What is separation anxiety?

What is Separation Anxiety?

We have a fairly good idea of what causes separation anxiety in young children but what is it caused by in dogs?

“It’s is a crippling fear of being left alone.” Rachael Claire*

 Basically the dog feels overwhelmed and can get into a state of panic and is unaware of its deviant, behaviour when its owner is absent. This can take the form of continuous barking or destructive behaviour like destroying carpets, furniture, or even chewing through doors in order to relieve stress or to try and find its owner.

No one knows 100% for sure why dogs developed separation anxiety. Dogs are individuals and may require different approaches in order to overcome this dreadful state of fear that they experience.

The internet is full of well- meaning advice on how to overcome this debilitating problem and owners are at their whit’s end when none of their methods help. It is really difficult to know what will work for each dog. Humans have different phobias and can have a fear of snakes, spiders or height, etc.

Popular suggestions

1. “You need to Crate your dog or leave him in a small bathroom when you leave him alone.”

Confining a dog to a crate or toilet helps prevent destructive behaviour and serves the owner but not the dog. Confining can cause more harm as it is aimed to suppress behaviour – they aim to teach a dog that it has no option but to give up.

Crates are very useful if used as safe places for puppies during house training. Some adult separation anxiety dogs are fine in a crate at night but if used as alone time they can become a prison cell.

2. “Leave some food before you go.”

Using food can complicate matters for the following reasons:

The majority of dogs won’t eat when left alone. Food is the last thing on their minds when stressed and will only start eating when its leader arrives home.

 Even if the dog eats while you are away does not mean that he is happy to see you leave.

3. “Departure pretendsto fool the dog.”

Dogs are not stupid – it’s not so much the rattle of keys, or getting dressed that gets dogs depressed, it’s the fear that you are leaving them behind that they dread.

Leaving the radio or TV on, saying long goodbyes, leaving for short trips, ignoring barking etc. does not solve this problem.

For these dogs the fear starts when they know that the owner is getting ready to leave and is walking to the door. Watch out for escalating signs of anxiety such as yawning, lip licking, pacing up and down and following closely etc.

Gradual or incremental exposure is the way to overcome this problem!

Separation training exercises

Place the dog on a mat or bed with a nice treat and tell him to settle down. Cheese works well. Wait until he settles down and is relaxed on his bed.

Pick up your cars keys and move about the house while the dog remains settled on his bed.

Walk to the front door as if you are about to leave but turn around and walk back into the room where the dog is resting.  Signs of stress may already be noticed in the dog. He may even have tried to follow you. Do these ‘trips’ many times (20+) until the dog gets used to the idea that you always come back and remains relaxed on his bed.

Repeat the previous exercise but this time open and close the front door immediately before returning. Do this many times until the dog gets bored with your trips and remains relaxed. Next open the door, step outside, close it and then immediately open the door and re-enter the house. 

Soon you can progress the exercise to wait outside for a bit longer before returning.

The point is that these exercises must be done systematically and gradually because you need to re-wire his brain to cope with you leaving the house.

Later you can go as far as walking to the car, banging its door and then returning again. Eventually by starting the engine and returning you can before long drive in and out of the property and soon even around the block before returning home.

Give your dog leadership, coping skills and love and affection.

This is similar to the way I trained Quanto my champion GSD the ‘long down’ – gradually and incrementally. After some basic training I got him to lie down near a busy shopping mall. I walked away and then came back to him. Next I went a little further away each time. Then I walked to my car and then returned. I got inside the car as he watched and then went back to him. I started the engine and returned. I reversed the car; followed by driving around the block and so on.  Finally I walked through the garden centre to do a transaction at an ATM and returned perhaps 10 minutes later to find him exactly where I’d left him. He trusted me and that I would always come back to him and I could trust him to stay.

For more see: *rachaelclairdogtrainer.co.uk

Another Separation Anxiety exercise that may work for some owners and their dogs

1. Count how many times your dog follows you at home in a day.

That means…

You go to the Bathroom, he follows = 1

You go to the kitchen, he follows = 2

You get something in your backyard, he follows = 3

And so on…

2. Once you get that number, your first goal is to reduce it by 50%.

 If he followed you 32 times in 1 day. You want to reduce that number to 18 times a day.

3. To do this, you will find a reference place in your house. It can be a small carpet, a table, an X on the ground… anything that will force him to understand he needs to remain in that spot.

He needs to see this as a game.

4. Bring your dog to the reference point and tell him to stay.

5. Practice small separation distance daily and reward your dog ONLY when he stays on his reference point.

6. Make sure to change the reference point location so he associates it with ‘the game’ of separation.

7. Once your dog understands that you always return after leaving him, he will associate this with the game and challenge himself to do the exercise correctly to get his reward.

Every time you go to work or leave home, you eventually only have to point to the reference point and set up the context for the separation.

It will become a game and not a separation for him. The most important part is to reward him correctly for good actions. Your return to him signals the end of the ‘game.’

Dog Training Doctors | 9325 Blue House Rd, North Charleston, SC, 29456