and need a lot of attention & exercise. Some have high prey drives which make them not good with smaller dogs & cats. Do not trust this dog with the resident pets just yet.

Have them check to see if their insurance company has a banned breed list. Pits have a bad reputation as you probably know and are not favorites of insurance companies.

I agree.

Separation anxiety is something that generally takes a long time to fix. IME and IMO it's a condition that definitely calls for some pharmaceutical assistance. An appropriate medication will help the dog relax enough to be receptive to training. A stressed dog cannot learn. Even with medication, lots of patience and dedication to the task, it will be difficult to help a dog with SA when both of his humans work full time.

I wouldn't tie out any dog. IMO it's cruel and asking for all sorts of trouble. Not least of which is that (if I am remembering correctly) statistics indicate that overwhelmingly the most likely dog to bite someone is a male dog who is chained. I would think long and hard--and double check my homeowners insurance policy--before I'd go that route.

I wouldn't leave the dog loose and unsupervised around the other pets until they had lived together in peace for many months. I think the problem with that is obvious.

Which leaves either crating or leaving the dog in a room of his own (with windows securely closed and latched). If I wanted to keep the dog I'd work on a crash course in crate training this weekend and then give it a try. They'll need a sturdy crate. Unfortunately, many dogs with SA are also crate aversive. So while I don't mean to be a downer, I wouldn't put a whole lot of hope into him taking to it well.

Jerrybo66 wrote:
Our Grand daughter & her husband just

took in a stray young Pitbull mix

. I understand there was some kind of special attraction to the dog by the Son-in-Law. Anyway, the first day at home when they both went to work the

dog tore through the window screen and took off

. About 4 hours later returned. This was after only one day at his new home. I think he went looking for "Dan". the SIL. Dan said he will take the dog to work with him but that won't be a remedy when he has to go out of town for a week on business. I know this is a long haul fix but is there any advice I can relate to them.

The idea now is to tie him outside

but Pitbull,s neck is as big as their heads and probably won't work.. They have this week-end to come up with something.

They have a cat and a "dust mop" dog that hides from the Pit though he shows no aggressiveness... My suggestion was to do a compressed get acquainted program with the other pets.. That could be a problem with the cat... Thanks..

....any advice I can relate to them...
Yes. Take that stray dog right to a shelter.

A grand daughter, pet cat and small dog.

Certainly NOT the criteria to take in a "STRAY" dog they know nothing about. The father should know better and care more about his family.:R

And add the breed issue to the mix. He has no idea where this dog came from or how it was treated. IMHO a recipe for a serious accident to happen. Do you think it is worth your grand daughter's safety? He also has no idea if that dog will kill the cat and small dog when left alone.

And tieing a dog outside? Well....why even have a dog then? They already have a dog. Not to mention how many states have banned tethering (for just this reason)

Sorry it may not be what you want to hear but I most certainly would have had that stray dog in the car on the way to a no kill shelter 'yesterday'. There is NO safe fix for this situation.

Too bad it's an in-law.
If it were your own son you could have slapped him up side the head and said what were you thinkin!?! :W:W

Koehler Method Of Dog Training, he has several books from basic training to dealing with all kinds of issues. Good luck to you

Wow... a lot could go wrong here.

Have they had large dogs before?

How old is the pitty? Have they had him scanned for a chip? Any vet should be able to do that.

Is there an animal shelter in the area to notify that they've found this dog in case the owner is looking for him?

While they may want to keep him, is it best for the dog if they do? With both working and being gone all day, it will not be easy to train him properly. If he can't be kept safe, protect the house and the other pets till he is, it might be best to take him to a shelter or find a rescue for him.

If they're going to try to keep him, he should be neutered ASAP. Crate training him is very important as well and may not be easy to do. Tying him would be the absolute last resort. Purchasing a an outdoor kennel to keep him in, is slightly better.

Bully breeds can be wonderful dogs but are not for everyone. They are very strong dogs and need a lot of attention & exercise. Some have high prey drives which make them not good with smaller dogs & cats. Do not trust this dog with the resident pets just yet.

Have them check to see if their insurance company has a banned breed list. Pits have a bad reputation as you probably know and are not favorites of insurance companies.

Getting a rescue and then leaving it home all day with no supervision?
What do they expect? The dog needs lots of attention, exercise and acclimation.
And it should be crate trained if your going to leave it all day. Why have a dog if you are gone all day.

They should find a new home until they are prepared to raise a dog correctly. Don't mean to sound hard but this is off to a bad start.

We had a dog (dead now), that suffered from severe separation anxiety. He was an escape artist. Darn! We had him "chipped", so he always returned. He was such a problem dog. We got him from the pound and he'd been through 3 previous owners. We hung in there with him. He was about 2 years old when we got him and he stayed with us until he died about 10 years later. But it was NOT easy. He was a smaller breed dog and not a "bully breed" at all. But a real pain-in-the neck with separation anxiety. Escaped many, many times and surprised he never got killed on the road.

We had to cage him in a crate when he was younger. He broke out all his teeth on the bars, but what could we do? We put him in a room and he scratched THROUGH the door until he got out.

Things finally settled down when we moved closer to my mother's house and she was able to become our "doggie day care" while we were at work. So, from that point on, he was never alone ... never. He always had someone with him. He lived to a good old age, settled down, and turned out to be a pretty good dog, as long as we never left him alone.

That may be your only answer. ... ensure the dog is NEVER left alone, there is always someone with him.

This sounds like a recipe for disaster. First, they have no idea as to the disposition of this stray, and since it is a "bully breed" mix, it should be temperament tested by a professional to be sure it will not attack and kill the other two pets in the house, or worse yet a child. Second, the dog's breaking out when left alone is extreme separation anxiety. That behavior, coupled with it being a bully breed mix, is very worrisome. I hope no tragedy occurs.