Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Does Your Dog Have Separation Anxiety? What To Do

A dog suffering from separation anxiety will often follow its owner from room to room, will behave frantically when they arrive home and may get anxious, depressed or excited as the owner prepares to leave. Within minutes to one hour of the owner leaving the home, the dog will start to dig, scratch or chew at doors or windows to follow the owner or to bark or howl to call the owner home. The stress or panic may cause them to urinate or defecate, even if they are housetrained. The behaviour only or mainly happens when the dog is left alone

The reasons for separation anxiety are unknown but often occur when the dog has never or rarely been left alone for long periods, has left its mother too early and formed a dependence on the human owner, following a holiday where the owner and dog have been together for long periods, following a trauma such as being left at boarding kennels or a shelter, or after a significant change such as moving to a new home or the loss of another pet or family member.

What To Do

Make arrivals and departures as insignificant as possible. When you get home, ignore the dog for a few minutes then calmly greet him with a few strokes

Leave the dog with an old jumper or t-shirt of yours. Don’t wash it beforehand as it should smell of you. This will be comforting to the dog whilst you’re away

Teach your dog a cue that tells him you’ll be coming back. For example, when you take out the rubbish, dogs often don’t become worried as they know you’ll be coming back straight away. When they see cues such as getting your shoes and coat out, finding your car keys, they recognise these as cues that you’re leaving for some time. Establish a cue such as playing the radio or television, or giving him a toy to play with or chew whilst you’re gone. To establish the cure, it’s important that you practice with it, so give him the toy and leave for just 30 seconds then come back, ignore him for a few minutes, then calmly pet him. Repeat often for gradually increasing times. Don’t leave him for too long to start with or the safety cue will be lost in his panic

Desensitisation Techniques

Start doing your usual ‘going out’ cues, such as putting on your shoes and coat, getting your car keys, etc and then sit down. Repeat until the dog shows no sign of anxiety, excitement or depression at this

Then begin to incorporate opening the door, then close it and sit down. Again, repeat until the dog shows no signs

Next, repeat but when you open the door, go outside (leaving the door open) and then come back in and sit down. Repeat until the dog shows no signs of distress.

Finally, go outside and close the door for just a few seconds then come back in and sit down. If the dog shows any signs of distress, wait until he has completely calmed down before repeating and stick to the same length of time until the dog has become accustomed to this, and then increase the length of time gradually.

If at any point, your dog shows distress signs, then you’re going too fast. It is important to proceed through each step very slowly. When you return or sit down, it is important to either not greet the dog at all or to greet him calmly and quietly. The more severe the problem, the longer the process will take

When you get to the final step, you have been on the other side of the door for a few seconds and you are ready to increase it to longer than a minute, add a safety cue as discussed above. Always ensure that your return is low key and quiet. Once you get to 60 – 90 minutes, you can then increase the periods dramatically and don’t need to increase minute by minute

Practise throughout the day and evening so the dog gets used to it. You can do more than one departure in a session providing the dog appears relaxed.

Inside The House

You need to teach your dog that he can stay in one room calmly and happily whilst you go to another room and return. Teach your dog to sit-stay or down-stay. Never punish them if they get it wrong, just use positive reinforcement with a small treat as a reward when they get it right. When you tell them to stay, you might need to start by only taking one step away and then returning. Gradually increase the distance until you can tell them to stay, get up and go to the kitchen or bathroom and they are still in the living room when you return. Always return quietly and give them a small treat or pet, do not make a huge fuss of them

As these solutions can take a while, it may be necessary to talk to your vet or behaviourist about drug therapy or anti-anxiety treatments in the meantime as an anxious dog can cause damage to the house or itself with its behaviour. This would only be temporary and should be used in conjunction with the above methods

Alternatively, you could try leaving the dog with a friend or neighbour instead of on his own or taking him to a kennel or work with you, even if it’s just for half a day

Do not get another pet or punish the dog as they don’t help, punishment can even exacerbate the problem. Although obedience training is a good idea, it won’t necessarily help this problem. The dog isn’t being disobedient or naughty, the behaviour is a response to his panic or stress.