Rusty

Question
Hello, I'm Kory.  My dog, Rusty is about 6 or 7 years old now and all his life
we have designated a sunroom for his bed for sleeping and put up a gate at
the doorway so that he doesn't roam around the house at night.  We are
afraid that at night, as he has sometimes when he knocks the gate down, he
might poop or pee all over the carpet or sit on the couch (which we have
forbidden since he was a pup) and go into people's rooms and mess things
up.  However, the problem with this is that he barks nonstop in the night.  So,
to solve this, we got a bark collar.  I was opposed to this, but it was the only
way we could sleep.  But now, a new problem has come up.  He scratches
constantly at the gate until it is knocked down (with the bark collar on) and
he escapes.  So to stop him, we moved the gate to another doorway, giving
him some room to walk around.  That worked for a while, but now, he is even
scratching up the walls at night.  So again, to appease him, we sometimes
give him yet another room with carpet where he can sleep.  But even now he
is clawing at the gate.  We can't sleep and we hate to put that bark collar on
him, and worst of all, it could very well ruin our kitchen.  What should we do?

Answer
Hi Kory,

Rusty has a level of separation anxiety that has never been dealt with other than to suppress through correction. That can (and I think it may here) make things worse. As I am sure you have figured out.

He has had 7 years to develop the habit and it will not go away without effort.

Worse than a ruined kitchen, you may have an older dog on medications that his liver will not be able to tolerate over time.

If possible, locate a board certified applied animal behaviorist. Preferably one whose expertise is in using psychotropic drugs responsibly.

You could also try Tufts University fax service (there is a fee) but you would be consulting with staff or Dr. Dodman directly who pioneered the field of anti anxiety medications and canines.

I am not a big fan of medications but this may be the correct route for your situation.