The dog has separation anxiety !

He's truly driving me crazy.

Why ME?

Because I happen to be the one in the house the most.

Apparently while we were on vacation, he had some serious bonding time with Husband.

Husband took him out to our freinds house- which is actually two homes on connecting lots. Our friends, in both homes, each have two dogs. they are all females. ours is male. they LOVE to run and play together- there's enough room they can get away if they have to, so no one gets crowded and cranky. there's about a total of 8 acres, plus creek and alot of mud.

myself and the children were gone almost 3 weeks. Husband took the dog out to our frinds' at least twice during that time. along with a ride to dump the trash, over to visit with a co-worker, and Who knows where else.

keep in mind, our 5 acres is not fenced, and goofy dog likes to chase cars. we have to keep him tied when he's outside. he has a nice long run-line, but he doesn't get the freedom of running silly-nilly all over the place at full speed (the speed of light ,I tell you- he's fast!)

We also don't usually take him in the car with us- he tends to hop the seats and scrape the kids in the process, so Husband has a work truck he takes the dog in.

When we were gone, Husband said the dog was a little mopey, looking for the kids.

It seems he got over it as the time passed, as Husband took him everywhere to play.

since we've been home, the dog has shown signs of separation anxiety.

I kid you not people.

When Husband leaves for work (or anywhere else) the dog sits and whines until he comes back.

When the children leave for church or playdates- the dog paces , and whines until they get back.

If I leave, and no one else is home, when I drive back up to the house I can hear him howling.

Even when we put him outside on his run-line, if he's out for more than ten minutes he howls.

when he comes back in, he acts as though he'd been out for a month with no people.

its pitiful, really, but also heartwarming to know he's missed us so much.

on the other hand- he's driving me CRAZY with the whining and howling.