Chapter 12: PJay and His Separation Anxiety

PJay is my prince sheltie. lol He was not a rescue because I was not aware of rescues and the issues of dog breeding until after I had PJay for a year. What also interested me to foster dogs in the first place was because he was so spoiled as well. I figured fostering would benefit us both.

3 months old when we first got him

It all started off with a newspaper ad and 40 minutes drive to a house with a kind family and 3 shelties. As I entered the door of the home, I saw daddy sheltie walking to the door and behind him was the most adorable puppy I had to get. 9 years later PJay and I are inseparable and he's a great role model for all our fosters.

I got PJay when I was younger and it was a more hectic time in my life. I have always given PJay total credit that I was so lucky I got a smart puppy or this all would've been a disaster.

He picked up on commands so quickly. I had him trained to sit, stay, lay down and come before he was 9 months old. BUT ONE THING that I'll never forget was between 6 and 9 months, he had super bad separation anxiety. Truthfully I could not tell you to this day why he ever had it, but I was in one of the most stressful times in my life when I had him as a puppy.

He didn't start off this way. But right around 6 months I moved in with my 2 friends and all a sudden my friend would call me confirming I had let him outside before I left. We all had dogs so before I went to work each afternoon, I'd let all 3 dogs out to poop and pee, then back in the house. My friend knew this but after some time he noticed PJay would poop in the house. I was mortified, naturally, so I apologized. Bless my friend's heart because he never gave me grief and took care of my cat and PJay at the time when I was gone to work.

We tried couple more days and thought maybe he just had a puppy moment and wasn't fully trained, but it kept happening. Thankfully I worked in an office where I parked right in front of my office AND it was September so,cool autumn nights. I ventured to take PJay with me to work and crack some windows and see how he does. I had 2 breaks each night and I'd take him out of the car to give him a stretch, potty break and some snack or water if he wanted.

When it got cooler and his adult coat hadn't come in,
I bought him a winter coat to stay cozy

It was perfect, when I was in the office, he'd curl up in the blanket in the passenger seat and pass out (because that's how I found him walking up to the car) and he never chewed up or made a mess in the car. So I knew he was potty trained, but was having trouble when I'd leave him.

Soon after I moved back home and found my own place during the summer. I was quite reluctant to take PJay with me to work on hot summer days so I had to find a new way. But I had hoped from previous experience he'd understand I'd always come home to him. So it went, my first day of work at the new job I left him at home.

Came home? Found no mess. Every other trip I'd take, I'd take him along. Groceries, quick lunches, errands, PJay came with. But those times I DID leave him home he barked so much, I worried about neighbors. Then I tried something new...I bought a gate and gated him in his own area so he couldn't run all the way up to the door and watch me walk out. Then I would give him his favorite treat and toss it in the bedroom for him to chew and run out of the door before he could see me. And there it was....no barking?!

The best thing about PJay is, I can string commands together and once we get a routine, I can name it something else. So I would leave extra times in the mornings so that I could train him to stay and walk away. At the beginning I'd tell him to stay and give him a treat. Then I would tell him to stay and walk out the door, then open the door and if I found he hadn't say in the bedroom, I'd walk him back in the bedroom. FINALLY, that process became "go" and pointing to the bedroom when I had shoes on. (He knew I was leaving)

Nowadays, we find they've nested in our bed no matter how pretty we make the bed in the morning. They think it's their day bed.

Today it's a routine to gate the dogs away from the main door, toss a chew (which also brushes their teeth after their morning meal, how perfect is that!) Then scoot out the door so they associate me leaving with a treat. I rarely hear barking anymore, even when I forget the treat sometimes before I leave (or I make multiple trips). I can't keep giving treats every time or I'd have obese dogs.