06/19/2025
Porter came for a brief visit! If you've ever heard me refer to "the worst case of separation anxiety" I've personally had for board and train—well, this is the guy.
When I met Porter his owners couldn't be out of his line of sight. He would go crazy in the kennel and the risk of hurting himself was high. He would bark and howl and defecate. He would run around the house and rip things off the tables and counters. And that's when they were home, but he couldn't see them..
His initial program was a lot of sleepless nights and trying things on the ecollar as well as other methods to get him to settle. He was not a real sensitive guy anyway, so he required higher corrections. Even when they worked, the reprieve was usually short lived. Catching him before he could escalate was key, but it wasn't always easy. We made significant progress in the short time he was here, but he and his family still had a long road ahead of them.
Over the following months they had wins and they had regression. They noticed connections like too much affection would trigger the behavior. They put in a LOT of work.
The next time I saw him for boarding (which had to be at least several months later) he was okay overnight, and in general, but if I left him truly alone he would still bark while I was gone (though that's still a dramatic improvement over where he started, he still wasn',t really okay with being alone). I might come home to a bark collar that had registered 99 barks (that's as high as it counts).
Fast forward 2 years from his initial program. This time around when he came for boarding I'm happy to say he was PERFECT. Not a bark, not a whimper. Not overnight. Not when I was out of sight. Not when I left the house. Quiet as a mouse. Perfect.
Way to go Porter and family. 😊
