Separation Anxiety

Dogs are pack oriented animals; Wherever the Alpha travels, the rest of the pack follows. A pack hunts together, raises young together, travels together, and defends themselves together. This is how canines have operated a thousand years ago, and this is how they operate today. Moving as a pack is an evolutionary survival strategy, it is important to the core being of the dog. Without the pack, a dog has much less of a chance of survival. Knowing this, we can understand why being alone can make them feel anxious, nervous, and frightened. Being alone, goes against nature for our dogs.

Lets go over some symptoms of separation anxiety (not to be confused with boredom):

- Crying, howling & whining

- Scratching up the door

- Excessive barking

- pacing

- panting & drooling

- neurotic behaviors such as running in circles and chewing fur

These are all terrible things for your dog to be doing. Whats worse is the mental anguish your dog is going through every time you leave the house. While its very easy to become frustrated and angry at this behavior, we need to understand what the dog is going through. When we leave them alone for hours at a time, they can feel insecure, frightened, nervous and unsure of what to do and where their pack leader went.

To solve this problem, we need to build confidence in the dog. Confidence that their pack leader is returning and confidence in what they should be doing while your away. Thi can be a lengthy process and often takes a lot of practice, but well worth it in the end.

STEP ONE

Place, down

Teach your dog the place command. Lay out a mat or dog bed somewhere near (but not right next to) the door. Point to the mat and give a verbal cue such as "place" or "go to your mat". when your dog goes on the mat give him a treat and praise. If your dog doesn't go to the mat, begin with a leash. soon begin to pair the place cue with the down cue. Do this several times until your dog obediently goes to the mat and lays down.

STEP TWO

Stay

After your dog is place, practice staying in place for a length of time. At first, stay in the room with your dog, but do your own thing. dont pay attention to your dog. When your dog stays in place for the allotted time, give a release cue such as "ok", a treat and praise. With each successful session, add more time and slowly get farther and farther from your dog. Eventually you want to be out of sight in a separate room. If your dog get up from the place without your cue, immediately send them back.

STEP THREE

Stay

Once your dog is successfully accomplishing the place command with you in the other room for a lengthy period of time, such as an hour, begin transferring this command to exiting the door. You can also add a special "away toy" with these steps as a reward for the dog staying while you exit. To start, tell your dog to place (in the down position) when this is accomplished successfully, give your dog the "away toy". (side note: the away toy is only for when you exit the house and should be taken away when you return). The next step would be to confidently walk out of the door without looking at your dog or making a big deal. This should have the same energy as the place in the house while you went about your business. If you bring nervous energy to the command, the dog will get up from the mat when you exit. If this happens, tell the dog to place again and repeat the exercise. Each time you exit, make the length of time greater. Soon your dog will realize that the pack leader will be back soon, and that his job is to wait on the mat.

#separationanxiety #anxiety #shaking