Distraught pet dog

Question
Good morning

Our dog is part lasha apso/poodle. We have owned her since she was a pup and she is 10 years old. My wife and I are very attached to Patches. She sleeps in our bed and is our constant companion around our home.

We both worked up until about a year ago when we retired. We were always able to leave Patches at home during the day and she never had much of a problem except an occasional accident usually because she was over fed with table food. When we retired we moved from our home in town to a small home we built in the country. (Oct 04)

To make a long story short, Patches has not adjusted well to the move. She constantly follows us around the house in order to keep one or both of us in full view. When we go to town we drop her off at our daughters house (our former residence) and she does fine. When we have to make other trips where we can't take her along, she becomes extremely upset before we even leave the house(trembling etc). Each time we have come home she has developed sudden diarrea staining our new furniture and making a mess all over the house. After a few of these episodes I decided to buy a medium size kennel to put her in when we leave for short periods (two to three hours}. I put water in there for her and it seemed to work for a short while. Now we are back to the same problem as before. She develops diarrea and dirties the entire kennel along with her pillow we place in there.

We are at a loss as to what we should do. Is there a tranquilizer she can be given to calm her when we leave? All of our plans that we make have to be made with consideration as to what we should do with the dog. She has also strarted to pee on the bed during the night when she is sleeping. We are seriously considering euthynusation which neither of us wants but I really don't see many alternatives. Any advice you might give us would be appreciated. Thanks

Note: We took her to a vet after the first episode and he said the diarrea and other behavior was most likely due to anxiety.  

Answer
Hi Walt!  Poor Patches!  It is not uncommon for a dog to develop separation anxiety when a move takes place.  She is DEFINITELY exhibiting signs of separation anxiety.
You have two choices.  
a) You can contact an animal trainer/behavioralist and get pointers from them on how to handle these episodes.  Most trainers will even come to your home and help you work with your animal.
b) You can talk to your veterinarian about prescribing a mild sedative for when she needs to be left at home.  Acepromazine is a medication that may work well for her.  I have always found Amitryptiline (nicknamed Puppy Prozac) to work the best.  Perhaps one of these medications would help Patches?
I wish I could be of more help, and I hope the above information will offer some guidance.
Hilary