# Separation anxiety - advice please.



## rl_london (Mar 10, 2013)

Hi all,

I am thinking of getting a Vizsla puppy but the issues around separation anxiety scare me a little. I live in a apartment block (next to massive parks and open spaces, so exercise is not an issue) but is the dog is very vocal I will have issues. 

I will take the dog to work with me every day but in the evenings I go to the gym or leave for a couple of hours to see friends etc. At _most_ I dont see that the dog would be left alone for more than a maximum of 4 hours, in some exceptional circumstances, maybe 5 hours, but this would happen at night, for example if I got for dinner and late drinks/to a club or something. Generally, the dog would be left for an average of 2 hours if I am just going for a coffee or the gym etc. 

How worried should it be that the Vizsla will start howling or barking, or being destructive? Is this not going to be the dog for me? How simple is it to train out the separation issues?

Looking for advice from Vizsla owners. I am an experienced dog owner but not had this breed before. 

Thanks!

rob.


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## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

Our pup was crate trained when we got him at 11 weeks. Never had any separation anxiety since (now 5 mos). He is crated when we are not home (Max of about four hours) and also sleeps in his crate at night


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## Főnix (Feb 3, 2013)

I'm not very experienced yet, but I think it will depend a lot on your specific puppy and the training you do with it. 

We knew Vizslas sometimes have separation anxiety so we starting working on it from the beginning, leaving him alone in the crate both when we were still at home and when we left the house for short periods of time at first and working up to longer periods. The longest we've left him is 4 hours (that wasn't the plan, but something came up). He sometimes whines a when we leave, sometimes he doesn't, so far he hasn't ever been making noise when we got home. I haven't had any reports of barking.

One thing that we read we should do, and I believe has helped, is that we don't make a big deal about either leaving or coming back. We just walk out the door, and then when we get home we go about our business for a few minutes before going to him. We don't want him to feel like us being gone is a big deal for any reason.

I don't know if we just got lucky and our puppy isn't prone to separation anxiety, but I think training against it from the beginning would help any puppy.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Hi, rl_london (Rob), and welcome to the forums!!

Regarding separation anxiety and barking/whining... every dog is different. My dog rarely barks, but I know that is not true of all Vizslas. It's kind of dangerous to make generalizations where that is concerned. 

However, I can tick one potential problem off your list for you: If you own a Vizsla, you won't be needing your gym membership!! ;D ;D


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## Nelly (Feb 7, 2013)

Hi rl! Very wise of you to be doing your research here before you decide to get a V pup, it has helped me no end.

We have a girl, Nelly, who is now 4 months. We have crate trained her from day one and she is very happy to go in there willingly and sleeps there at night, however, she is very vocal. We also live in a flat with one neighbour underneath and another neighbour on one side and like you, we are surrounded by huge grassy areas and the beach on our doorstep. 

What we should have been more prepared for was being able to leave her to cry (unless for toilet) but we were so conscious of the neighbours I often had to go in just to quiet her down, of course the result of that is that she still very much barks, whines and howls when left alone during the day so she normally goes to daycare.

In no way do I want to put you off because honestly all the joy she brings to our lives overrides every single trial and, we are still working on it, it is our fault. I would just consider the fact of actually having the means to teach her that you don't come to her crying, vs worrying about the neighbours, which is what we should have done and it has resulted in a more drawn out process of making her comfortable on her own. 

Someone on here suggested taking the neighbours a bottle of wine and some earplugs! You could just let them know that it might be bad for a few nights but it will then get better, great idea I think!

I hope I have offered some useful insight from someone in a similar living arrangement, but as I say the all the good completely outweighs any bad and done right from the start you will most likely have a quiet and relaxed puppy comfortable in their crate while you do what you need to do.

Good luck with your choice!


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

There are a few of us on the forum who either work from home or take their Vs to work. That makes being with you their normal routine instead of having to wait for the weekend to see you all day.

From my perspective, in addition to training your V to be alone, you will have to give him/her practice time to be alone every single day. If I miss a day, the next is harder for Savannah. 

As an added caution, I read a post by mswhipple a while back that I found particularly helpful. 'They chew 'til they're two'. We were very slow and cautious about transitioning from the crate to being alone in the office or house. Even now (Savannah is 2.5), I will still come home occasionally and find that she has been digging in her bed. That's my cue that she is out of practice and needs a few more short opportunities of being alone.

BTW, if the cat decides to hang out in the same room as Savannah, she is calmer. I suppose that means that, in Savannah's book, the cat counts as company.


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