Separation Anxiety

[MissMolly 3]

Hi to all. I apologize if this is not in the right section but it has taken me a while just to figure out how to post! This might be a bit long since a little history has to be given first.

My husband and I adopted Molly in October 2010. I had a shih tzu (Jazzy) for 14 years and raised her from a baby so am not too sure what to do with a 2 year old dog! The shelter thinks Molly is between 1-2 years old, picked up as a stray and no one claimed her. ( That to me was really hard to grasp.)

The first two weeks she slept, did not eat much, drank little (she did not know how to drink from a bowl) and shook. I was sure she was going to lose weight from all that shaking. She took to my husband immediately and seemed very fearful of me. Anytime I came near her she RAN to wherever my husband was to save her!

She is doing much better now and has finally accepted that I am here for good. She comes to me for playtime, walks, I feed her, give her treats etc. BUT she is so attached to my husband that when he leaves she has terrible anxiety attacks. We have given her full run of the house (since she has been housebroken) because any confinement seems to make her worse. (she never sat down completely when we got her, just squatted, and my vet thought maybe she was confined to a crate all the time) So much fun trying to guess what happened to her!

Right now she is crying because he has left for a doctor's appt. She goes from couch to couch to see outside and when someone goes by that she THINKS might be him the crying starts. He went away overnight a few weeks ago and she cried and ran from room to room until 5AM. She started when it got dark and might have continued longer but I passed out at 5AM

I was on another forum but they did not seem to understand shih tzus. Then I found this site. Yay! I was told not to let her in my bed, to give her treats when we leave , try to leave someone with her in the beginning etc.

She seems to love the small kongs but will not touch them when my husband is gone As soon as he is back and she is sure he is staying, she leaves him alone and will play, eat her kongs etc

On a side note, I had a trainer in twice but Molly does not like any dog food or treats so it was difficult. She likes hot dogs & people food. Is that a bad thing to train her with? Right now she is reluctantly eating Nutro Natural Choice Small Breed adult mixed with their small (3oz) slices in gravy once a day. She will not eat more than once, and only if she is really hungry. My local shelter has been getting a lot of good food lately from me because she refuses to try it.

Thank you for taking the time to read. and I will be going back to older posts to read.

[ParadiseTzu 11,275]

Sassy Mae was not a rescue, we got her at 12 weeks of age and she seemed to be very well adjusted. BUT she took to my husband first thing. He got her for me since I stayed home all day and he worked and he really didnt pay much attention to her at first. She didnt care, she wanted by his side, in his chair with him every chance she gets. He does not take care of her, he does take her out to potty but that's it and he does not correct her. She loves me too but given a choice it will be him and when she knows I want to do something with her, she runs to him. She used to begin waiting by the door at about 3:30 PM each day when he worked. He got home about 5. Course once she started doing all this, he fell for her too. He is retired now so they can do alot of snuggling.

Not sure that was any kind of answer just wanted you to know it can happen in any type circumstance. Welcome to the board. This is a great place.

[MissMolly 3]

Thank you. So funny, since my husband finally consented to getting another dog since I was lost without my baby. And believe me she was MY baby. She tolerated my husband but wanted me most of all. It took me about 6 mos. before I could even say her name without crying.

So my vet said he guesses it's just payback! I must say though it is mutual. My husband adores Molly