Separation Anxiety Can Be Helped
As trainers, we have seen a lot more cases of separation anxiety in dogs over recent years. The symptoms and behaviors have a wide range, too. We’ve seen everything from just pacing and panting – to sofas, walls and doors being shredded. The latter are (of course) more extreme – but also more expensive to replace! Before your dog gets to that point, it is wise to invest in some sort of obedience training – the initial investment is well worth it when compared to replacing a sofa, door, or wall!
If you recently adopted your dog, and it came with the separation anxiety, you may not know the reasons behind it specifically. However, if you bought a dog from a breeder and it developed over time, the causes are a bit easier to discover. As with most behavior problems and anxieties, the longer your dog is allowed to exhibit the behavior, the harder it will be to “fix”. So, of course, puppies take less time to get over separation issues than older dogs do.
Stopping Separation Anxiety before it starts
Congratulations – you got a new puppy! 🙂 Whether you have had dogs before or this is your first one, just remember every dog is different – so this puppy will have different needs and wants than another dog. I can’t tell you the number of clients we’ve had that tell us – “this puppy is nothing like my other dog!”, or “I don’t remember my other dog being like this when he was a puppy!”. Memories may fail us, but truth be told, this puppy is just different than your other dog – and that’s OK 🙂
So – now what? I know the temptation to be with your dog 24/7/365 is there. This new little fluffy fur-ball is so stinking cute you don’t want to leave it. Those puppy eyes have you wrapped around its paw in 10 minutes. But now is the time to work on preventing separation anxiety in your dog before it starts. Your puppy needs some “alone time” so it can learn to develop coping mechanisms for when they are by themselves. The coping mechanisms they develop now will help them later.
If you are working away from home, getting this alone time is easy – you go to work. But what about at night, when you are home? Whether you work from home, are a stay-at-home parent, are a teacher that is home for the summer, or you have a “normal job” and are just home at night: get some sort of confinement area for your dog. This can be a crate or even a sectioned-off area of your house (bathroom, laundry room, etc.). The confinement area should be safe (nothing they could chew and choke on while you’re gone) and comfortable. Need help with this step? Keep reading for some tips…
Don’t coddle your dog, and let them explore the world on their own a bit. Now, I don’t mean go off on an adventure before they’ve had all their shots…I’m talking about your house and your yard where you feel more confident that they won’t pick up anything. If your dog seems frightened by something and comes to you – they feel you are the pack leader and will offer security – that’s good! But picking them up and talking to them in soothing tones can actually reinforce the nervous behavior – making it worse over time. Just act like nothing is wrong and they will feed off that confident body language. When they realize it doesn’t bother you, then they will relax and realize it doesn’t have to bother them, either.
Make sure you downplay leaving your house and coming back. If you make it exciting, it will rev up the anxiety; if it’s no big deal…meh 😉
And, I’ll say it again…get at least the basic obedience skills trained. This helps create a pack-leader type relationship that will help those coping mechanisms.
Tips for getting your dog used to a confinement space
Having a confinement space will help your dog learn to cope with being alone or away from you. Here are several ways to help them adjust to a confinement space:
- You can help make it more comfortable by leaving a shirt you have slept in with them so they have the scent, putting a food/water bowl in the area with them, or leaving a favorite toy (that they can’t destroy). When you are not able to play and pay attention to your dog, put them in the confinement area. Yes, the puppy will whine. But the sooner they realize you will NOT let them back out after they whine, the sooner they will learn to self-regulate and calm down. Wear them out with a walk or game of fetch before you put them in. That will help them fall asleep versus thinking about being alone.
- You can start with short periods of time throughout the day (if you are home all day) being alone in the confinement area. Put them in there with a treat when you leave to go run errands or go to work. They will start associating you leaving with something positive. Gradually increase the length of time during the day until they are comfortable.
Treating separation anxiety in older dogs
OK, so what about the dogs that already have anxiety symptoms? There are a plethora of ideas, tools, and behavior modification techniques we use. Every dog is different, and the level of the anxiety sometimes determines the training route we take:
We always start with one thing: basic obedience (yup, there it is again). If you have already gone through basic obedience and still have a problem, there might be some leadership skills we need to tweak.
Often, we notice behaviors you do as you leave that are “triggers” and we can help the dog self-regulate before the anxiety gets out of control. I remember we once had a rescued Jack Russel Terrier client who felt trapped in his own house because he felt so guilty leaving the dog with its anxiety. No owner should feel like that. We figured out the triggers, helped both client and dog adjust, and by the end of our basic obedience program the client was back on his regular routine!
“Triggers” can be hard or easy to spot. Sometimes they are as simple as you picking up your keys. Sometimes they are as complex as you putting on certain shoes. Whatever it is, your trainer can help you spot them, and then help you teach your dog how to cope with them. Some ways we can help:
- showing you how to redirect your dog’s attention to something else
- finding ways to wear them out a bit so their mind is too tired to get anxious about you leaving
- (in the most extreme cases) work with your vet using medication to help calm your dog enough to learn a new behavior (and eventually weaning them off the meds).
There are so many options, it’s hard to list them all here ;-P
Anxiety wraps, pheromone products, and holistic calming pills are all helpful tools, but they don’t treat the underlying issue. We try to use those tools while we train to fix the problem.
Related: Thunder Anxiety In Dogs
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