You may remember some of my previous posts about our basenji Griffin. We've been dealing with a severe case of separation anxiety for months now. After trying every possible trick out there (pheromones, leaving the TV on, diapers, etc. - you name it, we tried it), we resorted to medication and put him on Clomicalm. That helped a little, but we were still dealing with accidents during a majority of the week. Well, last weekend, we tried something complelely unconventional…we left him loose in the house and not gated in his 4' x 3' area outside of our bedroom. It's been almost a full week and we have not had one accident yet. And what's even better is that he is completely calm when we come home and no destruction in the house what so ever! Before we could only leave him for 3 hours at most before an accident and at one point this week, we were gone for almost 6 hours and nothing was waiting for us when we got home.
Now, Griffin is a rescue. We got him when he was only 9 months old and at that point, we were his 4th home. Apparently, he was locked up in a small bedroom in his first home and then bounced from one foster home to another and was crated most of the time. I'm wondering if he doesn't like to be confined because of his previous history and if he has just been looking for some freedom?
I know I'm probably going to get a lot of people telling me that he would be better off in a crate or gated, but giving him freedom is what seems to be working and at this point, I want to use what works.
Has anyone else experienced a claustrophobic dog? Is there any such thing as confinement anxiety?