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Separation Anxiety
By
Larry Parr
Separation
anxiety is a panic-type reaction that your dog feels when you leave your
pet alone. Separation anxiety can lead
to any number of unwanted behaviors, from making messes in the house to
tearing the place apart.
Some
dog owners mistakenly believe that when you leave a dog alone and it
destroys objects around the house that the dog is “getting even” with you
for going off and leaving it.
NOTHING
COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.
You and
your dog do NOT live in a Disney cartoon where animals think and feel the
same way humans do. Your dog is
NOT thinking of ways to get back at you for leaving it alone. In fact, your dog is not THINKING at
all, and the sooner you realize this important distinction, the sooner
you and your dog will be able to deal with the very real psychological
problems associated with Separation Anxiety.
Ultimately
the problems associated with Separation Anxiety come down to an unusually
strong attachment that your dog has with you. All of the problems associated with
Separation Anxiety – inappropriate defecation or wetting, prolonged
periods of barking or whining, hyperactivity, depression and/or
destructive behavior – can be caused by other problems, but if
these problems are always associated with the animal being left alone,
and if the dog exhibits a prolonged greeting ritual whenever the owner
returns, then chances are the problems stem from the dog’s abnormal
dependency on you.
This
dependency can have many causes. Some dogs seem to simply have a
predisposition to dependency.
Other dogs have suffered a separation anxiety earlier in life – a
too-early separation from the mother, not being around other dogs as a
puppy, a sudden change in environment or many other similar life
upheavals – that has now resulted in extreme anxiety and fear anytime the
dog’s owner leaves the animal alone.
UNDERSTAND THAT ANY INAPPROPRIATE
BEHAVIOR IS NOT YOUR DOG’S FAULT AND PUNISHMENT WILL NOT
SOLVE THE PROBLEM AND MAY EVEN MAKE THE PROBLEM WORSE.
THE
PROBLEM IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEM AND MUST BE DEALT WITH APPROPRIATELY.
One of
the most common treatments for Separation Anxiety begins with a series of
short separations. Start by
leaving your dog alone for one to three minutes – then return. However,
do NOT make a big deal of your return.
Your return needs to be kept low-key as if it is to be routinely
expected. If your dog exhibits a
prolonged greeting response, ignore the response and simply greet your
dog in a friendly but not overly-friendly manner.
Once
your dog can handle short separations, increase the duration of your
separations by five or ten minutes and then return. Again, be friendly on your return but
do NOT encourage an overly long greeting; attempt to make the greeting
seem natural and normal as if no separation had occurred.
Continue
extending the length of time that you are separated from your dog by five
or ten minute intervals. Do not
attempt to overly-stress your animal.
Keep each separation just under your dog’s separation threshold.
Once
your dog can handle a separation of an hour and a half then your dog can
probably handle an all-day separation.
Do NOT
go overboard with attention just before leaving for an extended
period. Many people feel guilty
about leaving their pet and feel that additional attention will make the
dog feel better. Again, this is
NOT the case and, in fact, the opposite is true. In fact, being too demonstrative just
before leaving your animal will increase its anxiety and can undo
days of separation anxiety training.
The
bottom line is to be understanding.
Separation Anxiety is a mental condition on the part of your dog
and NOT a conscious attempt to get back at you. With a little kindness, and a little
patience, and a gradual weaning away process, it is very probable that
your dog can be made to feel comfortable that each time you leave you will
return – and once your dog understands that, its unwanted separation
anxiety behavior should disappear.
©2005 Larry Parr
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
There are two excellent
dog training programs which I can personally recommend to you. One I have personally used, and the other
my sister-in-law used and both programs worked miracles.
You can read all about the program my wife and I used to train
our three dogs HERE.
Read about the program my sister-in-law used to train her old
hound dog HERE.
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