Clyde might have some separation anxiety but I'm not entirely sure.  I feel a little stupid if it is separation anxiety.  It was probably my fault I didn't try to prevent it from the start.  Since I can work from home, he was almost never alone when we first got him.  It didn't even occur to me that it might happen because I've never had a dog with separation anxiety!

Why I think it might be separation anxiety?  Well for one, he will bark/whine when separated - either another room, or the crate.  I'll leave him with delicious stuffed toys, chews, treats, etc.  He won't touch them if I leave.  And he will bark for awhile after I leave him.  The one thing I haven't tried is leaving him loose in the house when we leave.

Anyway, he is pretty good about being in the crate when we're in the same room.  When we first got him, the timing wasn't the best, work-wise.  He had to be stuck in the crate a few times before really getting used to the crate, but he was never crated and alone for more than a few hours.  At first, I was using a plastic crate that we borrowed from the shelter but wound up buying a metal wire crate.  I kind of felt like he disliked not being able to see out as well in the plastic crate.  It really does seem like he likes the metal crate a bit more.

So last week, Clyde came with me to Missoula for the week.  Thankfully, my roommate was very understanding and didn't mind having my barky dog around.  I still took random times off to take care of him.  The second day of this, I decided to give the doggie daycare a call to see if he could go there.  Apparently for new clients, they have a 4-5 week waitlist but hurray, because I already take Zoe there, we didn't have to wait.  I was able to bring Clyde in the next day and also get a free half day.  He wound up doing pretty decently his first day.  The following morning, I put him there again for about 5 hours and they said he did really well.  So, yay, at least we can do daycare for him.  Hopefully he stays dog-friendly.

Last night, I wound up buying Nicole Wilde's book, Don't Leave Me!, which is supposed to be a step-by-step guide to treat separation anxiety.  I think I can say that Clyde doesn't have true separation anxiety.  It's more like "isolation distress" where he doesn't like to be left alone but is okay with someone else around.  One possible solution might be having a second dog, which I do.  I am not entirely sure whether Clyde would be just fine un-crated, with Zoe around.  He might be.  I still want him crate trained.

 Clyde chewing a deer leg that's been in my freezer for the last 3 years, yikes!