Few things cause more distress in a dog and its owner than Separation Anxiety. The dog can become destructive, vocalizes loudly, soils in the house and is some cases will even defecate on the owners bed. The behavior may not be as bad as this. The dog may only pant, or pace alot. All is not lost- properly diagnosing and treating the problem is your first step.

First we have to determine if the behavior is from Separation Anxiety or Boredom. Separation Anxiety while used as a "catch all" to label many problems has two keys elements. The first is separation from the owner and the second is Anxiety or fear. The following are some clues that the dog has separation anxiety and not something else. First, the type of behavior initiates when the dog perceives that he is about to be left alone. Second, the pet has formed a "hyperattachment" to the owner. This is evident when the dog follows you from room to room and/or constantly needs to be held. Thirdly, the destructive behavior is mostly directed to barriers such as doors or windows. Most likely the location the pet last saw its owner as it wants to be near him. Vocalization during this period of anxiety is usually high pitched and in repeated yips. This type of vocalization is akin to a young puppies distress call. Lastly, the behavior occurs within the first 30 minutes.

There is a treatment for this behavior, but it may take a great deal of time and patience.

Discourage Hyperattachment

You must resist the temptation to continually pet a dog with this condition, especially when the dog initiates the contact. Those dog owners that continually dote on their dog for little to no reason, may need to re-evaluate their relationship with their dog.
Keep the dog from laying in close proximity to you. Keep barriers up between you and the dog. This forces the dog to settle down away from you and you should then calmly praise the dog when he does settle down away from you. Start a process of moving the dog further and further away from you if he sleeps in bed with you.

No one person in the house (in homes with multiple people) should be the sole provider of food, attention, walks etc. Break up these activities between different people.

Encourage the dog to play by himself by using special toys like a Kong that is filled with a food reward.

Relaxation During Separation

Attempt to create a more positive environment for the dog while you are out. Provide a special toy (i.e. nylabone soaked in broth) that the dog gets as you leave, but you take back when you come back. Check into obtaining a D.A.P (dog appeasement phermone) that is a plug-in scent releasing device. This is an engineered scent made to imitate the scent given by a mother to tell her puppies that everything is okay. Also, leave on a TV or radio. This will not fool the dog into believing that someone is home. This is meant to recreate the environment that we relax in, it would be like a conditioned cue. We relax here, so you should also.

Desensitization To Separation

We usually have certain rituals we do that indicate to the dog that something is about to happen. Pick up a leash and the dogs knows that he is about to go for a walk. With this in mind we need to desensitize the dog to our leaving. At random times, go through the ritual you do before you leave the house. We want the dog to say to himself "this used to mean that mommy/daddy is going out, but I guess not anymore" Before you leave, start to ignore the dog so that when you leave it is not dramatic. Simply say "See you soon" and leave. Start to actually leave the house, but only remain away for a few moments to begin with. Slowly lengthen the time you are outside. When you return, ignore the dog for a few minutes before turning your attention to him. Another exercise to try is to walk around the house and shut the door of various rooms behind you if the dog follows. Work the timing of this separation from the dog as above. Teach the dog a "place" command and have him stay there for longer and longer periods of time.

Important Points

Never make your return home something the dog dreds. If you come home and the dog destroyed the house, greet the dog warmly anyway. If someone must be blamed- blame yourself. The dog will not understand it if you yell at him for the mess. He will only learn to dred you coming home.
Consider crate training your dog. Crates should not be seen by the dog as punishment, but a safe haven to go to.
Consider having the dog checked for any medical issues.
Separation anxiety may have started due to moving to a new home, the loss of a loved one through death, divorce, or going away to school to name a few examples. Separation Anxiety may also be the result of early separation from the mother (bitch) or deprivation of attachment early in life (dogs that came from shelters, pets stores)

Train your dog with these methods even if he does not currently display Separation Anxiety. The reason is that the dog may not have yet been exposed to your being away. Allow the dog to be prepared for that vacation, unplanned hospital stay etc.
Still need help?, contact your local Sit Means Sit trainer and we will help you and your dog recover from this problem.

 

 

·The idea is to provide the dog with every possible opportunity to learn that the new alternate behavior is more rewarding then the previous problem behavior.

·The owner needs to supervise the dog and it's environment so the dog is not able to perform the undesired behavior. 

·Since the "problem" behavior is rewarding, the dog will not get trained until the owner is consistent in managing the dog and its' environment.

·Until a dog is proficient at offering the new acceptable behavior in a particular situation (90%), the dog must be prevented from offering the inappropriate behavior, whether the owner is around or not.

·Leaving an untrained and unsupervised dog with that much freedom will commonly produce results similar to leaving an average 2 year old unattended for hours at a time.

·Consequences are designed to tell a dog that the behavior he just offered moves him farther away from his reward.

·A proper consequence should impact the dog enough that it decreases his desire to offer the behavior again while compelling him to offer the appropriate behavior immediately with a good attitude.

·Using a physical correction (i.e. leash) can be counter productive.

-Case in point- the dog jumps up on people and you use a leash to correct him.  The dog could develop a negative association.  The dog may learn not to like people as it is a cue that something bad is going to happen.  An oversimplification, yes, but something important to remember. 

·Dogs are happier, more confident and secure in an environment where the rules and exceptions are consistent.

·Owners that teach a dog that a behavior is acceptable sometimes, and then gets angry at the dog for the behavior at other times will almost always have a difficult time eliminating the problem.

·Consistency is crucial in treating behavior problems because the problems that we want to eliminate (jumping, chewing, digging etc) are self-rewarding behaviors for the dog.

·The dog will not want to miss out on an opportunity, if given one, to partake in them.

Next Issue will begin with using this treatment plan on the issue of jumping

- Animal Behavior College