pogo poodle with seperation anxiety

Question

Banner   Hi, I have a 15 month old male desexed red/apricot?? Toy poodle. I rescued him from death row. He comes to work with me every day (I'm a dog groomer), and loves to play all day with my human and doggie clients. So this as well as a walk every second day means he gets a ton of exercise. Yet whenever I leave him at home with his kitten (one of his best friends), or in the salon with the clients he proceeds to howl and scream at the top of his lungs till I get back. The longest I have ever left him alone is 4 hours. I have never given him attention when I get back till he calms down (approx 20 mins during which he continuously cries under his breath, pants, and repeatedly jumps up at me and bites at my clothes), on walks I always make him heel nicely, he is never allowed out or in of a doorway before me, and I always make sure to eat before him and practice our dominance and clicked training daily. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I'm getting complaints from my neighbours (I live in a unit) and don't wait to put him back on death row. Please help.
p.s, what colour is he really and is he done clearing?

Answer
Hello Kaylee,
There are a few things you can do to help Banner with his anxiety problem.  First off, try sleeping in an old tee shirt for a few days and leave him with that when you leave.  It will have your scent on it and may help calm him when he lays on it.  
You can also try using the ThunderShirt for dogs with Anxiety.  It is a very breathable jacket that goes around the dogs body and "hugs" them to make them feel better.  It has been very sucessful for dogs that react to Thunder or FireWorks, etc. and I have heard that dogs with anxiety do great when wearing the ThunderShirt.  http://www.walmart.com/ip/20837361?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227000000000&wl
Yes, you can get it at a Wal-Mart store (can't you get about anything from Wal-Mart these days)

The other thing you might try is Calming Herbs for dogs.  You can either use the oils as Aromatherapy, or get them in pill form and give them to your dog.  
These four Extracts tend to help with anxious animals. Valerian root (Valeriana off), skullcap herb (Scutellaria laterifolia), Passion flower (Passiflora incarnata) and Oat flowers (Avena sativa).
You will need to discuss them with your Vet and him and you can determine an amount.  You can also get the oils and put them on a blanket or toy for your dog and he can smell them which should help with his anxiety.  

Another thing you might try is seeing if he will stand being left with one of the other people in the apartment.  They could come and comfort him when you are out, maybe take him for a walk or give him some attention.  Its a thought.

As to his color, both Red and Apricot are Fading colors, so the dog never really stops fading.  They will lighten as they age, due to White or Dilute colors being used in the making of the color.  Actually, any color that isn't Black is called a Fading color.  As they age, they do tend to stay darker for longer once they reach a certain point.  Usually around 2-3 yrs of age.  Genetics play a huge part in how Rich the color will be in a Poodle.  If you know the background of your dogs parents, grandparents, you can look at them and see how they faded as they aged.  

I hope this helps you some.  Please feel free to ask me again if you have other questions about this, or other Poodle questions in general.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim