Hope’s Story – Day 60 – The Return

We thought we found a home for Hope. She had gone to a new home, and things were great, until they had to leave her alone for an extended amount of time while they worked. This is when some pretty ugly separation anxiety showed up. It was something I had never witnessed. She dug into the tray in the bottom of her crate, and tore up a little bit of the carpet below it. The following day, her new owners tried leaving her out of the crate. (They really didn’t have much of an option since she had messed the crate up badly enough that the door on it wouldn’t lock.) She took the opportunity to try to dig under the bedroom door, tearing up the carpet in the bedroom and some of the tile from the next room under the door. Of course, they can’t afford to the damage she may cause to the apartment, so she has come back to me.

So now I focus on Hope spending time alone. Separation anxiety happens when dogs rely on somebody or something else to help them cope with their insecurities. The reason I had never witnessed this is, because she stayed in the dog room with other dogs when she wasn’t in training or spending time with the family. When she wasn’t with us, she was able to rely on the other dogs. For the next few weeks, Hope will be spending increasingly more time alone in my office learning how to self-soothe. As soon as she masters that, we will begin the search for her forever home again.