Dog Separation Anxiety by Sara Bijnaam
Dog Separation Anxiety
The symptoms of separation anxiety are pretty distinctive: your dog will usually learn to tell when you're about to leave (i.e., keys jingling, putting your shoes on, etc.) and will become anxious. She may follow you from room to room, whining, trembling, and crying. Some dogs even become aggressive, in an attempt to stop their owners from leaving.
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After you leave, the anxious behavior gets worse and will usually peak within half an hour. She may bark incessantly, scratch and dig at windows and doors, chew inappropriate items, even urinate and defecate inside the house. In extreme cases, she might self-mutilate by licking or chewing her skin until it's raw, or pulling out fur; or will engage in obsessive-compulsive behaviors, like spinning and tail-chasing.
When you return, she's excessively excited, and leaps around you in a frenzy. Some owners actually encourage their dog to get more and more worked up upon their return, which only validates the dog's belief that your return is the high point of the day. Then, when it's time for you to leave again, her now-exaggerated happiness at your presence is under threat, and she gets even unhappier when you walk out that door.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to minimize your dog's tendency towards anxiety. Here's a short list of do's and don'ts:
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Do:
- Exercise the heck out of her. Really wear her out: the longer you expect to be away, the more exercise she should get before you leave. For example, if you're leaving for work in the morning, she'll probably be by herself for at least four hours; and, if you've got a dog-walker to take her out mid-day instead of coming back yourself, she won't see you - the person she really cares about - for at least nine hours. So she needs a good, vigorous walk (fifteen to twenty minutes is the absolute minimum here!) before you walk out that door. More is even better.
- Distract her from her boredom, loneliness, and anxiety by giving her an attractive alternative to pining, pacing, and whining. All dogs love to chew - why not play on this predisposition? Get a couple of marrowbones from the butcher, bake them in the oven for 20 minutes (so they go nice and hard and crunchy - and so she can't smear marrow all over your furniture), slice them up into chunks of a few inches long, and give her one about 15 minutes before you leave. It'll keep her happy and occupied, and will act as a smokescreen for your departure.
- When you leave, put the radio on to a soothing station: classical music is ideal, but any station featuring lots of talk shows is also ideal. Keep the volume quite low, and it'll calm her down a bit and give her the feeling that she's got company.
- If at all possible, supply her with a view: if she can see the world going by, that's the next best thing to being out and about in it.
- Acclimatize her to your leaving. Taking things nice and slowly, practice getting ready to go: jingle your keys about, put on your coat, and open the door. Then - without leaving! - sit back down and don't go anywhere. Do this until she's not reacting any more. When there's no reaction, give her a treat and lavish praise for being so brave. Next, practice actually walking out the door (and returning immediately), again doing this until there's no reaction. Gradually work up - gradually being the operative word here! - until you're able to leave the house with no signs of stress from her.
Do not:
- Act overtly sympathetic when she's crying. Although it sounds very cold-hearted, trying to soothe and comfort your dog by patting her and cooing over her is actually one of the worst things you can do: it's essentially validating her concern. Make sure she can't tell that you feel sorry for her: don't ever say, "It's OK, good girl" when she's upset!
If you're interested in getting a more detailed look at how to deal with your dog's separation anxiety, Sara Bijnaam has discovered an incredible dog training system, with extensive information on various aspects of dog behavior issues. She reveals the resource at http://dogbehaviortips.blogspot.com/
Here you can find more resources for training your dog, see http://dogbehaviortips.blogspot.com/ and thanks for reading
About the Author
Sara Bijnaam is an animal enthusiast. She writes about the care, health and training of dogs and cats, among other animal-related topics. Inspired by her pets, past and present, they have provided abundant learning opportunities and inspiration.
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