Sooky cavalier, Toowoomba, Qld

My 5 year old King Charles has had a personality change and is now always under foot, tail between her legs, ears down and eyes mournful and wants to either be sitting on me or being like a third leg, whenever she is in the house with us. Because she is a climber, we have to put her on a runner at night and when we leave the house, but lately she has been destroying her bed and anything that she can get to in the garden while on the runner. She has become more finiky with her eating as well. We did go overseas for 12 weeks and Mia stayed with my sister - in- law in our house and everything seemed to be fine when we got home. Her behaviour is driving us mad and no matter of scolding seems to have any affect. My husband is ready to throttle her. She also gets the shakes, and is really sooky.
Posted: 04/01/2009   

ANSWER Sooky cavalier, Toowoomba, Qld
The signs you describe are of separation anxiety with some dominance issues. Whilst we are happy to give advice, this is too complex to do in an email. I recommend that you read some of the articles related to this on www.dogtrainingsolutions.com.au and also some of the Q&A's there. This may help you start. We recommend that you start to ignore her more, treat her like a dog, and let her find her feet by giving her more consistent leadership. But if you were in MEL, I would have urged you to consider an inhome visit, as this is something that may escalate with the dog getting sick, self mutilation etc. So if any doubt ask your vet for a good behavioural trainer.
Posted: 05/01/2009