Rescue Saluki separation anxiety help

An ex-show Saluki who's spent his whole life in kennels and suddenly has to cope with an empty house — that's a genuinely difficult situation, and the panic you're seeing makes complete sense. He's never learned that being alone is survivable, and at seven years old those habits are deeply ingrained. Separation anxiety is one of the most distressing things for both dog and owner to live with, and I want to be honest: products can help take the edge off, but they work best as part of a proper desensitisation programme rather than a standalone fix. To point you toward the right thing — how bad is the panic? Are we talking whining and pacing, destructive behaviour, or full shutdown — howling, refusing to eat, injuring himself? And how long have you had him, and what have you tried so far?

That picture — howling at the door, chewing only when alone, calm when you're present — is classic separation anxiety rather than boredom or under-exercise, which matters because the solution is different. Six weeks is still very early for a dog with his background; he's only just worked out that you exist and already you disappear. Before I suggest a product, one quick question: is he crated, or does he have free run of the house when you leave? And does the panic start the moment the door closes, or does he seem to wind up in anticipation — watching you put your shoes on, following you around?

That pre-departure anxiety is really useful to know. It means his stress response is triggered by cues — keys, shoes, coat — long before you actually leave, so by the time the door closes he's already in a high-arousal state. That's the bit a pheromone diffuser addresses quite well: it creates a low-level background calm in the home that slightly lowers his baseline anxiety, which means those departure cues don't spike him quite as hard. It's not a sedative and it won't fix the underlying issue on its own, but used consistently alongside a desensitisation programme it genuinely moves the needle for dogs at this level of distress. My recommendation is the Adaptil Calm Home Diffuser Starter Kit. It plugs in like an air freshener and releases a synthetic version of the canine appeasing pheromone — the one a mother dog produces to calm her puppies. For kennel-raised dogs who missed out on that early domestic security, it can be surprisingly effective. Plug it in the room where he settles most, run it continuously, and give it a full four weeks before judging. One important note: pair it with proper departure training from day one — google 'Malena DeMartini mission impossible protocol' or look for a certified separation anxiety trainer (CSAT). The diffuser buys you a calmer dog to work with; the training is what actually teaches him that alone time is safe.

Keep it simple to start — that's genuinely the right instinct. When you're doing desensitisation work you need to be able to tell what's helping, and if you introduce three things at once you lose that. The one addition I'd suggest isn't a product: before you leave each time, give him a long-lasting chew like a frozen stuffed Kong or a bully stick. Not because it solves the anxiety, but because it gives him something to do in the first two minutes when arousal is highest, and over time it can start to build a positive association with your departure. Salukis aren't especially food-motivated compared to other breeds, so you may need to experiment with what he finds compelling — cooked liver, smoked fish, something genuinely high-value. But start with the Adaptil, get a trainer involved early, and give it four to six weeks. That's the honest timeline.

Good plan. The DeMartini book 'Treating Separation Anxiety in Dogs' is worth buying alongside — it's written for owners and walks you through the full protocol clearly. And if after a few weeks you feel stuck, a CSAT (certified separation anxiety trainer) will work with you remotely over video, which is actually ideal for this kind of work. You're doing the right things for a dog who really needs patience more than anything else. He'll get there.