# Cane Corso with crippling separation anxiety



## OwlHillFarm (Feb 11, 2016)

Let me start by bragging just a tiny bit about this dog, so you can get a better feel for why this separation issue has me so baffled. 

Epekos is an 11 month old Cane Corso, I've had her for 5 months. When I got her she was only about 60lbs and dangerously untrained. She was making all of her own decisions as the folks that had purchased her as a pup got more and more afraid of her as she got bigger. Apparently they wanted a guard puppy for their kids or something. So many problems there, but it explains a bit about her background. 

In the 5 months I've had her she's grown physically and mentally to the point that folks who saw her those first days hardly recognized her. She's figured out nearly a dozen different commands, learned not to chase chickens or goats (she still chases the big buck but I blame that on her being able to tell that that big buck is insane and dangerous. She can tell that I don't trust him and she's taking her cue from that. His days are numbered.) and learned how to walk politely on a leash. We're still working on socialization but I am completely confident that she is safe around humans. She is still not safe around other dogs. Progress has been made, but she's got a ways to go. She IS only 11 months old, after all. 

I am no stranger to working with big working breeds. I have never seen one who was so clingy with their human. I'm used to these breeds wanting a bit of independence, or at least being able to make decisions and function when their humans are away. This is one of the things that mastiffs and their relatives were bred to do, after all, and it's useful on a farm. But she has a whining, howling, chewing things up, knocking things over, breaking things meltdown if she gets left behind. I've been working on crating her- something she clearly never encountered until now- and so far, while she trots right into the crate on command and waits patiently while I shut the door, and will stay there perfectly content all night if I'm in the house, the moment I walk away the meltdown begins again. It's just confined to the crate. (This crate, anyway, she destroyed the first one.)

I'm out of tricks and this is not like any previous separation issue I've seen personally. She has no trouble making her rounds, entertaining herself, and being out around the farm without me. I feel safe working on something in the shed knowing that she's out roaming around the pastures keeping an eye on things. She has great recall and is very obedient on and off the leash, on the farm or out in public. But if she realizes that I have left all of that cool cleverness goes flying right out the window. 

I was really hoping that, even if nothing else worked, it would start to fade as she got to be a year old. So far, nothing. 

I'd love to hear anything that worked for you, including 'just let her whine, she'll get used to it eventually' because right now that's about all I've got left.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

I have been in dog rescue for a few years now and find that training works wonders for how well a dog will get along in a household. You have done real well.

I&#8217;m not sure this gal has separation anxiety. She is still a puppy and for her, this may be puppy behavior. Do you live alone? Are there other people in the house hold?

I discovered that one of our rescues would go nuts in a properly sized crate (big enough for two or three of him to fit), but was perfectly fine in a large dog crate (big enough for five of him). After that, I used the big crate for the rescues.

Some dogs calm down if they have a friend. Do you have another dog that can be in the same room as your big puppy when you leave? Or in a crate beside her?

Do you give her a chew item when you leave? A large meaty bone could be very distracting. I would try having a special treat that she only gets when you leave, and try it out for only a few minutes at a time. You&#8217;ll want to know how she is behaving, so you need a spy or a spy camera or spy microphone. So, put her in the crate five minutes or more before leaving, praise for being good. Get ready. Just as you are leaving give her the special chew item. Leave with no fanfare. Start the car and drive down the driveway. She will probably whine at first, but then get distracted by the bone. Drive back up the driveway and come in the house. She is being rewarded for forgetting about you. Let her out and take away the bone. Refrigerate the bone between lessons. Repeat every hour, increasing the time you are away by one minute, then increasing two minutes, etc.

You actually have to get in the car and drive away because she can hear the car and associates the evil beast with your leaving her all alone in the cold cruel world.

In addition, you can play a cd on low for her when she is crated for the night. It will be dark, and quiet, and she will associate the music with going to sleep. When you leave, put the cd on to cue her subconscious to go to sleep.


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## wiscto (Nov 24, 2014)

Honestly I think you're beyond my experience in this. Just wondering though, have you tried giving her something to occupy her, then briefly popping out and coming back after a very short interval while she works on a rawhide or a treat? Increase the intervals over time if it works. Slowly ween her off of distractions, maybe shorten the intervals again when you're not giving her a distraction and then increase them again slowly. Mix up where you go during those intervals. Start just going outside for a moment, letting her hear you, but then eventually becoming more distant and difficult to locate through sound/smell. Give her confidence that you're coming back.


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## Jreed (Dec 24, 2014)

unfortunately I have seen many Cane Corso with high anxiety and shy, the polar opposite in what you are looking for which is calm and confidant. 

I am not a big fan of them and consider dogs over anxious to be potential fear biters and dangerous.

The only advice I have is to make sure she is kennel or crate trained well, this helps to bring some level of confidence while alone.


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

My little Dachshund can suffer terrible separation anxiety when we travel and I leave him alone in his crate for any length of time. I totally solved the problem by draping an item of well-worn non-laundered clothing on top of his crate. As long as he knows wherever he is is "my" place, too, he is fine. He knows I'll be back for him if he can smell my scent. Worth a try, anyway!

Best of luck to you. This can be frustrating and heartbreaking behavior, as you clearly know.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

I had a Dalmatian acquired as an adult who had severe separation anxiety. She would destroy her surroundings if left uncrated (She once chewed a hole in the laundry room wall) and if crated would urunate and defecate and beat it into a semiliquid and manage to fling it everywhere around the crate in her frenzy.

This wasn't a case of her being left in the crate too long or not "going" before we put her in...this was pure frenzy.

We ended up not having to do anything more because she bit a child in the face at our front door...while her tail wagged. The child was unscarred, thank God.

She was returned to her breeder immediately as agreed contractually. Given our druthers, we'd have euthanized her.


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## bluemoonluck (Oct 28, 2008)

At 11 months, a large breed dog like this is still very much a puppy. Most large breed dogs don't really come into themselves until 18-36 months of age, depending on a number of factors. 

Has she had her first heat cycle yet? Some bitches get really weird either while they're in heat or after their heat (due to the hormonal false pregnancy). 

I think figuring out what is triggering her is the key to fixing the problem. If she's okay when loose but not happy crated while you leave, is she "safe" to leave loose in the house while you're gone? 

My Smooth Collie service dog used to get very angry when I left the house without her because she feels that I rely on her and if I'm heading out I should be taking her with me. She actually knew the difference between me going out to get the mail and going out in the car - if I grabbed my purse & keys she knew I was going somewhere that she should be tagging along, and she'd have a temper tantrum. So I started taking my purse & keys and just going outside the door for 10 seconds, then walking back in. I varied the time I was out from a few seconds to a few minutes, at least a dozen times a day. After about 3-4 days of this she decided that it was okay if I left the house without her, even with my keys/purse!

Her anxiety is specifically keyed into you leaving the house without her, not you not being right in the same room with her, so it's not horrible, but still needs to be addressed. Try doing what I did with my collie, pretending to leave - go thru the whole routine of putting her in her crate, getting your purse/keys together, etc. It may be that after a few days of this she'll learn to just settle down when you go out the door.

You could try Rescue Remedy, or one of the diffuser collars that supposedly helps with separation anxiety. I know people who put dogs on generic Prozac but your dog is nowhere near as bad as those dogs are, so I don't think she's anywhere near that point.


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## wendle (Feb 22, 2006)

Is there any way to give her a larger area with some toys and a buddy while you are gone? How many hours is she confined?


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## rhaige9 (Oct 31, 2010)

Aren't they great dogs? lol. I have two. We got the younger one at 6 months old from her breeder. She was the only one that hadn't sold, was the runt, and was very submissive. I had my doubts about her because this was everything the breed wasn't supposed to be. She peed all over if you looked at her sideways, and was Constantly underfoot. Literally had us tripping over her as she tried to get under my feet, run up behind me and stuck her head under my legs, took me out at the knees as she ran up and leaned against me as she was stopping so she could touch me. She was always cringing and looking for reassurance. 

The hubby wanted to give up on her so many times. These big dogs stay puppies till they're around 2 or so, just give it time I'd tell him. We got her plenty of exercise during the day. We went for walks, we tried some simple agility around the house, jumping up on stumps, onto the pick nick table, all trying to teach her to "Hup," so I could cue her to jump up on something. She was terrified of car ride and hyper salivated, puked. I knew she was going to be too big to pick up and needed to teach her to jump into the car/truck. We took her running next to bike, anything to tire her out. 

She started eating things. Things like my couch, the kitchen chairs, the comforter on my bed. I impressed upon my husband the need for her to be in her crate as much as possible. We got her a crate. A large crate. She hated it. We shoved her in it every chance we had. She went in at night, and got fed in it. In the middle of the night she woke us up, got sent out the front door till she howled and went back in it as she came inside. Fed in the crate in the morning after being let out to potty, then more outside time while we did morning chores before work. Back in the crate when we left for work. She destroyed many beds in her tantrums. She got sent to the crate while we were home too. If we weren't right there to watch to make sure she didn't eat anything, she was in the crate. Either the crate while we were home and in the house, or she was outside. The first beds we bought her were expensive ones. Later she got carpet remnants layed down over old towels as padding... Nothing I minded having to throw away when she chewed them. She was like watching a child pick up a loose stem of hay and break it into little bitty pieces as just something to do. She just liked shredding things. 

She got large bones with peanut butter inside, cow hooves, Nerf makes a good hard rubber knobby ball that she hasn't been able to destroy. I gave her as many things to let her chew on into her crate as I could find to give her options. I can't tell you how many bones are laying around the house right now. We also gave her a place to lay down that could be in the same room as us, but not under foot. A bed on the other side of the room, and would tell her to go to her place and lay down. At first we had to drag her over to it and tell her to stay, give her a bone, and scold her every time she got up. She learned to be comfortable in the same room, and not have to be On us. 

She just turned two this month. Right now she's laying asleep on the couch she chewed the seat cushions on. She runs to her crate when we let her in the house and waits to see if someone comes in to shut the door. If not she ambles out and looks for a pat on the head. She goes right in, in the morning and wiggles till I think the whole thing is going to fall appart while she waits to get fed. At night she goes in and waits for the door to shut to go to bed. Sometimes during the day she'll go in there of her own accord and sleep, even when we're out in other rooms in the house. We have her dad now too. They still both have their quirks. He's learning not to rush out the door as soon as it opens and take out anyone that happens to be standing in the way. Sit quietly till I release and tell you to go out. Don't rush in when the door opens and smash me into the door frame. Don't go in your daughter's crate when she's in there and pick a fight, go lay in you own crate if you want a nap. They both have nice thick canvas beds even if hers does have a whole chewed in the underside. I love both the meatheads.


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## OwlHillFarm (Feb 11, 2016)

Thanks for the support and ideas, y'all. 

I've had big lugs like this before, never seen one with this level of anxiety before. And yes, bluemoonluck, the anxiety is very specific. She's perfectly fine entertaining herself around the farm out of my sight, can be trusted with the goats and chickens (except the big buck but I already mentioned that) and is even starting to learn that Ma'am leaves in the morning and comes back in the afternoon- crate has food and toys so she manages until the back-up human gets home to let her out. I left her this morning with a Kong full of peanut butter and she never made a sound- beside licking, of course. Peanut butter makes everything better, apparently. The problem is very specifically when she gets left alone at a non-typical time of day. It's off routine and she absolutely can't deal with it. I'm hoping she'll eventually get used to this, too, since I can't take her everywhere with me. 

Oh and she was already spayed when I got her. Random side note. 

I appreciate the success story, rhaige9. I'm a fan of the breed (of most of the related molosser breeds, actually) and I love hearing about happy, well adjusted molossers in good homes. I'm still hopeful that Epekos will settle in as she continues to mature. She's got a good nature under the spoiled puppy that I acquired a few months ago. She's very attentive to her Ma'am (because I'm pretty well convinced healthy boundaries make sane dogs so I'm not mommy, I'm Ma'am.) and she absolutely adores truck rides, and walks, and practicing her commands, and being a couch potato when she's done zooming. So much zooming. I suppose if it's really just the one problem coming out of a dangerously spoiled pup I should be grateful, but it's a real drag knowing that leaving her behind will result in a panic attack of biblical proportions.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Fellow I knew had a Corso, got her as a rescue at probably 5 months old. Nice little girl, friendly, loved riding in the car with him, loved other dogs, and at 2 years of age would happily poop anywhere in the house. I imagine that when he died, there was a big fight over who got BabyDoll. Lot of people really liked her.

Anyway, do you have access to any CD's of Native American music? I have even used American Indian flute music. Seems to be very calming and when I've had dogs that were afraid of travel, or storms, I'd play the music softly in the background and it seemed to help.

I imagine Gregorian Chants would work about the same.

Mon


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