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SEPARATION ANXIETY
Your dog is showing signs of separation anxiety. This means
that she is 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 of time.
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
in order to help her over her fear of being alone.
It is important for you to understand that your dog is being
bad when she is alone because she is anxious. It is not
due to spite or revenge. Because of this, punishing her
for chewing the couch or soiling the rug will only make her
more anxious. Recognize that she can’t help the things she is
doing and decide that you love her enough to put the time into
helping her.
The program described below will help you teach
your dog to be okay when she is alone. Have patience.
It often takes several weeks or months for dogs to completely
get over separation issues.
Crate training is an option, however, some 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
her to absolutely LOVE being in the crate before you leave her
in there for the day.
Confidence Building
Daily training sessions will help to build your dog’s confidence.
Have at least one or 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.
Comfort Place and Attention
Your dog needs to have a place to go when you leave where she
feels safe and secure. Start teaching her a “go to your
bed” command and praise and reward her when she does. Give her
lots of attention and love when she is lying in her bed.
In fact, you should make this the only place where she gets
this kind of attention (at least while going through this program).
She will soon find it very reassuring to be in her bed.
Resist giving your dog attention whenever she demands it.
Ignore her when she comes to you and nudges your hand to be
petted. Give her attention on your terms, not hers.
Independence Training
Dogs with separation anxiety are often referred to as “velcro
dogs” because they follow their owners everywhere. The
first step in treating separation anxiety is to break this bond
a bit. This is hard for some people to do, but remember,
you are trying to reduce the anxiety your dog feels when she
is 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 she can’t even be alone in another room
when you are home. Discourage her from following you around
the house by teaching her a solid down/stay and making her stay
in one room while you are in another.
To teach a solid down/stay you must start slowly.
Put your dog in a ‘down’ and then start slowly increasing the
time she must stay there before you give a food treat.
Add time in seconds, not minutes, at first. Once
she will stay in a down for 30 seconds, start adding distance.
Move one step away from her, then two, then three, etc.
Eventually you will be able to leave the room. The key
is to return BEFORE she gets upset. If she gets upset
and you return to her and say “its okay”, then you are reinforcing
anxious behavior. If she gets upset at 10 steps away,
simply go back to nine steps away for a few more trials.
Alone Time
Put your dog in a room or crate (if she loves her crate), shut
the door, and leave the room for short bits of time. Slowly
increase the time you are out of the room, starting with a few
seconds and building up to 15-30 minutes.
Give her a stuffed Kong toy, or other chewy that takes time
to consume, before you leave.
** Later, you will be giving this treat when you leave for real,
but for now ONLY give it to her during the exercises or she
will start to associate it with her anxiety. Eating is
an activity that helps reduce anxiety so if we can get her to
start enjoying the stuffed toy when you leave her, she will
be less anxious while you are gone.
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
fluffy, mommy will be home soon”, and a big deal when they come
home. This does not help your dog with her anxiety, in
fact it is feeding into it. When you do these things you
are creating a huge disparity between the time you are home
and the time you are away. Therefore I recommend that
you do not have long good-byes or greetings. Keep them
calm, controlled and short. In fact, it would help your
dog if you ignore her for 15 minutes before you leave and for
15 minutes after you get home.
It is also advisable that you 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 HER WHEN SHOWING THESE SIGNS
OF ANXIETY.
Habituate to departure cues:
List all the things that you do when preparing to leave the
house that makes your dog anxious. Perform these tasks
(pick up keys, purse, brief case, make your lunch, put on your
coat, etc.) in repetitions of five, 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.
Counter-conditioning and Desensitizing to
your absence
After you can leave the room for 10-15 minutes and she does
not become upset, begin leaving the house. Again, go slowly.
Leave by a different door if possible during training and desensitization.
Tell her “go to your bed”, give her the food stuffed toy, and
walk out. Come back in a few seconds (before she starts
to get upset), take the toy away, and go about your business
(don’t say a word). You can also turn on a radio or TV
before you leave. This will become another sign that you will
not be gone long.
Start to stay away for longer periods of time. Leave for
one minute and come back, and 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 that she will
never be able to predict when you will return.
Once you can go outside and stay there for 5-10 minutes you
will have to start adding other cues, like the car. Start
by simply opening and closing the car door, before you return
to the house. Do this several times. Next start
the car, then pull out of driveway, then go around block, etc.
Go slowly. Do each step until you know she is not getting upset.
Use a video or audio tape if you have one so you will be able
to see her reaction. If she ever becomes upset at a certain
time away, simply back up and stay away for a shorter time period.
When you have gotten to the point that you can be away for 30
minutes and she is no longer getting upset, you should be okay.
At this point you should leave her with her stuffed Kong and
the radio or TV on for all real absences.
This program has proven to work for many dogs. It is very
time consuming and requires a huge commitment from you.
The key is to go at your dog’s pace. Do each step until
she is 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 of time. Use a doggy-day-care
or a dog sitter if you can and work on the program in the evenings
and on the weekends. If you are unable to do this, put
your dog in a small area (different from where she is left during
the exercises), away from the windows and doors, where she can
do limited damage, whenever you leave for extended periods of
time (8 hour work day).
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