Hello everyone,
My boyfriend and I just adopted Roxie, a 13 month old English mastiff, from a breeder about a month ago. She is housebroken for the most part. She seems to have bonded much more closely with me then with my boyfriend. Whenever my boyfriend and I leave her at the same time, she does fine being left with free roam of the house for a few hours. She will have an occassional accident, but we understand she is still a puppy. However, my boyfriend and I have different schedules and he often leaves much earlier than me for work in the morning. Whenever it is just me leaving Roxie alone for a few hours, I come home to her having destroyed the blinds and defecated all over the floor even if she used the bathroom outside before I left. I have tried crating her, but when I return she has defecated all over her crate which is an awful mess to clean up. When I leave before my boyfriend and then he leaves Roxie, she does just fine with free roam or in the crate. I understand she is in a tough transitional period, however, I do not understand why she only shows signs of separation anxiety when I am the one that leaves her and not also for my boyfriend??
Recently, I went through a traumatic experience and I have had some anxiety and nervous energy that I believe she is feeding into. She has become very protective of me, but not in an aggressive way. I think she might feel as if she needs to protect me when I leave? I am at a loss. Sorry for such a long post, any advice or feedback would be helpful!
THANK YOU!!
My boyfriend and I just adopted Roxie, a 13 month old English mastiff, from a breeder about a month ago. She is housebroken for the most part. She seems to have bonded much more closely with me then with my boyfriend. Whenever my boyfriend and I leave her at the same time, she does fine being left with free roam of the house for a few hours. She will have an occassional accident, but we understand she is still a puppy. However, my boyfriend and I have different schedules and he often leaves much earlier than me for work in the morning. Whenever it is just me leaving Roxie alone for a few hours, I come home to her having destroyed the blinds and defecated all over the floor even if she used the bathroom outside before I left. I have tried crating her, but when I return she has defecated all over her crate which is an awful mess to clean up. When I leave before my boyfriend and then he leaves Roxie, she does just fine with free roam or in the crate. I understand she is in a tough transitional period, however, I do not understand why she only shows signs of separation anxiety when I am the one that leaves her and not also for my boyfriend??
Recently, I went through a traumatic experience and I have had some anxiety and nervous energy that I believe she is feeding into. She has become very protective of me, but not in an aggressive way. I think she might feel as if she needs to protect me when I leave? I am at a loss. Sorry for such a long post, any advice or feedback would be helpful!
THANK YOU!!