anxiety help

[rdehknowles]

We have a 2 year old dachaund / cocker spaniel mix girl. She's a rescued dog from operation care and have had her since the fall of 2007. During the work day we have to leave her in a crate. It's fixed up nice, is wire, not closed in plastic, and large enough for her to move around in. Prior to us leaving, she knows and begins to shake terribly. She curls up tightly on a pillow or bed in hopes we'll forget where she is and not put her in. She doesn't fight us going into the crate, just trembles and as we leave she shakes with her tongue out looking like a crazed little pup. We have left her out of the crate and let her have the run of a couple of rooms but she shreds carpet or rugs by the doors and scratches up the door frames. So we must use the crate when she is home alone. A friend mentioned she probably has separation anxiety when we're leaving.
What can we do?? It breaks my heart to see her like that when we leave. I'm also worried that it's not healthy for her to go through anxiety like that daily. Is there anything we can do to make this better? Could she stress out her heart with this and possibly have a heart attack?