Separation Anxiety

Question
I have a 2.3 yr old Shepherd/Lab, male,(strong Shepherd influence) that I adopted from a rescue place at 9 months old. He is a wonderful dog, smart, eager to please, great with people, animals, kids, etc. and appropriately protective of his people/home.  I take him everywhere with me.  When I do have to leave him at home or in the SUV, he's fine.  The problem occurs when we are out together.  I take him with me to the ballpark when I play softball.  He is tied to the fence inside the dugout (where there is always other people & dogs) but when I take the field or leave his side, even though he can see me, and we've been doing this 1 - 2 times a week for 10 months, he starts crying. Loudly.  Anything I can do?

Answer
Hi Heather,  Actually separation anxiety is normally when you are out of sight and they become destructive (like when you leave him at home).  He is more of a momma's boy and wants to be by your side 24/7.  This is very common for a dog who was raised by a person's side, basically the person taking them everywhere with them.  The dog becomes dependent on them and doesn't like them to be gone.  There really is no way to correct it, because if you go back to correct him, you are giving him what he wants, attention, even though it may be negative attention, it is still attention.  Normally the best thing to do is ignore him because that way you aren't giving him what he wants, positive or negative attention, but I understand that is a difficult thing to do in a public area.  If you ignore him, eventually he will settle down and hopefully relax, but at first this can take a long time.  It takes a lot of patience to get them over this.  Giving them a rawhide when you leave can sometimes releive them a little of the stress of you leaving.  Wish I could be of more help, but you are in a difficult situation.

Dawn