Adopted dog success stories?

Posted by Kathy @tcokeefe, Mar 14 6:12am

My husband, 78, and I, 75, adopted a little seven-year-old Rescue terrier seven weeks ago. He’s the cutest, most loving thing with the both of us at home. But we have discovered since bringing him home that he has terrible separation anxiety. We cannot leave him in a crate, or in a room or even in the house for a minute without terrible heartbreaking crying and barking. We even installed cameras and the barking and crying do not diminish no matter how long we are gone. So we have not left the house together now for over a month. We have spent a small fortune on a behaviorist veterinarian and trainer, and we are doing everything, including putting him on Prozac. We are hoping that sometime over the next several months things will improve, but it’s a challenge. Question, has anyone survived the sort of situation? Also, are we insane adopting a dog at our age? He may be seven but he’s a little so he might have a pretty long life. That part doesn’t worry me as much as the behavior issues. Finally, returning him probably means euthanasia so it’s a horrible, horrible decision whether to keep him or not.

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1995victoria | @1995victoria | Mar 15 10:31am

what if you put on the tv for your pup? Have you tried to training.....go out for a minute and return for a week, then go out for 10 minutes and return.....get dog to understand that you're not leaving forever.....and gradually increase time you leave and return.

methel | @methel | Mar 15 10:49am

In reply to @tcokeefe "I was dictating, I did not mean the word face. I meant the word space! Sorry...." + (show)

Lots of dog stories. I adopted a puppy when I was 72. I am now 82 and she is almost 10. I likely will outlive her, but if I don’t, my older son, another dog-lover, will take her and use the money in my will to pay for her.

Previously we had a rescue spaniel who never got house-trained. He had been taken back to the pound twice before we got him and the third time would be his death sentence. So, after trying everything we could think of and had worked with other dogs, we removed the rugs and installed easily cleaned tile and hardwood floors in most rooms of the house. We cleaned up an awful lot. A very expensive, “free to good home” dog. After 10 years of this, he died suddenly at 12 + years old. His name was Lucky.

Kathy | @tcokeefe | Mar 15 11:21am

He was indeed lucky to have found you!

Kathy | @tcokeefe | Mar 15 11:22am

In reply to @1995victoria "what if you put on the tv for your pup? Have you tried to training.....go out..." + (show)

We have hired a very expensive trainer and a dog behaviorist Vet, spent well over $1000 and have done all that you mentioned above daily for seven weeks. This dog probably spent a year in a cage so it's very deeply ingrained. Our big hope now is that Prozac will work.

AZ | @equanimous | Mar 15 12:17pm

I lost my dog a month ago. He lived to be 21 years old. I am not ready yet but I do plan on getting another rescue dog. As a way to get through my grief, I have been reading books about dog training and dog psychology. I want to be fully prepared for my new little one, given I am much older now and in need of a well socialized companion.

One author that particularly impressed me is Brandon McMillan, a famous dog trainer who had the show Lucky Dog. One of his specialties is training rescue dogs for placement in forever homes. I just discovered where to stream Lucky Dog episodes and found one on dog anxiety that may be helpful for you.
Here is the link: https://youtu.be/D5opI5Pdzco?si=3eI9j1JZsZg3Ub7o
Brandon believes all dogs can be rehabilitated. Hopefully yours is one of them. It takes patience and consistency. I wish you the best of luck.

prcrowe | @prcrowe | Mar 15 12:29pm

When our daughter & son-in-law both died this past year, their little dog began suffering from extreme separation anxiety. Our son has moved into their home and their loving dog has now become incredibly attached to him. It sounds as if you might need to consult with a good pet trainer to find out how your dog might need to be trained to deal with occasionally being apart from you. Good luck finding an answer to your situation.

Kathy | @tcokeefe | Mar 15 1:25pm

In reply to @equanimous "I lost my dog a month ago. He lived to be 21 years old. I am..." + (show)

Thank you!! You’re being smarter than I was although I cannot regret saving this little guys life….

Kathy | @tcokeefe | Mar 15 1:27pm

In reply to @prcrowe "When our daughter & son-in-law both died this past year, their little dog began suffering from..." + (show)

I’m so sorry for your loss. We are working with both a behavioral vet and a professional trainer that works with her. Costing a fortune but worth it if it works!

prcrowe | @prcrowe | Mar 15 2:04pm

Thank you so much for your kind words. I agree completely that even if it costs a fortune to take care of the problem, it's worth it. We've "adopted" our daughter and son-in-law's little dog and our son who has moved into their home is taking care of him. Not only is it costing a small fortune as the little guy must have weekly shots, but our son is now cooking small meals for him every night! I used to laugh at folks who did things such as this, but here we are doing the same things! 😉

Helen, Volunteer Mentor | @naturegirl5 | Mar 15 8:46pm

In reply to @ksdm "I am in a similar situation with an adopted 2-year-old cat. He has been hiding under..." + (show)

@ksdm Nine days is not all that long for a cat to adjust to a new environment. Cats are funny creatures and it's so difficult to understand their motivations. He sounds to me like your new kitty is still very frightened. I've had cats for many years and I've also fostered cats for my local animal shelter. What I do with a new cat that I've adopted and especially with foster cats is that I give them their own room for awhile and go in and visit with them. Eventually, and it could take many days or weeks these cats, if already socialized and lived with humans in the past, will warm up and will start coming out when I enter the room. I also learned that some cats will let you know that they are overstimulated and have had enough petting when they bite you. It's not pleasant but I learned with one of my cats to watch her carefully and look for signs that she was overstimulated. She let me know by twitching her tail and beginning to draw her ears back. So I withdrew from her first.

So I'd like to suggest that if it's at all possible please give your new kitty more time to adjust and give him his own space for awhile.