Separation Anxiety
Do you have a dog that you can't leave? Does your dog's barking or howling when you are gone upset your neighbors? Or maybe you come home to find your dog has used the bathroom in the house? Any of these could be a sign of separation anxiety.
I know how demoralizing and isolating it can be to have a dog with separation anxiety. I also know how wonderful it feels to get back the freedom to leave your dog without fear. Using practices backed by research and rooted in science I can help!
Signs of Separation Anxiety
Any of these can be signs that a dog has a separation related problem. A dog may exhibit one, two or many of these if they struggle with being apart from their people. These may occur during the absence and may begin beforehand when the dog recognizes signs that a person may be getting ready to leave. This is not an exhaustive list, but does contain the most frequently mentioned behaviors seen in dogs with separation issues.
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Barking and/or howling
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Urinating and/or defecating in the house
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Whining
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Pacing
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Chewing or digging at exit points (doors, windows, crate, gate, etc.)
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Not eating in the absence of people
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Running from viewpoint to viewpoint as if looking for their people
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Excessive chewing, licking or scratching
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Trembling
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Drooling
How to Treat Separation Related Problems
Managing Absences
In order to help your dog learn that being alone isn't scary, you must try to avoid leaving your dog outside of the training. This helps your dog learn new thinking patterns about your departures.
Incremental Desensitization
Changing thinking patterns takes time. In order to train the brain without causing pain, more fear or trauma, you want to create a plan for gradual desensitization that starts with what your dog can do now and builds that up at the comfort level of your dog.
Meeting Needs
Ensuring that your dog has opportunities for exercise and enrichment is a key component to working on separation related problems.
Learning to Read Your Dog
Regardless of whether you choose to work on this with a trainer, join a group or go at on your own, one of the most important things you can do is learn to read your dog and see what they do when you are not there. That means capturing video to view or review. This can be as simple as FaceTiming yourself or setting up a personal video meeting or can be a dedicated camera (or cameras) you place in the area most frequented by your dog. Watching how your dog reacts will allow you to determine if they remain under their threshold during training sessions- which is the goal!
Separation Anxiety Myths
Crate Training is the Key
While a small number of dogs with Separation Anxiety are more comfortable in a crate during absences, the reality is that a greater number of dogs find being crated even more stressful. In fact some dogs with isolation distress may handle absences much better when allowed to have greater freedom
You Caused It
There are many factors that appear to influence whether any dog will exhibit separation anxiety. However, whether a dog will be inclined towards separation related problems seems to be largely the impact of genetics, prenatal &/or neonatal environment.
Getting Another Dog will Help
There is a small subset of dogs for whom getting another dog will help. These typically are dogs that started showing signs of separation anxiety after losing a companion dog. If this is not the case, be aware that you could end up with two dogs with separation anxiety if you get a second dog.