Q: I recently adopted a rescue dog, Jakey, an approximately 6-year-old Alaskan Malamute. He is great in the house, lets me know when it’s time to potty and sleeps peacefully beside my bed at night.
When I first brought him home I tried to put him in a crate at night, but he howled through the night.
The major issue I’m having is putting him in a crate when I leave the house. He is so anxious and aggressive in the crate, he has actually scraped the skin off a section of his nose trying to chew his way out.
The first day I crated him, he escaped, roamed around the house and set the alarm off. I’ve secured the crate, but he continues to try to escape when he is placed in it. The vet gave me Valium to give him, however, the meds don’t appear to be helping his anxiety.
He was dropped off at a facility in Saginaw, Mich., in January and transferred to a couple of centers before arriving in Elyria in February where I met him and decided to adopt him. The clinic in Saginaw neutered him and pulled several teeth as they were badly infected.
He is really a wonderful dog, with the exception of the crate issue. I would appreciate any assistance you could provide.
— Lynda Drake,
Hinckley Township
A: Jakey’s problem is something we see weekly at the Behavior Clinic.
When a dog shows panic behavior when alone, a few things need to be determined before jumping to a conclusion that he has separation-related distress.
It could be that a sound causes anxiety and panic that is associated with alone times. You mentioned an alarm system — I have seen those be associated with noise phobic reactions. However, since Jakey has shown problems at night I would think that this is less likely unless the alarm is reset at nighttime.
Second, there was a reference to Jakey actually escaping his crate and wandering the house. There was no mention of him destroying anything within the house during that event. If that is true, there is a possibility that Jakey has confinement anxiety instead of separation-related distress.
Confinement anxiety is when an animal is panicked when confined by a crate, pen, gate or door but is not panicked if left loose. This is an important rule-out as just letting the animal loose instead of being confined is the treatment! If you leave Jakey out and he does well, then it is more likely this is the case. The first step in treatment is to watch and see what is going on when alone. This can be best accomplished by video taping the area that he is alone in and monitoring for signs of anxiety and distress. This tells us if he is distressed when loose. If he still is anxious at those times, it will show how the anxiety changes over time throughout treatment.
Next, Jakey needs to try to pair wonderful things with being alone. Whether he is crated or loose, he needs access to amazing food-stuffed enrichment items. I recommend food because we have a black-and-white test. If he eats, then we are making a positive pairing with being alone. If he does not we have three possible reasons — he is ill, the food is not tempting enough for the level of anxiety that he is experiencing or he is too anxious and needs further anxiety-reduction to be able to eat.
Great enrichment devices often used are the Kong, the Twist and Treat or just a dog food bowl smeared with a lickable food item such as canned dog food or peanut butter. I would also strongly recommend discussing other possible dosages of the diazepam dispensed by your local veterinarian. However, if that does not do the trick — there are many different medications, some in the same class of drugs and some in different ones, that can be utilized and even combined to further decrease his anxiety level. I suggest discussing this with your local vet as well.
Finally, since you have only owned him for a few months, he still may be in his “honeymoon period.” This lay term refers to the fact that there is an adjustment period after obtaining an animal where they get used to their new circumstances. Although this is true, I refer back to the fact that Jakey has even hurt himself in his escape attempts. This elevates the level of severity of his problem making this significant enough to intervene swiftly and profoundly for his safety and for your whole family’s peace of mind.
Thank you for seeking further help and good luck!
— Dr. Elizabeth Feltes,
The Behavior Clinic;
Animal Behavior of Northeast Ohio, Olmsted Falls