Need help! (Long)

[chicago]

Hi everyone.  I've never posted here before and I tried to search for old threads, but I can't find exactly what I'm looking for. 

My H and I have an almost five year old French Bulldog.  He has been crate trained since we got him at 12 weeks, though we have been off and on with its use, probably having him use it 3-4x/month with no issues. 

We moved in January and things have gotten really bad with him.  In our old place he was able to be out of his crate during the day since he would just relax on the couch all day. When we moved he began peeing and pooping in the house, despite being alone at home fewer hours.  

We moved to keeping him corralled in our bedroom, in a play yard, with his bed.  We figured he needed to get adjusted to a new place.  However, we started coming home to him being out of his pen, pee and poop all over the house.  He was jumping over the pen which, for a little guy, scared me to death, as it looks extremely dangerous (we saw him do it one evening as we were about to leave the house).

We tried leaving him in a bedroom with his bed, door closed.  He clawed at the door frame and did damage. 

We decided, for his own safety, to move him back to his wire crate while we are away.  His response - peeing and pooping in the crate, which he had never done in four and a half years.  He also bent one of the wires so that it was pulled into the crate.  Again, we worried for his safety since he could have punctured himself with the wire, so we got rid of that crate. 

We then bought a plastic crate figuring he couldn't injure himself.  He has consistently pooped in that crate almost every time we've used it, regardless of how long we're gone and taking him outside before we leave.  

Today I left to run to Target.  I was gone for roughly 90 minutes.  My husband came home and found poop in the crate.  When he took him out of the crate to bathe him, he noticed that his mouth (the exterior) is pink and swollen, like he was trying to get out.  

I am really concerned. This is all new behavior - the accidents, and most definitely the anxiety or whatever is causing him to try to escape to the extent that he is hurting himself.  If you're able to see my ticker you know we also have an almost four month old baby.  I, sure this only complicates matters, though he started with this two months before she was born.  

Our vet thought this was all a result of the new baby and suggested we go back to basics (ie rewarding him for going to the bathroom outside), but I'm more concerned about what we should do regarding securing him while we are gone since he keeps hurting himself trying to escape.  I am off for the summer, but I'll be going back to work in six weeks.  Free reign, ex pen, wire crate, and plastic crate are all off the table.  Do we need to call in a behaviorist?  Should we go back to free reign, knowing he can't injure himself, and just work on the accidents somehow?

I'm sorry this got long.  Seeing his mouth today was the last straw and I'm beyond upset. I feel so horrible that he is going through this and I don't know what to do.  Thank you. 


Eta:  Ok, I'm calming down and researching.  So it obviously seems like the change in residence and the change in family has resulted in some separation anxiety.  We are talking about moving back to free reign but associating our leaving with something positive: peanut butter, his favorite treat.  He's never been big on Kongs, etc, but we conditioned him early on to loooooove bath time because he gets some peanut butter.  Maybe this will work?  We will still need to use the crate from time to time (we have a cleaning crew come twice a month), so hoping we can find a toy with pb that he will love.  Any other ideas are very much appreciated. 

[zoomzoom]

Is there a pet service in your area that could also check up on him when you're gone? Do you take him on walks and play with him regularly? Do you spend time training/rewarding him? I've also heard that dogs do not like to be in a room with the door shut (thus the scratching to get out). However, you could use a gate (tall enough that he couldn't jump over) in the doorway so he could still see out. Do you have a laundry room type space where you could put him with a gate?

[chicago]

Jul 2, 2014 15:35:02 GMT -5 zoomzoom said:

Is there a pet service in your area that could also check up on him when you're gone? Do you take him on walks and play with him regularly? Do you spend time training/rewarding him? I've also heard that dogs do not like to be in a room with the door shut (thus the scratching to get out). However, you could use a gate (tall enough that he couldn't jump over) in the doorway so he could still see out. Do you have a laundry room type space where you could put him with a gate?

I'm sure there's some sort of pet service, though I'm close enough now that I could run home at lunch if I needed to. Admittedly, he's not getting as much attention as he was pre-baby, but he still gets walked, goes on car rides, and gets lots of snuggles. Before baby our world revolved around him- he was the baby, so I'm sure he's feeling that.

The tall gate idea is really smart. We have one at the top of our stairs (both for him and eventually the baby) that he's used to. Maybe I could look into getting another one of those. Laundry room is really tight so I wouldn't want to keep him in there.

Thanks for the good ideas!

[peppermint]

Sounds like you've been to the vet to rule out any medical issues, yes? If so, and his separation anxiety doesn't improve with the Kong and positive reinforcement techniques, a behaviorist may be able to help you further. My Boxer boy had horrible separation anxiety throughout his life, and help from the behaviorist, along with medications, helped. I'm sorry you and your pup are going through this, but thank you for caring so much about him to help him work through it! And congrats on your new home and new baby!

[chicago]

Jul 3, 2014 8:56:24 GMT -5 peppermint said:

Sounds like you've been to the vet to rule out any medical issues, yes? If so, and his separation anxiety doesn't improve with the Kong and positive reinforcement techniques, a behaviorist may be able to help you further. My Boxer boy had horrible separation anxiety throughout his life, and help from the behaviorist, along with medications, helped. I'm sorry you and your pup are going through this, but thank you for caring so much about him to help him work through it! And congrats on your new home and new baby!

Yep, the vet deemed him perfectly healthy.  I don't know why I didn't initially think about separation anxiety.  Maybe because this is totally new for him.  It's just so crazy to me that he could develop that now, when the last four+ years he's never had any.  I guess anything can happen.  I really thought he was having anxiety about the baby so we've been trying to work on that by spending more time snuggling with him, etc.  

He's never been a fan of Kongs, but we are definitely going to give it a try.  If not, we will definitely call a behaviorist. I already looked up the name and number of one and he's only 10 minutes away.

[peppermint]

chicago that sounds like a great plan. please keep us updated! all the best to you and your pup