By Heidi Clayton
Since the pandemic, one of the biggest behavioral issues I have worked with is separation anxiety in dogs.
Separation anxiety is the dog equivalent of a panic attack when their humans leave the house. The panic attack can produce prolonged barking, panting, whining and household destruction in any breed or mix.
Separation anxiety is hard on the dog and the owner, but in most cases it can be trained away. In extreme cases, medication can help ease the drama of the training and make life manageable for the dog and the owner.
When you think your dog is struggling with separation anxiety, it is important to distinguish between actual anxiety and boredom.
When I first meet a client whose dog is having this issue, we talk at length about the dog’s daily routine and habits. Sometimes it turns out the destruction the dog causes is the result of boredom and in having entirely too much freedom in the house, leading to finding interesting ways to entertain themselves such as chewing carpets, defluffing pillows, or destroying couch cushions.
In these instances we are able to save the owner’s sanity by implementing crate training and providing the dog with more interesting bones that are appropriate to chew on.
When separation anxiety is not caused by boredom, I find that the dog in question has some level of either genetic anxiety, such as being a puppy mill dog, or has experienced trauma like being removed from their litter too soon.
I also have noted that many of these cases are owner enabled, meaning that the owner has never crated their dog when they are home and helped them learn how to settle or relax; or the puppy or dog has been given constant access to the humans and is never really alone.
Some clients have one family member who may feel that their dog missing them upon their leaving is cute or sweet, while the rest of the family is left struggling to calm the dog.
A severe case I referred to a behaviorist involved the dog being in such a panic when her owner left that she vomited and injured herself digging at the door and was snapping at remaining family members who were trying to help her. This behavior was causing a huge problem in the couple’s relationship.
Other families adapt to the dog’s issue by always leaving someone at home to prevent destruction or injury to the dog. Neither approach is the answer.
It is never sweet or endearing for me to see any dog struggle. When separation anxiety is to a degree where the dog is causing harm to itself or humans, I always suggest seeing a veterinary behaviorist. Veterinary behaviorists have specialized training in the canine brain, behavior and use of helpful medications.
If your dog is truly struggling with this issue, a behaviorist can help identify medication that could be helpful. Most will also help with coordinating a training program. If you don’t seek out a behaviorist, at least speak with your local vet about the problem and possible use of medication.
There are various training methods I have had tremendous success with in treating my clients’ dogs that suffer from separation anxiety, which I will share next time. The first step in treating this problem is to seek help from someone that is familiar with counter conditioning and reward-based training.
Heidi Clayton started Four On the Floor Dog Training to provide positive, reward-based dog training in South Jersey. She breeds, trains and shows bull terriers under the SoraBully’s Bull Terriers kennel name. Email questions to heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net or learn more at fouronthefloordogtrainig.net.
