Dog behavior Problem, Dog Separation Anxiety
Dog separation anxiety can be difficult to eliminate. Only some dogs have this issue and develop bad habits when their owners are away. Since dogs are naturally social pack animals, when left alone they can be overwhelmed with anxiety. If given the choice your dog would follow you all day long. We can not spend all of our time with our pets but can train our dogs not to miss us when we are gone.
Dog Anxiety Behaviors
The high level of stress these dogs will have when you are away is the root cause to a number of destructive behaviors.
-
Excessive barking and howling. Your dog is attempting to reach out to you and other pack members. They want to hear a familiar voice or sound to know they are not alone.
-
Chewing problems may develop. The dog's bedding may be shredded or furniture, shoes, and other objects may become chew toys. This can be dangerous as certain objects such as wires can cause serious injury.
-
Your dog may start digging and scratching. The dog will make every attempt to come find you by digging there way out or scratching through doors and window sills.
-
Dogs may defecate and urinate as a sign of distress when you are away. House broken pets with separation anxiety may still make a mess indoors.
The Causes of Separation Anxiety
Not all pets develop separation anxiety at a young age. In fact many pets will develop this behavior problem as a result of a changing event later in life. The key is understanding what caused the dog's anxiety. Once knowing the cause it is easier to remedy the problem.
-
A traumatic event that happens to the dog while being left alone can be the trigger. For instance a house fire the dog survived while you were away at work or a bad lightning storm. The dog may associate your absence with danger like another house fire.
-
Changes in the family. Parents separate, child goes off to college or new member added to the family.
-
Environment changes such as moving to a new home or neighborhood.
-
Infrequent long periods of time away. If you go away on vacation for a couple weeks and leave the dog at a kennel.
-
Extended periods of time together. If you spend time together consistently because of a vacation then go back to your normal daily routine, leaving to work.
-
Leaving your dog alone for the first time.
Some breeds are more prone to certain causes while others can stay distracted. Knowing your breed and asking the right questions to find out if the dog will work for your particular lifestyle is important.
Knowing if Your Dog Has Separation Anxiety
Symptoms of separation anxiety are often other behavior problem symptoms.To properly train you need to be sure your dog is affected by separation anxiety and not another behavior problem. If your dog is experiencing the follow then your dog most likely has separation anxiety.
-
Your dog shadows your every move at home. They follow you from room to room and never leave your side, often showing issues at night if crated while you sleep.
-
The anxiety behaviors listed above happen when the dog is left alone.
-
The dog senses you are leaving and acts up before you go. Some traits of anxiety may occur at the same time everyday if you routinely leave your home.
-
When you arrive home the dog greets you with a frenzied greeting. Often jumping up on you and excessive licking.
Techniques to End Dog Separation Anxiety
1 - Provide a distracting environment for your puppy or dog. Provide plenty of chew toys in the area where they stay when you are gone. Make it comfortable with bedding, water bowls and their crate. It is also best to provide plenty of exercise, especially right before leaving the house.
2 - Make sure you are not making a big deal of leaving or coming home. Ignore your dog 5-10 minutes before you leave and after you come back. By giving them direct attention when you come home you risk rewarding them for any of their destructive behaviors.
3 - Build an association with something you can leave on. A radio or TV placed where the dog can hear or view it. This can do two things. First the dog will be in an environment where there is background noise which may sooth the dog. Second when you are home the dog is accustom to hearing background noises such as a TV. They may feel you are somewhere in the house just not in view of them.
Dogs will build an association with a routine people perform right before they leave the home. We turn off TV's, radios and other noise producing devices. Then we place the dog in a crate, pen, or outside. We shut off lights, grab our coats and walk out the door locking it behind us. By breaking the routine and leaving a TV on the dog may still believe you are home.
4 - Leaving an article of clothing or something with your scent can help calm the dog.
5 - Create a command or cue word for your absence and begin practicing this on your dog. Every time you leave your dog alone while home, say a cue word or phrase like "Be Right Back". When you go to another room say the cue word. When you go outside to mow the lawn use it. Anytime you leave your dog, even if it is a couple minutes, use the cue word. Eventually the dog will make an association that after hear that phrase you do leave but return. Once this sinks in use the cue word or phrase before you leave the house for the day.
6 - A longer more detailed approach is slowly training them your leaving routine and remove all associations with you leaving. Start with small steps by leaving the room and coming back. Then begin turning off the tv and lights but sit in the room where the dog is. After that begin combining the action of shutting off the tv and lights and proceed into another room. Next shut off the tv, lights and put on your coat and shoes but allow the dog to see you. Do all the stuff just mentioned but leave the room. Keep adding things to the training that would be a sign you are leaving the house.
Continue practicing but eventually add the process of leaving the house and shutting the door. Come back in after 30 seconds. Keep performing this routine and extend the time you are outside. If all things go well your dog should be pretty comfortable with you leaving the house.
7 - If all else fails you may need to higher a pet sitter. One of the largest pet sitting companies in the U.S. is Sitter City. They are well known, featured on CNN, CBS and the Wall Street Journal. If you are a pet owner looking for a pet sitter in your area you can create an account with them for a low annual fee by clicking here. You will have access to baby sitters, senior care, housekeepers, tutors |
The Most Common Dog Behavior Problems
- Dog barking
- Dog separation anxiety
- Dog aggression, aggressive dog towards other animals
- Dog biting, puppy biting
- Dog digging
- Dog chewing, puppy chewing
- Excessive dog peeing, dog urinating
