How To Stop Separation Anxiety In Dogs

Why Does My Dog Cry When I Pick Him Up From Daycare

You may be wondering why your dog cries when she sees you, and it is probably because she is so happy and excited to be in your presence. … Dogs will whine when they are in pain, when they need something, and if they are just feeling sad. You want to pay attention to the noises your dog makes when you greet them.

My Dog Barks All Day While Im At Work What Else Can I Do

• Day care: In addition to the tips weve shared on this page and our Barx Buddy device, you might also consider doggie daycare one or two days a week. You might find that your dogs temperament becomes calmer after spending a day filled with energetic stimulation from other dogs. Again, we recommend that you use day care in conjunction with other training methods.
• Dog walking service: There are many dog-walking services that do thorough background checks or, you might hire a trusted neighbor to take your dog for mid-day walks. Make sure that your caretaker understands the train-treat-repeat method youre using with your dog.
• Dog TV: You may have heard about streaming dog TV channels or playing music to soothe an anxious dog. The jury is out on whether dog TV channels and music work to calm dogs that suffer from separation anxiety. You might try a free version for short periods to see if this helps your dog. We are skeptical that audiovisual stimulation alone will work for dogs that suffer from separation anxiety. Its likely that youll need to incorporate a train-treat-repeat approach.

My Dog Is Traumatized After Boarding

This is somewhat common. Separation anxiety is caused by a fear that a dogs owner will leave them and not return, and as far as a dog is concerned, being left in kennels is akin to abandonment. Throw in the fact that living in such proximity to other dogs may cause them to become unwell, and you have a recipe for discomfort.

If you must go away for any prolonged period of time, consider asking a trusted friend or family member to take care of your dog that means bringing your hound into their home, not leaving them locked up alone all day aside from an hour of visiting and changing water bowls.

In reality, though, you should not consider leaving your pet for any prolonged period of time. Being a doggy parent means that your furry friend tends to come with you wherever you go as part of a package deal.

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Remember You’re Not Alone

“The most important thing is to get your ducks in a row in terms of who you can lean on,” said Shoshi Parks, a professional dog trainer who specializes in separation anxiety. “Whether that’s a dog care provider you trust that can walk your dog, or a doggy daycare that you can bring them to, or a trusted friend or neighbor that you can drop the dog off when you need to be somewhere.”

Having a dog with separation anxiety can be daunting, so look to family and friends for support when you need them. Parks also wants dog owners to know that training can be flexible and tailored to fit particular lifestyles, so getting help for your dog’s separation anxiety doesn’t mean overhauling your entire life. “They can really do it on their own time, and that it really only takes a commitment of about 30 minutes a day.”

How Do I Progress To Leaving The House

During âmockâ or graduated departures, your dog should be exercised, given a short training session, and taken to her bed or mat to relax. Give the âdown-stayâ command, a few of the novel toys and treats, and then depart while your dog is distracted and relaxed.

The first few mock-departures should be identical to the training exercises above, but instead of leaving the room for a few minutes while your dog is calm and distracted, you will begin to leave the home. The first few departures should be just long enough to leave and return without any signs of anxiety or destructiveness. This might last from a few seconds to a couple of minutes the hardest part and most critical part may be to merely get out the door without your dog becoming anxious. Gradually but randomly increase the time. Your dog must always be relaxed when you begin. Departures must be as much like real departures as possible and include other activities associated with departure such as opening and closing the car door and returning, turning on and off the car engine and returning, or pulling the car out of the driveway and returning. The goal is for your dog to learn that departures are short and that you return quickly, so you must only increase the time you are gone if the dog remains relaxed when you leave the house. The increase in time must be random and slowly increased. You cannot suddenly go from a 5-minute departure to a 30-minute one or your dog may become anxious.

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Teach Your Dog To Make Eye Contact

Teach your dog to give you eye contact. Hold a treat to your forehead or by your eye and ask your dog to look at you. Gradually fade the food to use a hand signal and a verbal command to ask your dog to look at you. Not only does this basic behavior help you get your dogs attention when he is distracted, but eye contact also triggers a release of oxytocin in both you and your dog. Oxytocin is the hormone for attachment between parent and child. Scientists call these eye hugs.

Sure Fire Ways To Help You Eliminate Separation Anxiety In Dogs

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Enhance Positive Mental Stimulation

One way to help ease a puppys separation stress is to enhance their positive mental stimulation. This can be done in many ways, but some great options include interactive dog toys, feeders, and puzzles. These activities can help keep your pup occupied and distracted from any negative feelings they may have about being away from you. Additionally, providing them with a safe and comfortable space to stay in while youre gone can also go a long way towards helping them feel more relaxed.

Remember, every dog is different and will require different solutions to help ease their separation anxiety. However, by taking the time to understand your pup and what works best for them, you can create a plan that will help reduce their stress levels and make being apart from you a much more positive experience.

What Should Be Done Before Departures

Before any lengthy departure, provide a vigorous session of play and exercise. This not only helps to reduce some of your dogâs energy and tire her out, but also provides a period of attention. A training session can also be a productive way to further interact and âworkâ with your dog. For the final 15 to 30 minutes before departure, your dog should be ignored. It would be best if your dog were taken to her rest and relaxation area with a radio, TV, or video playing . You can then prepare for departure while your dog is out of sight and earshot. At this point, provide your dog with some new motivating toys to keep her occupied and distracted before and during your departure. The key is to avoid as many of the departure cues as possible, so that your dogâs anxiety doesnât heighten before you leave. Brushing teeth, changing into work clothes, or collecting keys, purse, briefcase or school books, are all routines that might be able to be performed out of sight of the dog. You might also consider changing clothes at work, preparing and packing a lunch the night before, or even leaving the car at a neighbor’s so your dog wouldn’t hear the car pulling out of the driveway.

“Avoid saying goodbye since this will only serve to bring attention to the departure.”

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How To Stop Separation Anxiety In Dogs

As a dog behavior expert, its always rewarding to assist in helping dogs who suffer from separation anxiety because it makes such a big improvement of their quality of life. If you have a dog that suffers from separation anxiety, you know what I mean losing control of their bowels, barking, chewing, destructive behavior, etc.

Stopping separation anxiety is all about making sure the dog is comfortable and confident about being left alone. This involves desensitizing them from the triggers that are associated with us leaving, helping them practice being calm when there are no humans around as well as when we leave.

I handed my camera to the guardian so that she could record a video of me sharing tips to stop separation anxiety in dogs and puppies. If you have a dog with a separation anxiety problem, check out the free positive dog training video below.

Although this is an easy way to stop a dogs separation anxiety, it takes a lot of practice and repetition. I recommended the guardian practice these steps to stop separation anxiety frequently in short sessions that will progressively get longer as Ripper gets more advanced with the stay lesson. It would be great if she could practice these exercises 4 to 6 times a day, but the quality of the practice is more important than the quantity.

I recommended the guardian reach out to me if she has any questions or concerns or hits plateaus in the process.

Recommendations To Dog Owners

Behavioral interventions designed specifically for individual dogs, and therefore that take into account the specific context in which the problem behavior is occurring for each dog, are preferable to generic, nonspecific instructions.5 If individualized behavioral intervention is not possible, or if it is financially prohibitive for a dog owner, then the instructions that follow are recommended.

All advice given to dog owners about how to prevent, manage, or treat problematic dog behavior should be clear and specific,14 and be limited to no more than five separate instructions.33 Thus, instructions should contain the five, or fewer, specific instructions most likely to have a favorable outcome. Instructions are equally effective regardless of whether they are delivered in person or by phone or email.59 The instructions offered are tailored to three different scenarios: 1) people who are considering owning a dog 2) new dog owners who wish to prevent separation-related problems and 3) existing dog owners who wish to treat canine separation-related problems. In each instance, five or fewer, specific instructions, based on the literature presented in this review, have been presented.

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Gradually Work Up To Longer Periods Away

This step requires a large amount of time and energy on an owner’s part and a real commitment to your pet. Once this process is started, it’s important your dog is never left alone for extended periods until its anxiety is completely gone. It can take several weeks to get to this point, so you may need to take some vacation time, hire a pet sitter, or enroll your dog in doggie daycare until you’ve completed this step. Unless your dog sees its crate as a place of relaxation and comfort, you’ll want to avoid crating your dog during this period, as that can exacerbate anxiety.

Once you have a plan in place to make sure your dog is never alone, it’s time to start getting your dog used to your being away. Try to spend at least 30 minutes each day on each training session.

How Do You Treat Separation Anxiety In Dogs

Dog separation anxiety training is the best treatment for this behavioral problem. Managing the signs of separation anxiety in dogs requires a combination of behavior modification and medication.

The exact approach depends on the dog and whether it spends short or long periods of time alone. Here are some helpful approaches for pet parents:

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Is Drug Therapy Useful

Drug therapy can be useful especially during initial departure training. Tranquilizers alone do not reduce a dog’s anxiety and may only be helpful to sedate your dog so that he is less likely to investigate and destroy. Most dogs do best with either fluoxetine or clomipramine over several months, perhaps combined with other antianxiety drugs where necessary.

“Retraining program that is needed to help your dog gain some independence and accept some time away from you.”

Although drugs may be important in reducing underlying anxiety and helping your dog cope, it is the retraining program that is needed to help your dog gain some independence and accept some time away from you. Pheromone therapy can also be useful for diminishing anxiety both while you are home and when you are away. Recently new medications have been approved for the treatment of separation anxiety in dogs. Contact your veterinarian to discuss if medication is appropriate for your pet.

Teaching Your Puppy How To Be Alone

Note: keep training sessions short for young puppies! Just 5-10 minutes of practice goes a long way. Practice each day to make separations a routine part of your pups day, and always work at a level of separation where they are not showing signs of stress. If your puppy begins to show signs of stress, go back a few steps to a point in the process at which they were still having fun.

Create a safe enclosure for your puppys alone time.

• Provide your puppy with a puppy-proof enclosure for alone time this could be a room, a crate, or a secured exercise pen.

• Make sure there are not any dangerous items, such as electrical cords or loose socks that your puppy may ingest, and that there is fresh water available.

• Provide a comfortable and safe surface, such as a dog bed or mat that your puppy has been on and has not shown the inclination to ingest.

• Have this safe enclosure freely available to your puppy so they can choose to spend time there whenever they want.

Build positive associations with the area.

Practice separations in the same room.

If your puppys safe area is a room, setting up a baby gate in the doorway will allow you to practice the steps below in sight of your puppy.

Practice separations with you out of sight.

Setting up a Wi-Fi-enabled camera in your puppys safe area allows you to watch out for signs of stress while you are out of sight of your puppy.

Practice separations with you leaving the house.

Additional tips for building independence.

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Positive Reinforcement For Eliminating Distress Behaviors In Dogs

One common distress behavior in dogs is barking. While some dogs bark excessively out of excitement or fear, others may do so because theyre experiencing anxiety or boredom. If your dog is exhibiting distress behaviors like barking, you can do a few things to help eliminate the behavior.

First, its important to identify the trigger for the behavior. Once you know whats causing your dog to bark excessively, you can begin to work on eliminating that trigger. For example, if your dog is bored, you might want to provide more toys and interactive games. If your dog is anxious, you might need to start with short exposures to the thing hes afraid of and gradually increase the length of time hes exposed.

In addition to eliminating the trigger, you can also use positive mounting to help reduce inappropriate elimination behaviors. This means rewarding your dog when hes calm and not displaying any distressed demeanors. With time and patience, your dog should begin to display less distressful behavior overall.

If youre unsure of how to proceed, its always best to consult with a professional trainer or behaviorist. They can help you create a customized plan for addressing your dogs specific needs. You can help your dog feel more relaxed and happy in his home environment with the right approach.