Every shelter dog is bound to have some issues. They just can't help it. If they didn't have issues before they were surrendered, then they developed them in their caged dog-eat-dog world.
Raven is no exception. Raven is part hound. For those of you who don't know, hounds are very vocal. It's in their breeding to alert their hunters that they're onto something.
That being said, Raven also has separation anxiety. UGH... I don't blame her. Her former family of grown-ups, little kids, and other dogs abandoned her because they were "moving to Germany". She wasn't going to let that happen again! Her unsettled hound mind gets very upset when a human leaves her sight. It's so bad that I can't even leave the room. I can't even pee in peace! She frantically starts whining and pacing. If you've ever heard a nervous hound whine, you know it's relentless and annoying. So begins our training...
I blocked off access to the hallway and bedrooms with a baby gate so she couldn't follow me everywhere. We started slow with me going to a bedroom for a couple minutes at a time. I would supervise her at potty time and then leave her outside for a few extra minutes to ween her off me. Of course she whined and cried but I remained strong. At bedtime, we have a routine. The dogs go outside one last time and when they come in they can have a treat after laying down. For Raven, she had to go in her crate and sit. (baby steps) The first couple of nights she whined and shook her cage. Luckily, after being told to lay down and be quiet, she did. I heard random whining through the night but nothing too concerning.
Fast forward to day 7. Raven has settled in and her spirit is calm. I can walk around the house without her getting upset. She looks forward to her bed time snack and goes into her crate automatically. I didn't hear a peep out of her last night. She goes outside to take care of business on her own now and stays to play instead of jumping and whining at the door. She stills whines in her crate when I leave the house but it's getting better every day. Such a good girl!
Now let's work on that jumping on people...
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