My 2+ year old female mastiff has been a dream nearly her entire life.... no behavioral issues, just sweet, sweet sweet! Then we went away on a short trip a few months ago and my sister (who used to live with us, so not a stranger to the dog - actually a loving family member!) took care of her while we were gone. Something snapped in her and she started chewing up the house! I mean LITERALLY! The wood banister, the wood trim, anything near her level including paper, magnets, clothes.... We summed it up as her just being anxious and having separation anxiety, but the destruction hasn't stopped since. We have had to put her in a cage while we are out of the house to keep her from eating it. But, when we are home she is a dream and has no issues other than the fact that she is GLUED to us in some way/shape/form. She always has to be touching us now, either with her head, her paw, or just some body part touching us.
We don't know how to break her of the destruction habit she now enjoys, or to make her feel secure when we are there without her having to be physically attached to us.
She gets regular exercise and TONS of love,and we have another dog that she is in love with so she is never "alone" or neglected.
Please help us with ANY advice on how to get our sweet, SECURE, non-destructive dog back!

Hi Grace, I have heard of this happening, where the dog gets stressed the first time that the owners leave it to go away. With the Neo they don't care that they knew the person that kept them or not. They are such a velcro breed to their owners, that it stresses them out to be away from them for longer than they are use too. Keep up with positive reinforcement. Get her use to being away from you short periods at a time again, while you are home and can monitor that she is not tearing up things. Extend the times gradually. It is hard on you when your dog becomes destructive and can get out of their crates. But she needs to keep being re assured that you are going to return. They have long memories, they hold grudges for life. So even though it has been a couple of months since you went away she still looks at it as if it were yesterday. She has a fear that everytime you leave it is going to be for a few days again. Put her in her crate for short periods at first and leave the room, thirty minutes at a time, let her see you return and praise her when she has done nothing wrong. She needs to realize that you are not leaving again, and she will eventually return to normal.You can also take this question, to undergroundmastino.com ask the members on that forum, they may be able to give you a few more tips.

Will crating the dog worsen the Separation Anxiety? I'm fortunate that my dog does not have it.