Separation Anxiety Treatment Log Wk9
Week 9 of Vito's SA program.
Day 57: 2min-N, 45sec, 4.5min, 20, 30min, 75.
Once again Vito chewed a bone (old pigs twist, old pigs ear) the entire time!!! We also jumped huge (5min) from yesterday to do 30minutes!!!! Since he was chewing his bone the whole time i was more confident about the big jump, we will see if we can still be gone as long if he's not interested in bones.
Day 58: 60 (on and off chewing), 10, 2min-N, 5.25min-N, 1.75min-N. On the next trials, Vito started whining a tiny bit right as the door shut behind him, whining would last between 5-30seconds: 20-N, 20-N, 120-N, 45-N, 30-N, 4.5min-N. He did not whine on the next two: 15-N, 30-N.
I have no clue why Vito was whining today. I decided to keep trials very short to prevent him from coming more anxious. But even when I decided to go for 4.5min again he only whined for maybe 20seconds right as I left. Five minutes after ending the session, Vito threw up some bile so I am hoping that this was the cause of the whining and not anxiety at being left alone...
Day 59: 30-N (light nibbling), 90 (nibbling, eating by end), 15, 4.25min 30, 30min-N (ate for 16.5min, finished that bone, drank water, went to bedroom, came back to kitchen and sniffed bones, went to living room for remainder of time)
I thought he did well. I was happy he was eating bones again, but after he finished the current pig twist, he neglected to start a brand new one that was also available. Being the 4th of July there were a lot of neighborhood fireworks going off, but this didn't seem to bother Vito at all as he ate through them. Right as I was coming in a very loud boom and Vito was standing at the threshold between living room and kitchen. I assume he was lying on the couch before that, but am not entirely sure. At least I know that he can handle 30 minutes of me being gone even when he's not eating bones the whole time!
Day 60: 2min-N, 30-N, 4min-N (some whining), 20sec (put pb on bone), 20 (pb still left), 4min-N (ate for 2.5min with pb, got water, went to living room), 15-N (stayed in LR), 60-N (in LR, whining), 3min-N, 15-N (standing on couch), 30-N (standing on couch, whining), 4min-N (standing on couch), 30-N (standin on couch, whining)
I am crushed. I have no clue why Vito is whining now. The longest I was gone was 4minutes and Vito even whined on 15 second absences. I guess if there is good news it's that Vito is doing very soft on and off again whining and not full blown vocals.
Day 61: 2min-N, 10-N, 30-N, 4.5min-N, 15-N, 32.5min-N (stayed on bed whole time, but started whining at 9min, on and off again whining rest of time, really started up again at 30min), 25-N (whining), 120-N (whining), O/I-N, 10-N, 15-N, 5-N
ahh, what is going on?! :( Again Vito is whining when I'm leaving. It was still pretty quiet, but was starting to get loud on the long 32min one. I tried to wait for 10seconds of quiet before coming in the house each time. I'm also bummed since I even gave Vito a brand new gigantic bully stick that he won't even touch.
Day 62, session 1ish: Earlier this morning, Vito went to the obedience club and we worked on being quiet in the crate. I brought the Manners Minder and set it to variable 15seconds. He did pretty good, but not as well as I had hoped. There was some soft whining and Vito stood the entire time, but he ate the dispensed kibble 90% of the time. We were there about an hour and I let Vito out of the kennel twice, for about 2-5 minutes each time. When he was in the kennel, I turned off the fx each time I walked in the room, and immediately dispensed kibble as soon as I left. I was usually out of sight anywhere from 2-15 minutes, with the average probably being 6minutes.
Day 62, session 2: 60sec, 10, 2min-N (ate for 30, drank h20, stood in living room). I put bones in the living room and for the rest of the trials he lied down in the LR and chewed a pigs ear for 10sec, 10, 30, 10, 60, 4.5min, 15, 14.5min, 15, 5.5min.
Yay! I really need this good session. We didn't go that long, the longest was 14.5min, but he was going to town on the pigs ear in the living room. I was actually going to try 20min but I saw the neighbor coming home and wanted to make sure he was calm as he heard her door open. So, yay!
Day 63: 60sec, 5min, 40, 20, 8min (went to living room, ate), 31min, 90.
Yay, another good day! I had a bunch of new types of bones for Vito today and threw them throughout the living room and on his kitchen dog bed. Overall he ate for the entire time; on the long 31minute trial the mailman delivered mail onto our porch where upon Vito stopped eating, stood on the couch's armrest for a few minutes, no whining, and then went back to eating a bone!
Week 9 Summary:
This was a roller coaster week. Right off the bat Vito did amazing and we jumped from 25minutes to 30 minutes no problem! Even on the 4th of July when fireworks were going off everywhere, Vito had no problem. On the good days, even when he wasn't chewing a bone we were still able to go 30minutes with ease. But then Vito started whining and being anxious for 2 days this week. I couldn't even leave the house for 10 seconds without him whining. On the positive side, the whining was on and off and was relatively quiet. It got a bit louder as time went on, but was still quietish. So I have no idea why he was suddenly set back SO much for those 2.5 days, but at least the last two days of this week was good. We didn't make our goal for the week of 40 minutes, but hopefully we will be back on track soon and there will be no more whining incidents. Longest trial done was 31minutes.
