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Does your dog worry when you’re leaving the house? Do they destroy your shoes, furniture, or other stuff in the house when you leave? Do they go berserk with joy when you come back home? If you answered yes, your dog could be having separation anxiety.
In nature, dogs are almost always with their packs, therefore, it’s your job to help your dog feel comfortable and less stressed when left home alone. Dogs suffering from separation anxiety tend to exhibit distress and behave in a bad manner when they are left alone because they are anxious. The best thing is that you can’t help ease separation anxiety. Read on to discover how you can deal with separation anxiety in your dog.
What is separation anxiety?
Separation anxiety can be defined as a dog problem behavior that happens when a dog gets distressed and frantic when left alone by their owners. It’s a serious condition, which many pet owners mistake for disobedience or spite. Due to this condition, many pet owners get frustrated with their dogs and give them up, especially because they don’t realize that their dogs are usually distressed because of their absence.
Signs of separation anxiety in dogs
Dogs with separation anxiety exhibit behavior problems in common ways including:
• Barking, howling, and whining to excess
• Scratching at furniture
• Digging holes and chewing things up such as shoes
• Trembling and pacing
• Panting, drooling, or salivating way more than usual
• Trying to escape from a room or crate to reunite with their owner
• Going berserk with joy when you come back home.
What causes separation anxiety in dogs?
There are several causes of separation anxiety in dogs. Here are the most common ones:
• Change of pet parents
• Changes in surroundings
• Change in family schedule or routine
• Loss of a pet friend
• Being left alone for the first time when they are used to being with people all the time
• Lack of training
• Boredom
Now you know the most common separation anxiety in dogs’ symptoms and the various condition, and probably you can now guess what’s causing separation anxiety in your dog. It’s time to learn how to treat this condition.
How to treat separation anxiety
When you discover that your dog is suffering from separation anxiety, your goal, as a pet parent is to find the best treatment that will calm and ensure your pet is happy. While you can succeed at treating your dog on your own, the first you want to do is talk to your vet to rule out any medical problems. Sometimes, some health conditions such as infections or hormone problems can lead to accidents in the house. Also, some medications can cause accidents, and so it’s important to talk to your vet to know if the medications are to blame.
Separation treatment involves behavioral changes that will help your dog learn to be calm when let alone. Here’s how to treat separation anxiety in your dog:
1. Identify the cause of separation anxiety
This is the very first step in dealing with separation anxiety in dogs. It can be difficult to identify the triggers for separation-related behaviors because a majority of them happen when your dog is left alone. However, it’s essential to identify them to address the root cause of the problem. You can set up a camera that monitors your dog when you’re away. The footage will allow you to accurately identify any triggers that may be contributing to your dog’s behavior problems. This could be the neighbor’s dog’s barking, loud cars or people passing by the house, or even boredom.
2. Confidence building
If your dog exhibits fear and anxiety when left alone, they could be having confidence issues. Engage in daily training sessions that will help build your dog’s confidence and also help them feel calmer and happier to do things on their own.
You can engage in some basic training that involves basic commands such as sit, down paw, come and stay, or teach them fun new tricks such as roll-over, spin, speak and shake. Since you’re dealing with an anxious dog, be sure to make your training positive with rewards. Reward them with a treat or gentle praise when they choose to settle down somewhere away from you.
3. Train your dog to be independent
If your dog becomes anxious when you’re preparing to head out or freaks out even when you’re away for short periods of time, you need to encourage them to be more independent in themselves. Discourage her from following you around constantly by teaching her solid basic commands like down/stay. Let her stay in one room while you go about your tasks in another.
Start teaching the solid down/stay command slowly, and gradually increase the times she must stay in one place before rewarding with a food treat. Start by adding time in seconds, and once she’s can stay in a down for about 30 seconds, start increasing distance by moving one step away from her, then two, then three and so on, until eventually you can leave the room.
4. Build your dog’s tolerance for alone time
To build your dog’s tolerance for alone time, start by putting her in a room, shut down or partially close the door and then leave the room. Gradually increase the time you leave her in the room, starting with seconds and build up to 30 minutes. Leave her with a stuffed toy or a chewy toy that keeps her busy.
When you return to the room, don’t fuss over your dog, however, you can reward him with gentle praise or perhaps a treat only after they have calmed down. This way you will be teaching your dog that being alone is not bad.
This process can take some time before you see an effect, hence you need to be patient and consistent.
Also, you might consider dog crate training whereby you train your dog to spend time in her crate, which can feel like a safe, comfortable place of her own. Put your dog in the crate and gradually increase the time you leave her in it and reward good behavior.
5. Don’t fuss over departures and arrivals
Making a big deal before leaving the house and when you come home does not help your dog with separation anxiety. It’s making it worse. Downplay long goodbyes and greetings by keeping them as calm, controlled, and short as possible. Don’t reassure her when she starts showing signs of anxiety before you leave the house.
Patience and consistency are key when dealing with separation anxiety in dogs. Before you start training your dog, make sure that they have had enough physical exercise to reduce their energy levels. Make sure your training is positive. Engage in training that will help build your dog’s confidence, foster tolerance for alone time, and become more independent. Also, you can talk to your vet about the various calming medicine options for severe separation anxiety in dogs.
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