Boxer with separation anxiety

Question
Hi,
I have a three year old boxer that has been exhibiting signs of separation anxiety. He pees and poops almost every time we leave him at home, even if its only for half an hour. He even tries to cover the pee or poop with things laying around. We have tried crating him but he constantly barks when we leave him in there. When he is left with another dog he is fine and rarely pees or poops. Its becoming quite a problem and I dont know what to do. Please help!

Answer
Hi Sarah. First thing that I would suggest is a trip to the vet to rule out any health problems that may be causing him to use the bathroom in the house. I actually had the same problem with my 12 year old Boxer. I thought he was the only one that tried to cover it up.:-) What I did was pretty simple actually. I closed every inside door in the house, and used baby gates to confine him to a room without carpeting. I made sure he didn't have access to food or water while I was gone (only for a couple of hours at the most). And to be honest, he only quit doing this completely when my mother's old female dog moved in with us last April. Maybe he just needs a buddy? The first thing to do is to have a check up done. It turned out that my old guy has a hernia around his anus, so he feels like he has to poop a lot. If nothing turns up then you may want to consult a dog behaviorist. They would be better able to give you one on one help in person to see exactly how your dog acts, and will know how to help him. Good luck!