Blinds and anxiety?

Question
I have a 2 year old mixed breed.  She is i believe part golden and part chow.  she was found as a pup and i rescued her, she was a great dog very obedient and never needed training from another person or group beside myself teaching her the basics.  She caught on fast and has always been well behaved.  Last year we moved into an apartment and for the first year she was great never had an accident i never kenneled her and she never touched anything she was fine when we left and happy when we got home.  However these past two months she has done a 360 we came home and she had tore down and chewed up the vertical blinds.  After a few episodes we got her a kennel and she has only hurt herself in it she cut up her nose has knocked out two teeth and cut her gums and dulled other teeth and she has gotten out of it over 4 times.  I do not put water in her kennel but when i take her out her blanket is soaked and so is she around her mouth almost like she is making her self sick.  the vet put her on anxiety medicine and since she has been on it for a month and it hasn't worked he is now advising me to do a blood test and if results are good he has other medication to try.  I don't know what else to try i would love not to kennel her because shes hurting herself but i cant afford to replace blinds every day. I've tried the sour apple spray and I'm thinking maybe I'm doing something wrong kennel training i try to make it more of a happy place and not a "punishment" i am open to any training tips you can provide me I'm getting desperate i know she is better than this.

Answer
Hi Jessica,

It *sounds* as if your dog may have developed separation anxiety.  Perhaps she had signs of mild separation distress earlier that you didn't notice, and something (perhaps the move, combined with a change in your schedule or a change in your family structure, or other changes) set your dog off to develop full blown separation anxiety.  Of course, not having seen your dog I can't be sure this is what is occuring.  It is a good idea to be taking her to your vet for a complete medical check-up, because what may have changed, in addition to or as a separate issue from other external things, may be her medical and health status.

As far as anti-anxiety medications go, as a behaviour consultant my experience has been that most dogs that have a behavioural issue (such as separation anxiety) will not have the issue resolved or made better by using medication alone.  I have found that behavioural modification is needed along with any medication that has been prescribed for a dog to treat a behavioural issue (such as separation anxiety).  

Punishing anxiety behaviours will not make the anxiety go away.  It sounds as if the behaviour is severe enough, being that your dog has injured herself, that you might want to consider consulting and/or meeting with a professional canine behaviour expert to assist you with modifying your dog's behaviour.  What the medication can do, if it's the right medication for your dog and for your dog's issue, is help you create a window of opportunity for any behavioural modification to start working by quelling the anxiety enough for the behaviour modification to have an effect.  Some anti-anxiety medications for dogs may take up to six weeks to have an effect, so please keep this in mind and consult your vet if you have any specific questions about any medications you're giving your dog.

Again, in this case, I would suggest that it would be helpful to you to have a canine professional help you out with live or telephone assitance, with follow-ups, as I think that the issue your dog is having sounds too serious to be fully and responsibly addressed in this forum.  You can find behavioural assistance by contacting Cornell University, Tufts University, University of Pennsylvania (and getting a behavioural expert referral from any of these places), or by going to APDT.com and searching for a qualified professional in your area on that Web site.

Best of luck to you,
Madeline, Volunteer at AllExperts