My heart goes out to you and the dog. It's hard on you both. I went through just about everything you explained for 15 years. I had a Cocker who suffered from separation anxiety all his life. We adopted him when he was 6 weeks old and we just lost him two weeks ago at the age of 15 years.

I think he had good stool maybe twice in his life. We tried every food on the market. We lived in a condo and had to keep him crated because the neighbors complained about his excessive barking. Everyday I came home to a big mess.

We finally bought a house, I started doing rescue and we kept two dogs. It helped his anxiety to have other dogs around but didn't alleviate it all together BUT it was more manageable. I stopped crating him. We kept the TV on all day and when we came home there was always a little mess to clean up but at least it wasn't all over him like it was when he was crated.

Could the pooping just have to do with his separation anxiety? You know the old saying..."don't get your bowels in an up-roar". So yes, I do believe the pooping is increased with anxiety.

There are med's out there to treat anxiety rather than tranquilizers.

Best wishes.

poor little guy...

He's been through a lot, emotionally & physically.

It's got to be wearing you both thin, but it might help to keep reminding yourself that, however hard it is for you, it's harder for him.

What dances said about getting a companion for him might work;

When an old friend got her Cocker Spaniel a "pet", his nervousness, upset stomach, destructiveness, & seizures (he had epilepsy or something similar) calmed down completely.

I wish you the best.

Okay, I've read about your plight, and being the owner of a separation-anxiety-prone small weiner dog, here's what I would try.

When you are not home, keep him in a quiet (no outside noises) bathroom with talk-radio on softly, the light on, his bed (preferably in a tiny, open crate); and pee-pee pads. Get one of these water bottles, which is great for flat-faced, long-haired dogs like shihtzus.

Now -- feed him less food. If he is pooping that much, I think you may be feeding him too much. Cut it down about a quarter and see if that helps. Feed him at the same time every day. And see my notes below about a Kong.

In the evening after dinner, and in the morning before you leave him - make sure to GET HIM EXERCISED. Shihtzus don't need much - leash-walk him around the block as fast as he can go. You want him to be tired out.

Since he has bad separation anxiety, the tiring-out before you leave will help immensely - you MUST do it every day. Here's another trick - a separation treat: buy a small, puppy-sized Kong toy, and fill it with some ground chicken or turkey mixed with a bit of cooked rice and some egg for stickiness if needed. Freeze one each night for use the next day. Put that in the bathroom when you go, with the contents still frozen. This will give him something to occupy himself. (Subtract this amount of food from his total daily food allotment.)

Since he has to stay home alone 4-5 hours and we see he cannot hold his bowels that long and he is anxious to boot, try my methods above - in total, for a week and report back.

I will cross my fingers for you - thank you for not giving up on the little guy - after all, he is still a baby. These problems are not insurmountable by any means. We, as owners, must use our heads and try, try, try.

are you in a living situation in which you could install dog doors? I have seen these work wonders for dogs with seperation anxiety as well as potty issues especially if they are both related.If not than a pet sitter/walker might also be an avenue to try. Pet sitters are not that expensive and it would help break up the dogs long day.

If he came from a puppy mill, he probably learned it was okay (or at least necessary) to poop in his crate. That's one of the more common issues with puppy mill dogs. They're used to being kept in such filthy surroundings that they lose the instinct not to soil their crates.

I agree with the other poster that he may be getting too much to eat if he's able to produce that much poop. Routine is your friend. I'd go back to crating at night to try to prevent the peeing issues. Train him to love the crate. My dogs thought their crates were the greatest things ever. They got a treat every time they went into the crate as puppies, so telling them to "go to bed" was an instant treat for them. They raced each other to their crates.

Make the crate a lot more fun. Try a stuffed kong when he really does have to stay in it, but work on getting him to go in the crate even when he doesn't have to.

I adopted a Shepard/Hound at four months old. She was traumatized by her experiences before I came along at this early age.

Anxiety takes many forms, you should research it on Google to educate yourself. It can be a very difficult, frustrating experience, as you and your dog are a testament to.

I agree with most of what was already posted. I do think it very important that you come up with a battle plan to slowly, patiently deal with this, and stick with it, assuming it is working. If the plan is not working, be prepared to alter it until positive results start to show. This theory will give you a way to deal with this, document what is going on, and build on success.

At this stage of the game, you have what I would term a serious situation, one that requires a serious way of dealing with it. This means you need to take the upper hand with this. For some reason, your vet is not getting what is going on here. This also needs to be addressed. If you have told him/her the full story, then you have an incompetent vet, and need to find another one. If you have not fully explained what is going on, similar to what you posted here, you need to call the vet today, and do this. Demand that you get something to help your dog, today. If nothing comes of this, start looking for another vet. If you do not take this approach, your dog could injure himself.

Medication in the form of a sedative for short term relief, and Doxipin for long term relief MAY be in order. You simply must do something to get things under control, and this seems the most immediate way to go. A "competent" (key word here), vet should be able to bring temporary immediate relief, the long term situation may take someone who knows the dogs wiring, along with medication use.

You have a real mess on your hands that is completely out of control. You need to take a patience pill (even if you have tons of it) and consider how you got where you and your dog are, and take serious steps to correct it.

I spent about 8 months giving my dog medication for anxiety (not separation). My experience taught me that it can have a long lasting effect on other behaviors, some that I am still dealing with over two years later.

Good luck!

SG

I forgot to mention that your house training issues could be linked to the anxiety. This also can take many forms. Since you are having a house training issue, and are in "prime potty" time for your pup, you may find yourself going a different rout in this department than one you would normally take.

Consulting with someone who knows your dogs wiring is essential for this. A rescue league in your area should be able to put you in contact with someone who can help you.

SG

It sounds to me like you have a dog that is still figuring out housebreaking, but that also has separation anxiety that causes it to poop when stressed.
The anxiety is likely to be a lifelong problem, especially if you allow it continue much longer without calling in the professionals. You need to ask yourself: 1) Are you able to accommodate a dog that may have separation anxiety for life? This may mean a dog that barks while you are gone, is more likely to chew or house soil while alone and will need special accommodations when you travel. 2) Are you willing and financially able to get the help of a behaviorist right away? This dog may need more than time and patience to get over its separation anxiety. A behaviorist can lay out a program of behavior modification and potentially medications to nip this anxiety in the bud. You need to make sure you consult with a qualified behaviorist and not just a trainer

If you aren't willing or able to do these things you should contact the rescue group. It will be much easier for them to rehome this dog now, while he's young, less bonded to you and his issues haven't has much time to become ingrained. Also, it isn't fair to the dog to allow it to live a stress, anxious life if there is someone else that has the resources to help it become happy, calm, and well-balanced. Of course, this is assuming that the rescue is a good one, which, if he came with giardia and an infection, they might not be.

You said "I'm worried my wife is going to lose it soon and insist we give him back to the rescue organization".
Keep in mind that everyone's attitude toward the dog plays a major part in his anxiety and potty training. I may be on the wrong track, but if DW is usually frustrated and upset with the dog all that negative energy isn't going to allow any improvement.

Also, if he's pooping 5 times a day and only eating 2/3 cup of food, I would consider changing the diet he's on, along with feeding him 2-3 small meals a day vs one meal a day. That just seems like a lot of poop for such a small dog!

During the night, when he's in your bedroom, have your tried keeping his bed within a collapsible fence so that he's confined and not allow to wander? You can put vinyl backed rugs or a tarp down to protect your floor.

I agree with the other poster concerning hiring a behaviorist. It could be that some of the things you're doing is only exacerbating the probems. You also said 'you worked at doing exercises'..........what exercises and who taught them to you?
This dog's behavior can be modified, but I feel you need to bring in someone to help you.

I have some questions. Do you leash walk your dog, or just take him out in the monring in the yard to do his business? Do you live in an area where it is possible to have your dog hang out with other dogs? Is there a dog park in the area, or a place where your neighbors walk their dogs on a regular basis??
I would like to commend you on getting a rescue to start off with, and I hope the future includes you having this pup in your life. I will also be up front, dealing with an anxiety ridden dog is not a stack of pancakes. Why did you decide to crate this dog? Is it possible for you to not crate him? He may be associating the crate with your leaving, dogs are smart, it does not take long before they start to figure things out. Next, is it possible to take the dog with you? If you have had the dog in the car, how does he respond to car riding? If you decide you can not take the dog, I suggest you stop the crate. Take the dog for a long 20 minute walkies before you go anywhere, so he is more tired and relaxed, and go get yourself a bottle of rescue remedy. It may help take the edge off for the little guy for those times when you must leave and leave him at home. Ideally I would like to see that pup at a dog park, socializing for a good hour everyday, and ideally before you go out on your errands. Good luck with your pup, remember patience, and lots and lots of rewarding good behavior and ignoring bad or unwanted behavior...keep up the good work.

Wow, it sounds like you could be describing my puppy! It's amazing how similar the symptoms are. We rescued our shih tzu/poodle mix, Wicket, in March and she is now approximately 11 months old. She too was having issues with the crate or any kind of confinement, being separated from us, barking, destructive chewing, and excreting large amounts of feces when confined. We were becoming so frustrated! It seems like we had tried some many different things and nothing was working!

I scheduled an appointment with a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist on June 26th. It was the best decision that we could have made. We had used this behaviorist with our other dog and the behaviorist is amazing. She developed a behavior plan just for Wicket and we have focused on following that plan. It has been less than three weeks and Wicket is now so much calmer! She is back to sleeping in her crate at night, her barking has decreased tremendously, she is no longer having accidents while she is confined, and she is now able to be left alone for at least an hour and a half without becoming distressed! I am so amazed at her progress and it has only been a few weeks, I can't wait to see how she's doing in a few months.

Check out the ASPCA website for some great suggestons on separation anxiety and other topics. We also got the DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) diffuser and spray which has helped too.

I strongly recommend that you contact a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist! It has changed our lives and most importantly Wicket's life for the better!

Good luck!
Bloodhound