Ken’s Comments:
I get contacted a lot about separation anxiety. Usually the comment goes something like this…”my dog has separation anxiety. When I leave the house, he pants, pees and poops in his kennel. I have tried everything and nothing is working. Can you give me some tips”.
While there is nothing wrong with getting “tips”, true anxiety will not be solved by tips. True anxiety like that is a mental health issue and like mental health issues with humans, “tips” are not going to cut it. If they were, the stuff you google would solve the issue. True anxiety like this takes a lot of time, patience and understanding to solve. It is not an overnight fix. Such is the case with this story.
I was contacted by Danielle a little over a year ago. Vince was in a complete mess mentally whenever he was left alone. He was a loving boy, quite confident when you were with him…very friendly. However, he stressed so much when left alone that he needed some major help. Myself and Danielle met and like many of my client’s dogs, I instantly fell in love with Vince. We set up a behavior modification plan that focused on body, mind and soul. It aimed to build Vince’s confidence when alone, help him transition to his new surroundings and allow him to be the dog he wanted to be. I even mentioned to Danielle in the first visit that if she could work through these issues with Vince, I thought he would make a great therapy dog. Yes, this was a lot of work and it took a lot of patience, trying different things, tweaking others but we eventually started to work this through with him.
Vince completed Level One obedience training, became a regular at daycare and on the walks and went on to become a St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog. He did all of this within a year!!! To watch this happen and see Vince grow and mature into the dog he is today was a real honour.
Here is his story from Danielle:
On December 6th, 2013 I welcomed Vince into my home. I remember going to the airport and patiently waiting for his arrival from Halifax, Nova Scotia as if it were yesterday. For those who are not familiar with greyhounds, their backgrounds are very different in comparison to other dogs. Vince was a racer at the Orlando track in Florida where he lived in a dog kennel with other greyhounds. Never being in a house before, I knew his transition would be different then what most experience when they get a new dog. The majority of dogs need to be trained to not chew or to go outside to do their business for example. Vince had those things down pat. His troubles were in the most unexpected things such as climbing stairs and walking into glass mirrors and doors (which are common for greyhounds). I knew the first few weeks would take some transitioning and it did. He was learning how to live in a completely foreign environment, and a lot colder one too.
After about a month I realized that he was experiencing a great deal of stress when he was left alone. He was crated whenever he was by himself but he would exhibit behaviors that I realized were signs of extreme, unhealthy levels of stress. These behaviors included standing up and barking from the moment I left to the moment I got home, chewing and shredding anything that was in his crate, panting and foaming from the mouth to the point that when I got home there would be pools of saliva in his crate. I tried every possible trick I could. I researched and I talked to other people who had dogs that also exhibited such behaviors when alone and tried every thing. This ranged from peanut butter filled kongs to an 8 hour voice recording of me simply talking in hopes that my voice would sooth and reassure him. Nothing seemed to work and I myself was beginning to stress.
A friend of mine, who also has two greyhounds, suggested a one on one with Ken Reid. After no success in another other avenues I decided to contact him and a week later he was at my house for a one on one. Ken fell in love with Vince immediately, which I was not surprised about. Even with all the challenges Vince was facing his sweet demeanor and loving personality remained constant. Ken made many suggestions, a lot of which I had already tried, but he mentioned his walking group “For The Love of Dogs” and his training sessions at Topsail Star. At this point I was willing to do just about anything to help my black beauty so I enrolled him in the beginners level obedience class at Topsail Star. Over an 8-week span it was obvious that Vince was gaining confidence and he was establishing relationships with various other breeds at the kennel. As a greyhound all he had ever seen before were other greyhounds so I felt good about exposing him to other dogs. As he gained more confidence I then began enrolling him in Doggy Daycare and again, he grew more and more confident.
Eventually, we started doing the group walks and Vince was continuing to show signs of improvement. At home, he was still exhibiting signs of separation anxiety but his growing confidence and exposure did help and he did show signs of improvement. About three months after beginning the walks, he made a new friend; a mix between a black lab and pitbull, another black beauty, his name was Parker. Needless to say, a dog that had a polar opposite personality from Vince, but these two connected. Little did I know at the time, that I would too make a new friend, his owner. To make a long story short, Vince and Parker bonded, as did his owner and I. Today we live together with our two black beauties and Vince shows absolutely no signs of separation anxiety. After all of that, all he needed was some gained confidence and a buddy like Parker close by. I cannot say enough good things about this group, I am forever grateful to both Ken and it’s members for allowing Vince to grow and adjust and of course, the opportunity to meet such wonderful friends. I too am thankful not just for Vince’s sake but for my own as this group gave me the opportunity to meet many new people, some of which are now some of the most important people in my life. Vince and I thank you!