How To Help Your Dog With Separation Anxiety
You come home to a swirling, hopping tornado of energy from a lengthy day at work. Your dog will follow you into your living room and you can note he's been chewing on your favorite pair of socks. Your friend stops over to warn you that when you were gone, your dog was making the neighbors nuts again by hurling and barking. Is he comfortable with this scenario? Your dog may have concerns over splitting the species.
Throughout the wild dogs are almost rarely separated from their family. It is our task to help add less tension to this unusual circumstance!
First, consider what leads the dog to behave like this:
- being left alone for the first time or being accustomed to living around people Shift of ownership
- Going from a shelter to a home
- A shift of family schedule or routine
- Lack of a family member
Common Symptoms of Separation Anxiety In Dogs
The following is a list of signs that could suggest separation anxiety:
Escaping
A dog with separation anxiety might be trying to flee from an environment where it is enclosed while left isolated or removed from its guardian. The dog can try to dig and chew through doors or glass, which may contribute to self-injury, such as broken teeth, front paws cut and scraped, and bruised nails. If fear over separation triggers the dog's escape activity, it doesn't happen unless his guardian is present.
Pacing
Many pets, whether left alone or away from their owners, stroll or trot down a particular route in a set pattern Some running dogs move in circular motions while some run in straight lines back and forth. If the pacing behavior of a dog is triggered by fear over separation, it typically doesn't happen unless the guardian is present.
Defecating and urinating
When left alone or removed from their owners, certain dogs urinate or defecate. If a dog urinates or defecates in his guardian's presence, fear over separation usually doesn't cause his house soiling.
Coprophagia
Some dogs defecate when left isolated or away from their owners, and then eat all or portion of their excrement. If a dog consumes excrement in the presence of its guardian due to separation anxiety, he usually would not practice the action.
Barking and howling
A dog that has anxiety about separation can bark or howl when left alone or separated from its guardian. That kind of barking or howling is constant, and nothing appears to cause something other than being left alone.
Chewing, Digging and Destruction
Many pets with separation anxiety chew objects, door frames or window sills, dig doors and doorways, or when left isolated or split from their owners, ruin household items. These habits, such as missing teeth, bruised and scraped hands and infected hair, may cause self-injury. If the biting, scratching, and degradation of a dog is triggered by fear over separation, they typically don't arise in the company of his guardian.
How to solve minor separation anxiety
- Don't make a huge deal out of arrivals and departures— for the first few minutes forget the puppy, then gently pet it.
- Leave your dog with clothing recently worn and smelling like you.
- Create a term or gesture that you use if you quit, reminding your dog you will be back.
- Consider using a readily available calming product which reduces dog fear.
Handling more severe problems with Separation Anxiety
Using the above-mentioned methods coupled with instruction on desensitization. Using constructive reinforcement, show the dog the sit-stay and down-stay commands. This training should allow them to understand that when you go to another location, they should sit peacefully and happily at one spot.
Having a "special spot" to restrict the potential of your dog to be aggressive while abroad. A secure location should:
- Slightly confine the dog (a space with a window and games, not total isolation)
- Contain active entertainment games
- Provide dirty laundry to provide a calming smell signal or other warning points
Is your dog now calm? How can you cope while your dog learns?
It can take your dog time to unlearn their reaction to your departures with fear. Find the following alternative approaches to help you and your dog survive in the near term:
- Inquire the doctor for the opioid treatment to alleviate their general distress.
- If you must go, send the dog to a doggie daycare center or kennel.
- Leave your puppy, while you're gone, with a relative, family member or neighbor.
- When necessary, send the dog out of work with you.
Avoid the following practices;
Penalty.
Punishment is not successful in reducing uncertainty over separation, which may make matters worse.
One more boy.
Generally having your dog a friend doesn't benefit a depressed dog as their fear is the product of their isolation from you, and not about being isolated.
Crating.
Your dog may often indulge in distress reactions inside a cage, so to flee, they can urinate, defecate, howl or even kill themselves. Instead, as mentioned above, establish certain kinds of "protected locations"
Noise on radio / TV.
It won't benefit keeping the radio or television on (unless the radio or television is used as a warning cue).
Workout discipline.
While structured preparation is often a good thing, anxiety over separation is not the product of disrespect or a lack of instruction.
Time alone for pets: Is there a Limit?
Asking a young dog to sit home alone for 5 to 10 hours is unfair; he must go out and relieve himself halfway through the day. When you drive him to the soil at school, the least you can induce stress-related behaviors, the best you can build issues with home teaching. Options could involve taking him to work with you, making family members come home on their lunch hour, scheduling stay-at-home friends to let him out, getting a pet walker to walk and play with him, or bringing him to a well-run daycare doggie facility. (Note: For a very young pup the daycare choice is not appropriate.)
If you set up a regimen to help your dog excel, he can receive his Master's Degree in Home Alone soon, and be comfortable with complete freedom of property. Any dog owners might be too late to claim they have had a dog with separation issues, but it's never too late to promise "never again!"
Our verdict
Take action to avoid your new dog's apprehension over separation by teaching him to tolerate being left behind.
Assess the nervous habits of your dog (destructive conduct, vocalization, and excessive elimination) and decide whether the actions might have a source other than fear over a separation.
Understand that the problematic conduct of your dog is not intentional, and that discipline is futile, insufficient, and would only intensify the behavior.
