Training For Separation Anxiety In Dogs
Separation anxiety is the dread or fear that your dog experiences when someone that they are attached to leaves them. So a typical instance of this might be when you go to work in the morning, the dog might get tense or anxious. Typically this anxiety produces negative behavior in the animal. It may howl or bark, urinate or defecate in the house, start to chew things or bite itself. Obviously this is not good for the dogs state of mind or your home. So what can be done about separation anxiety in dogs ?
Separation anxiety begins when a puppy is separated from it's mother too soon. A puppy should have at least 8 weeks with it's mother before being re-homed. If a puppy was re-homed before this time it may experience separation anxiety in later life.
Separation anxiety training can begin as soon as the puppy enters your home (it's new home). It is hard to resist a new puppy but you should not make a big fuss of it too much. This is especially the case when you are leaving it at night time. Place it in the sleeping basket and walk away. This will get it used to you leaving and being alone for extended periods.
Try to communicate the fact that you will not always be there and your dog should not suffer form separation anxiety when it gets older.
Teaching your puppy about separation anxiety should be quite straightforward. This may not be the case if you take on a grown dog. The dog may have come to you via the dog pound or maybe a previous owner has given it away.
If it has spent anytime in a shelter or pound it may have been neglected before this. This may lead to insecurities and anxiety. It may have also been deprived of affection whilst in the shelter too which may add to it's insecurity.
If it has been given to you by the previous owner there is generally a good reason why they have done this. It may be that there were family problems, a divorce, money problems or that the person had to leave the country. As a dog is a social animal and needs the support that a family gives to it, it is also aware when there are problems in the family. This can trigger emotional problems that could result in displaying separation anxiety at some point.
So older dogs have a genuine reason to feel anxiety from their past experiences. You should try to reassure them that the future will be different. In terms of leaving the home, you should start slowly and build up the separation time. Initially you should go away for a few minutes. Don't fuss about leaving or returning. This will calmness will translate to the dog and it will understand that this is a normal behavior.
Do this repeatedly, gradually increasing the length of time that you are away from the dog. If you notice that the dog is beginning to get anxious then go back to a separation time period when it was content. Continue this process until the dog is not displaying any signs of anxiety.
To break up this process you could also try taking the dog's mind off the fact that you have left. So you could give it a tasty treat or a meaty bone. This should keep it interested for a while by which time you may have returned. Although this will not solve the problem, it may break up the training for you.