Separation Anxiety - Dog
It is not uncommon for a dog to be nervous when separated from its keeper for a time. The most common problem is a dog that is left alone when its keeper is out at work. With some dogs the anxiety increases quite quickly. It can have several causes:
- Some breeds are more predisposed to the condition than others, for example Springer Spaniels and Airedales.
- Dogs from shelters, possibly because they have been “deserted” before.
- Dogs separated too soon after birth from their mothers and other puppies.
Symptoms of dogs suffering separation anxiety include:
- When recognizing that you are about to leave the house, your dog starts whining, trembling or in some cases even becomes aggressive to try and prevent you leaving.
- When you are absent, she may start barking almost continuously or for long spells, or attempt to scratch or dig her way out of the room, damaging doors, windows or carpets. She may also chew the wrong things or eliminate in the room.
- When you return, she greets you in an over-excited way and goes through a long greeting routine, way beyond the normal minute or so.
If events of this type are recurring, then clearly the behavior has to be corrected or it may deteriorate further. Solutions include the following:
- Do not over-indulge her on your return! This can be a major contributor to encouraging the wrong behavior.
- Exercise her before you leave, in the form of an energetic walk of at least 20 minutes and if possible longer, especially if she will be left alone for most of the day.
- Provide distractions for while you are out. For example, give her something appropriate to chew and/or enable her to see through a window. You could possibly even leave the radio on a soothing channel - it works for some dogs!
- Practice some “false starts” which effectively acclimatize her to you going and slowly build them up, moving to the next stage as she shows no stress with the completed one. Initially for example, put your coat on, open the door, then close the door and sit down. Whenh she stops reacting, praise the good behavior. At this point you can slowly escalate the routine, by going out, closing the door then coming back in again and sitting down, etc. You can prolong the period before you come back in through a couple more stages.
These actions will normally remedy the problems. For more advanced techniques to deal with separation anxiety, click here.
