In part one of this topic, I described separation related behaviors and some of the similarities to separation anxiety in people.
Unlike with people, we cannot ask our dogs to give us additional information about what concerns them about the absence of their people or how much they are affected by it. We can’t judge whether a dog is only mildly upset or in full-blown panic as we cannot read their mind. It is possible that a dog with a seemingly mild reaction to being alone is so afraid that they quickly shut down completely. This is why we shouldn’t define degrees of separation anxiety in dogs- We can’t tell whether the dog is mildly or wildly upset internally. We can only go by the behaviors of the dog. This is why the term Separation Related Behaviors is useful. The behaviors are things that we can observe and measure that occur when a dog is left alone. We should note that we are looking at problem behaviors that occur when the dog is left, as there are any number of behaviors a dog might engage in that are not a problem.
When left alone, a dog with separation anxiety may engage in any number of behaviors that are problematic. Some of the most common are: barking, howling, whining, urinating or defecating in the home, digging at barriers or openings and showing signs of anxiety before their person or people actually walk out of the door. Other signs may be chewing/digging at floors, vomiting, chewing or licking themselves to the point of harm, drooling, panting, pacing, trembling, freezing, and frantic destruction of items. Some dogs with separation anxiety engage in multiple of these behaviors, some only one or two.
The key is that these occur either only /or more frequently/more intensely when the dog is alone. An example of the former might be a dog who is completely house trained, was taken out to urinate before their person left and during the 20 minutes their person was gone picking a child up from school the dog urinates in the house. An example of the latter might be a dog that will bark when they hear a knock on the door, but they bark for the entire time their person is gone, or bark for 30-60 minutes before they basically exhaust themselves.
Now to make this more confusing, many of these behaviors can also occur for other reasons. An otherwise housetrained dog may urinate in the house due to a urinary tract infection. A dog may bark or whine because they heard noises outside the apartment. A dog may rip up the couch cushions because they are bored. So, it is important to rule out any medical issues, and important to tease out if a dog engages in any of the SRBs due to frustration or boredom.
We can also say that there are some other things that separation anxiety is not. It is not manipulation. Interestingly, people with separation anxiety disorder are often mis-labeled as manipulative too. It is not a lack of understanding of where the dog falls in the “pack”, or an attempt to demonstrate dominance. It is not vindictive behavior to get back at you for leaving. It is not your dog questioning your leadership.
Separation anxiety can be extremely difficult for the dogs and for the people they live with. In some cases, it can be very isolating. Separation anxiety in your dog can contribute to anxiety in you as well as you worry about what will happen if you leave your dog alone. If your dog is showing signs of separation anxiety, make sure that you are finding support not only for your dog, but also for you.
Comentarios