Articles - Separation Anxiety

Home

Our Mission

HB Video

The Sanctuary

Map & Directions

Available Goldens

Adopting

Adoption Application

Fostering

Surrendering Your Golden

Donating

How You Can Help

Volunteer Application

Shop Our Golden Mall

Membership

Events

Golden Stories

Newsletters & Articles

Pet Resources

Contacts

Email Us

Separation Anxiety
by Sandra Rockman, Homeward Bound Adopter

The term Separation Anxiety seemed like an understatement!

From the minute we brought Raider AKA Rocco home, he didn’t want to let us, me and/or my husband Tony, out of his sight. The fenced-in deck couldn’t contain him - he broke out under it, then over it as soon as we attempted to leave. I took him everywhere until it got too hot to leave him in the car. I was crying when I called Barbara Driscoll, saying I didn’t know what to do. She wisely suggested a crate. It seemed to work great. As she advised, he couldn’t hurt himself or get in trouble while we were gone. Or so we thought.

What I didn’t know was that he would howl, bark and whimper the whole time we were gone. One night, he drove our neighbors indoors during a BBQ; they had to close their windows. Their guests were so upset, they went home early. The next day, we brought the crate indoors. He broke the door right off it and greeted Tony at the door. Luckily, he hadn’t done a bit of damage to our home. He didn’t even eat the cat food.

You wonder why we didn’t just call Homeward Bound and return him.

It helped that he looked exactly like my beloved dog, Mort, who had died a few years before. It helped that I worked at home and could limit my leaving-takings during the adjustment period. Most important, it helped when I understood that he was running toward, and not away, from us. Finally, I figured if I couldn’t make it work with this beautiful, sweet, smart (although very neurotic) animal, probably nobody could. And he would be doomed to remain in foster care for the rest of his life. Now I knew why they named him Raider.

A friend visiting from Seattle had a friend who had had the same problem. This other dog-lover started emailing me suggestions. I got more information on the internet. I began the advised therapy of behavior modification. In addition to a Kong filled with peanut butter (which he wasn’t the least bit interested in) and a special place/bed designated for Rocco, I began a process of incremental leave-takings. For two days solid, I went out and came back for short, then increasingly longer, periods. Very, very casually, with no big hellos and goodbyes to distress him, I took my purse and book and left, hid nearby to hear if he was barking, returned after 2 minutes, 5, 10, 30. I drove away for 3 minutes, I came back. I went to the supermarket, sprinting for groceries. I came back. I drove myself dizzy with my comings and goings. In the end, this method really worked. I drove it into the deep brain tissue of my Rocco that I may go away but I was always coming back. Meanwhile, I hope it helped that I kept whispering in his ear that he was my forever-dog.

As I said, this handsome black-Golden, he’s a smart guy (my vet noticed that on our first visit) and he got it! We live down a dirt road in the forest here just outside Nevada City. We come and go as we please now. Rocco is always at home, happy to stay when we go, happy to greet us on our return. This intensely loyal member of our family has been with us for over a year, a great companion for my 3-legger, Calli (another Golden mix) and our 4 cats. He is a terrific watchdog, hiking partner and a very true friend.

We are delighted to have a life with him and eternally grateful that Jody Jones, the Rocco family that fostered him (we named him after them), Barbara Driscoll and all the folks at Homeward Bound for plucking him out of the pound and saving him for us.


	7495 Natomas Road, Elverta CA 95626 \| TEL 916-655-1410 \| FAX 916-655-3410 \| Tax ID #68-0442702