Helping Your Dog With Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety is one of the most common problems for dog owners.  Dogs who become anxious, upset, and even destructive when left alone may be suffering from separation anxiety.  There are many roots and causes, and as a result, guiding your dog to learn to be alone can be a difficult process for many dog owners.  A great amount of literature exists on this topic, and we've complied a summary from Angie’s List and the ASPCA  great in-depth articles to help guide dog owners through managing and preventing separation anxiety.

What are the signs of separation anxiety?

• Urinating and defecating
• Barking and howling
• Whimpering and whining
• Chewing
• Digging
• Destruction
• Escaping
• Pacing
• Over-salivating, foaming at the mouth

There is a large spectrum of separation anxiety from mild to severe. When treating a dog with separation anxiety, the goal is to resolve the dog’s underlying anxiety by teaching him to enjoy, or at least tolerate, being left alone. While each dog and each situation varies, here are some general tips to help all dogs who are anxious when you leave.

Exercise. Try aerobic activity for 30 minutes or more before you leave.  This will give your dog less energy to expend, and less energy to worry with!

Discourage behavior.  Sometimes pet owners reinforce behaviors that increase separation anxiety without realizing it. For example, if you return home and your dog gets excessively excited and jumps on you, if you return the excitement, you are reinforcing their undesirable behavior.  After your dog has calmed down, give them a gentle and peaceful greeting.

Don’t make a big deal out of leaving. Do not say goodbye to your dog. The bigger deal you make about leaving, the harder it will be on the dog. By making a big deal out of leaving, you convey to your pet that your time apart is a big deal.

Counterconditioning. Most destructive behavior occurs within the first 30 minutes of you leaving home.  For dogs with separation anxiety, counterconditioning focuses on developing an association between being alone and good things, like delicious food or toys. To develop this kind of association, every time you leave the house, you can offer your dog a puzzle toy stuffed with food that will take him at least 20 to 30 minutes to finish.  Keep in mind, though, that this approach will only work for mild cases of separation anxiety because highly anxious dogs usually won’t eat when their guardians aren’t home.

Eliminate Departure Cues.  If your dog gets anxious when you pick up your keys or put on your shoes, help them disassociate these signs with your departure.  A few times a day, pick up your keys or shoes and watch television instead.  

Leave on the television or radio.  Background noise soothes the pet, and has been known to decrease anxiety. Don’t forget to leave it on a channel with a consistent volume, like a shopping channel, rather than one with loud commercials.

Take small steps. Start by leaving your dog for very short periods of times and build up from there. For example, ask a neighbor or friend to hold onto your dog for one minute, then go into your house. After a minute, go back outside where your dog can see you. Then, go inside for two minutes. Increase the time in small increments until your dog remains comfortable with you leaving for longer periods of time.

Be consistent. Once you decide on a method, stick with it. Alleviating anxiety requires consistency and it may take time to see a change in behavior. Switching methods because you’re not seeing results right away can confuse the dog.

Alternatives.  There are other alternatives to leaving your dog home alone. Try leaving your dog with family or friends, or even better, bring them to doggie daycare to socialize and play with other dogs to learn that separating  from you for a couple of hours
can be a fun experience!
 

Source: Angie’s List & ASPCA

Why Does YOUR Dog Bark? Train Away Barking by Recognizing its Cause

All dogs can bark. Even the “barkless” dog, the Basenji, lets out a yodel-like howl that could put some barking dogs to shame. Regardless of when and where it happens, most pet owners are keen to put a stop to repetitive barking. In this case, training is more about controlling and stopping a behavior than it is teaching the dog to do something new.

Controlling your pet’s barking involves a lot more than just teaching your dog a “quiet” command. Our sister facility Morris K9 Campus, and professional dog trainer Christine Hibbard, delve into the different causes and types of barking on their blogs, “A Dog’s Life” and “Behind the Behavior.” The first step in training this behavior, they both agree, is to figure out what triggers the barking. Once you figure out what category your dog fits into, you can proceed to train them around that particular type of barking.

Alert Barking: Say your dog sees something out the window or hears a knock at the door and starts to bark. This is your dog’s way of alerting you to something out of the ordinary that they see or hear. This type of barking is often the least frowned-upon by pet owners; we all want our dogs to let us know when someone is approaching, right? Instead of scolding your dog, you can thank them for the initial bark but reward them for quietly coming to your side afterwards. Christine Hibbard elaborates on her blog with more on this type of alert barking training.

“Give Me That” Demand Barking: Whether they want you to play, feed them or take them for a walk, some dogs try to get your attention by barking. Responding to this at all, even with a punishment, actually enforces the idea that barking for attention works. Instead, you can ignore your dog’s barking or give them attention before or after barking starts and stops. Read more on “Give Me That” Barking on the Morris K9 Campus blog.

Separation Anxiety/Distress Barking: If your dog barks when left home alone, they could be experiencing a type of separation anxiety. The first thing to do is set up a camera or webcam to record and watch your dog’s exact behavior. Then you can try using a puzzle toy to feed them while you are away instead of feeding them in a dish when you get home. This may prove a distraction for your dog, as would many other toys, like a treat-stuffed Kong.

Fear Barking/Conflict Behavior Barking: Dogs will bark in an uncomfortable situation when they are confused or unsure. Whether the cause is a person, strange environment or other dog, move away from whatever it is that caused the reaction. This helps teach your dog that they don’t have to respond in an emotional or angry way in order to get their point across.

Frustration Barking: A squirrel, a neighbor’s dog or a car driving innocently down the street can all set a dog off. More than out of distress, this type of barking is how your dog expresses frustration at their inability to “get” the thing that they can see. This type of barking is best addressed once you know the exact cause. Training at a facility like Morris K9 Campus can pinpoint your dog’s frustration and help teach them to turn away from the stimuli if you give them a command.

We also have manners training here at Morris Animal Inn to help reinforce commands like sit, down and stay. A well trained dog will respond best to all of the barking training methods, and will lead to a peaceful, nearly “barkless” home!

Soothing Lovable Lexi: Week 3 - A Holiday Hobby

Lexi resting during group play.

Lexi's second week wearing the Sentry Calming Collar has proven to be an interesting one! She is receiving many compliments on how she and her stylish new collar smell terrific! She's even been showing off her collar during group play at Morris Animal Inn. Lexi seems to enjoy wearing the Sentry Calming Collar and has made no effort to take it off. 

This lovely Lab has shown some progress this week with her anxiety. Joanne was able to leave Lexi at the house this past weekend while she did some Christmas shopping. When she arrived home three hours later, she found no damage from scratching, digging or urinating. This is a great step for Lexi because in the past, she usually does some type of destruction when she is left alone.

Lexi has a new hobby – redecorating the house. The items she moves range from small portable lamps to empty shopping bags but the destination never changes; they end up on Joanne’s bed. Maybe she is so excited for the holiday season that she’s presenting her gifts early! Her favorite items to ‘gift’ are her toys: a rubber ducky, Kong and rope toy... OR… Perhaps she’s hoping for some extra playtime by making her toys easily accessible! 

Stay tuned next week for our conclusions on Lexi and the Sentry Calming Collar!

Dogtime Media has a special offer to share! At the end of this trial, if you believe in this product, feel free to spread the word about the Sentry Calming Collar and one lucky reader will win a $50.00 donation from DogTime Media to the non-profit 501c3 shelter or rescue of your choice.

There are three ways to qualify:

 1) Adding a comment to your blog post on the Sentry Calming Collar that tells you of any experience they've had with the calming collar or why they would want to try this product

2) Tweet about this blog post and leave the URL to that Tweet in a comment on your post

3) Blog about your blog post and leave the URL to their post in a comment on your post

If any of these three ways of spreading the word takes place, we will announce a winner on our blog at the end of the experiment which will be December 24.