Separation Anxiety
Your dog is displaying signs of separation anxiety. This means that they are uncomfortable being left home alone. Because dogs are social animals, it is not natural for them to be away from their social group (you) for long periods. However, most dogs can be left alone with no problems. Unfortunately, your dog is not one of them, and you will have to do some work to help them overcome their fear of being alone.
You need to understand that your dog is displaying undesirable behaviors (barking, eliminating, chewing, etc.) when they are alone because they are anxious. It is not due to spite or revenge.
Because of this, punishing them for chewing the couch or soiling the rug will only make them more anxious. Recognize that they can’t help the things they are doing and decide you love them enough to put the time into helping them.
The program described below will help you teach your dog to be okay when they are alone. Have patience. It often takes several months for dogs to get over separation issues.
Crate training is an option; however, most dogs that are anxious when alone are more anxious in a crate. If you decide to crate train your dog, make sure you put time into conditioning them to absolutely LOVE being in the crate before you leave them in there for the day.
Videotaping your dog while you are gone can be very helpful in determining exactly when your dog becomes anxious, how long they remain that way, and where in your home they have the most trouble. It can also help determine where your dog is most comfortable so that you can start counterconditioning in that area.
Dogs with separation anxiety do much better when living in a stable environment with predictable schedules, consistent rules, and communication. As a family, try to decide what the schedule for feeding, walking, playing, etc., will be and how you will handle certain household rules, such as access to furniture or certain rooms.
Techniques to calm your dog
Rewarding Relaxed Behavior and Ignoring Attention-Seeking
The first step is to reward your dog for relaxed behaviors when you are home. Do not attend to any attention-seeking behaviors such as pawing at you, whining, following you around the house, etc. Ignore those behaviors. But when you see your dog lying down relaxed, praise them for that.
Aerobic Exercise
It is critical that your dog gets plenty of aerobic exercise. Exercise not only dissipates anxiety and tension but it releases calming neurochemicals in the brain. Remember, a walk around the block is not aerobic for a dog with four legs. You will need to get your dog running. Either throw a ball or stick, play recall games, or food toss games, but you must figure out how to get your dog’s heart pumping for at least 30 minutes each day.
Products to calm your dog
Composure Chews
Composure is a natural stress reliever containing Colostrum Calming Complex (bioactive proteins), L-theanine (amino acid), and Thiamine (Vit B1).
Composure Pro
Composure Pro contains all the ingredients in the regular Composure with an additional component called L-Tryptophan. Tryptophan is the precursor of the calming brain chemical called Serotonin.
Pheromone Therapy
ADAPTIL (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) can help reduce the anxiety your dog feels when alone. The product, a synthetic pheromone that a nursing mother dog emits, comes in three forms – plug-in diffuser, spray, and collar.
Thundershirt
Thundershirt may help your dog cope with the anxiety of being alone. The idea of the wrap is to provide constant pressure on the sensory receptors, which calms the dog. You will need to desensitize your dog to wearing it before leaving it on them when alone. To do this, simply put it on in the evening when they are quiet. You can also put it on when you feed them or give them treats because you want to pair the wrap with something good. If you try the Thundershirt, you can add it to the program below once your dog is okay with wearing it.
Calming Music
Music has been shown to calm dogs. Playing classical music at a low volume or dog music (can be found online) can help to soothe your dog.
Medication
You may need to discuss medication use with your veterinarian if your dog’s separation anxiety is severe.
Confidence Building
Daily training sessions will help to build your dog’s confidence. Have at least two five-minute training sessions every day where you work on basic commands (sit, down, come, stay) and/or tricks (spin, shake, speak, roll-over). Remember - training should ALWAYS be positive, especially with anxious dogs. Use food treats as rewards (not as bribes).
Performing behaviors on cue for food treats is a great way to build self-confidence in your dog. Clicker training is a wonderful method that helps build self-confidence because it encourages the dog to think independently.
Low-Key Departures and Arrivals
Usually, when people have a dog with separation anxiety, they often make a big deal before they leave the house: “Don’t worry, mommy will be home soon,” and a big deal when they come home. This does not help your dog with their anxiety; it feeds into it.
When you do these things, you create a huge disparity between the time you are home and the time you are away. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not have long goodbyes or greetings. Keep them calm, controlled, and short.
You should also learn the signs of your dog’s anxiety (whining, trembling, not eating, panting, pacing, ears back, etc.). They usually begin before you actually leave the house. Resist reassuring them when showing these signs of anxiety, or you may reinforce the behaviors.
Habituate to departure cues:
Make a list of everything you do when preparing to leave the house that makes your dog anxious. Perform these tasks (pick up keys, purse, briefcase, make lunch, put on your coat, etc.) several times a day without leaving. Work on one thing at a time until your dog no longer reacts to it, and then move to another trigger.
Comfort Place
When you leave, your dog must have a place to go where they feel safe and secure. This might be their crate (although many dogs with SA can’t be crated), their bed, or even your bed. It doesn’t matter where the comfort place is; it just matters that they have one. Sometimes, it helps to teach your dog that a specific bed or mat is the comfort place. If you want to do this, see the steps below on how to train your dog to “go to your mat.”
Mat Training
If you need to establish a comfort place for your dog, you can teach them to “go to your mat”, lie down, and be calm. To do this, follow the below instructions:
Lure your dog to their mat with a treat – reward with a treat when they step on the mat. Do this with the food lure 2-3 times.
Then lure with your hand without the treat (use the same hand motion) and say, “Go to your mat” as they move to the mat. Repeat this a dozen times from different directions around the mat.
Once you have paired the cue “go to your mat” with the action a dozen times, they should know the cue. Test it by asking them to “go to your mat” and then reward them when they do.
Practice this over and over from all different directions and locations. Soon, you will have a dog who runs to their mat when cued.
Next: ask for a sit on the mat, then reward with a treat
Next, ask for a sit-stay on the mat – increasing the duration slowly.
Next: ask for a down on the mat – reward with a treat
Next, ask for a down-stay on the mat – increasing the duration slowly.
Soon, you will have a dog who runs to their mat, lies down, and stays when you say, “Go to your mat.”
Independence Training
Dogs with separation anxiety are often called “velcro dogs” because they follow their owners everywhere. The first step in treating separation anxiety is to break this habit. This is hard for some people to do, but remember, you are trying to reduce your dog's anxiety when left alone, and this is the first step. You can’t expect your dog to be able to feel okay about being alone in the house if they can’t even be alone in another room when you are home.
Start this by teaching your dog to “down” and then “down-stay” (asking them to do this on their mat is helpful). Add duration to the stay first, with you standing beside them.
Once they can stay for 30 seconds reliably, you can start to add distance - one step at a time. Work to get to the other side of the room, but go slowly with this training.
Behavior Modification Sessions to teach your dog to be okay when alone:
If you are using the Thundershirt and/or the Adaptil spray - you should incorporate them into the below sessions.
Turn on the calming music and ask your dog to go to their comfort place.
Introduction of the KONG
When your dog can lie quietly on their spot while you are a few feet away, it's time to introduce a stuffed Kong during the exercise. Fill a Kong with tasty food paste (liverwurst, cream cheese, canned pumpkin, peanut butter, etc.) and give it to them during the session. Always end the session BEFORE they are done eating the food out of the Kong. Quietly walk to them, take the Kong, turn off the music, and bring it to the kitchen for storage until the next session.
You will slowly move closer and closer to the door while they eat the food out of the Kong. Eventually, you will move just outside the room so that you are not technically in the room, but they can still see you while eating the Kong. Make sure that you always come back before they are done, pick up the Kong, and turn off the music. Soon, you should be out of view in the other room while they eat the Kong. As you can see, the goal is for your dog to be able to calmly eat out of the Kong in one room while you are in another.
Repeat this daily until your dog gets the game, relaxes in their place, and calmly eats their Kong while you are doing your business in the house.
If at any point your dog gets up from their place to follow you out of the room, you are going too fast, and/or you need better food inside the Kong.
DO NOT give the Kong or play the music when you leave for work at this point. This will ruin your ability to use these things during your planned departures because it will be another cue that you are leaving.
Counterconditioning and Desensitizing to Your Absence
After you can leave the room for 15 minutes while your dog eats their Kong, you can begin leaving the house. Leave by a different door than you usually use, if possible, during training and desensitization. Get the Kong, put out the mat, turn on the music, give it to them, and walk out. Come back inside in a few seconds (before they start to get upset), take the Kong away, turn off the music, and go about your business (don’t say a word).
Establish a Safety Cue:
It is often helpful if you establish a cue that means you are only leaving for a minute. This cue can be a simple phrase like “be right back.” The safety cue tells your dog that this is the practice session and you will be right back. Eventually, you can give your safety cue in addition to the other strategies when you leave for the day.
Start to stay away for more extended periods. Leave for one minute and come back, then two minutes, etc., then longer and longer. Use a variable schedule for how long you stay away - 1, 2, 5, 11, 7, 2, 12, 1, 14 minutes - so they can never predict when you will return.
Add other cues, like the car, once you can go outside and stay there for 5-10 minutes. Start by opening and closing the car door before returning to the house. Do this several times. Next, start the car, pull out of the driveway, go around the block, etc.
Go slowly!
Do each step until you know they are not getting upset. Use a video recorder if you have one to see their reaction. If they ever become upset, simply back up and stay away for a shorter period.
When you have gotten to the point that you can be away for 30 minutes, and they are no longer getting upset, you should be okay. At this point, you should be able to leave them with their stuffed Kong and music on for all real absences. Don’t forget to give the safety cue as you walk out.
This program has proven to work for many dogs. It is very time-consuming and requires a considerable commitment from you. The key is to go at your dog’s pace. Do each step until they are no longer upset before moving to the next step.
IMPORTANT:
While working through this program, it will help if your dog is never left alone for long periods. Use a doggy daycare or a dog sitter if you can, and work on the program in the evenings and on the weekends. If you cannot do this, put your dog in a small area (different from where they are left during the exercises), away from the windows and doors, where they can do limited damage, whenever you leave for extended periods (8-hour workday). Leave them with your scent (a t-shirt you slept in works great).
