Hello and welcome.

You guys are awesome for adopting Nova.  I know it seems overwhelming now but with some patience and work on your part you will make progress with her.

I've dealt with separation anxiety and fearful behavior for the past 4.5 years, my first dog with these issues.

I adopted my current Tripawd Elly when she was 10 months old.  She had been hit by a car when she was 7 months old and lost a rear leg as a result.  Although the rescue lady was reluctant to tell me the whole story I believe after Elly was hit by the car her owners did nothing.  They may have taken her to the vet but they wouldn't commit to getting her treatment.  Somehow the rescue lady found out about her and got the family to surrender Elly to her and then she finally got her to the vet, the leg was broken too badly for repair so it was amputated. 

In addition to that I was Elly's 4th home at 10 months old. She was understandably afraid of moving cars, she was terrible riding in my truck, she would whine the entire time we were moving with occasional crying mixed in, and she had/has severe separation anxiety mostly associated with riding in the truck, at home her anxiety is mild to moderate. And just to round things out she was pretty much afraid of everything that moved and lots of things that didn't move.  She will not get near a crate and ex-pens originally totally freaked her out.  The rescue lady told me not to try and crate her but I didn't think to ask why.

We have made great progress with patience, consistent training, and help from trainers.  We took a lot of classes, which unfortunately probably isn't an option for you right now.  I have a book that was really helpful, it was recommended to me by one of our trainers- if you are interested I will find the title for you.  It was written for professional trainers and focused on home issues, but I was able to adapt much of the process to help us.  We went on lots of field trips (Home Depot, pet stores, local nursery, etc) during quiet times at first just to expose her to people and noises but where we could keep a safe distance for her.  As her confidence increased we would go during busier times.  She got to the point at Home Depot that she would demand treats from the cashiers!  Again, probably not something you can do right now but something to work towards.

An example of our progress- I started doing the sport of Nose Work with Elly which required the dog to wait in the car between their turns.  This is when we discovered how severe her sep anx was- she absolutely flipped out the first time I left her for 20 minutes.  She was inconsolable when I got her out of the truck, she wouldn't get back in the truck, and she wouldn't do anything in the training room which involved looking for treats! It was an hour before she calmed down. Anyway- I started conditioning her to wait for me- it was a looooooong process.  It took about a year (although I wasn't working on it the whole time) to get her OK with waiting 15 minutes in the truck, with me in view, without flipping out.  After that it went faster.  I eventually worked up to her waiting about 45 minutes when we went to Nose Work Trials.  She is still a bit anxious when I come back for her, but the big difference is that she calms down right away.

This is a lot of information so I'll stop here.  If you want to talk more let me know- you can send me a Private Message (PM) and we can exchange emails if you think it would be helpful.  Elly has been a huge learning curve for me and really made me work on my patience.  I'm really proud of how far we have come.  She is much more confident in her world, rides great in the truck, does OK at home although since I live with my elderly father she is rarely home alone. 

Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls