Separation Anxiety is one of the most common problems besetting dog owners. Anxiety causes the dog to display annoying behavior such as barking when it is left in the house. If this is tolerated, ignored or allowed to advance, your dog might become a menace, or it might create so much noise when left alone.

The Sources of Dog Separation Anxiety

Dogs are social animals. They have that certain sense of attachment to their master. Because of this attachment, it has a tendency to get overly agitated when left behind. It is important to note that anxiety is not caused by the mere attachment of the dog to its master, but by specific actions or pattern of events you take that it can connect to your absence. Dogs don’t want to be left behind, but its anxiety is not directly connected to your departure.

Separation anxiety occurs when you lavish your attention to your dog before you leave or when you arrive. You could also be doing a pattern of the same activities before you depart. Dogs can easily tag a sequence of activities overtime, and they will know that you are leaving. As the dog’s behavior is reinforced on a daily basis, time will come that it cannot contain its anxiety anymore, and anxiety is manifested.

Reducing Dog Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety can actually be reduced in a variety of ways. Some of the known ones are:

Change Your Routine. Make changes to your routines, especially your pre-departure habits. Dogs are very attentive creatures. They can tag a pattern of a series of activities that are repeated overtime. Make sure to change your daily pre-departure activities so that the dog can not retain a particular pattern of your activities. This will help to slowly reduce your dog’s anxiety.

Don’t Reinforce it. Ignoring your dog for at least 10 minutes before you leave or upon your arrival will help to make the dog forget the connection of your departure to the attention that it gets. Petting a dog before leaving it on only reinforces its anxious behavior. Another way of preventing your dog from developing separation anxiety is to put it through crate training, or placing them in a separate room in the house, or leaving the house and coming back at varying intervals.

Building Up to Longer Times. A dog’s separation anxiety can be removed by altering its expectations, like the length of time that you will be away. As you see the dog getting anxious as you head for the door you can always choose to take time to extend your departure or leave the house for shorter intervals, then come back. Your dog will not be as anxious as they often see you coming back in a short period. From here, you can already start to extend the length of time that you will be away without your dog taking notice of it anymore.

You’re Not Being Mean

Separation anxiety is a behavior that should be stopped, and the way to eliminate it is not an act of cruelty. It is a way of helping your dog to behave normally and be free from stress. The act of altering predictable activity patterns and refraining from giving the dog lavish attention is a display of authority that the dog knows by instinct. Dogs that are free from anxiety and stress are happy pets.

Persistent anxiety problems need to be resolved as early as possible before they can aggravate into a more complex behavior problem. You can eliminate or reduce separation anxiety by not petting them before leaving and upon your arrival. Your dog should not be made to remember this connection to make it free from dog separation anxiety.

You will find out how Stan Beck’s Dog Training Methods can help you reduce your dog’s Separation Anxiety and other problems.

Separation Anxiety is fairly common for dogs. A dog may suffer feelings of acute panic when he is separated from his owner for a lengthy period of time. The nervous anxiety a dog feels can intensify quickly. Understanding your dog and his needs will help to prevent this problem.

Dogs are social animals who need companionship. Companionship and social interaction is as vital as food, water and shelter. Your dog requires plenty of attention and social interaction to be happy and contented.

If your dog is left alone for a long period of time he will probably experience some anxiety. However, there are some contributing factors which can make the situation worse.

For a comprehensive guide that will help with dog separation anxiety, as well as other dog behavior problems, check out Secrets to Dog Training by Daniel Stevens.

Separation anxiety appears to be more of a problem with certain breeds of dogs. German Shepherds, Springer Spaniels, Weimaraners and Springer Spaniels seem to be prone to anxiety. Separation anxiety also seems to be more common among dogs who have been taken from their mothers at too young of an age. This fear is often present in dogs who were placed in a “dog pound” after developing an attachment to a family or individual. Neglect is the prime reason for separation anxiety in dogs.

Does your dog follow you around the house?  Does he become anxious when he sees you put on a coat or when he hears the jingle of your keys?  If so he is probably suffering from separation anxiety. When your dog thinks you are going to leave he may tremble and cry. Some dogs may become aggressive in an effort to try and keep you home.

Once you leave your dog may scratch at windows and doors in an effort to go after you. Your dog may bark incessantly and chew anything he can find. He may even urinate or defecate. In order to alleviate his fears your dog may lick himself over and over again until it becomes raw.

If your dog is experiencing separation anxiety there are some steps you can take to help him:

First, you must help your dog become accustomed to having you leave the house. You can pretend to leave by taking out your keys or putting on your coat. The next step can be to open the door. At this point you don’t leave the house but sit down and do something else. Do this step until your dog does not react in fear to the idea of you leaving. Praise your dog and give him a treat when he does not react in fear to the idea of your leaving. Your dog is now ready for the next step.  You should leave and then return immediately. You will need to continue with this step until your dog does not react with fear or anxiety. This requires time.  You must be patient.

Check out Dog Separation Anxiety for a complete guide on how to prevent this common behavior problem.

Another thing that will help is exercise. Your dog needs plenty of exercise. Taking your dog for a long, fast walk is one of the best things you can do for him before you leave for the day. Plan your time so you can walk your dog for at least 15-20 minutes.

Your dog needs dog toys to chew on. When you leave you can also give your dog a bone to chew on. In this way your dog will be busy with something else as you leave.

It can also be helpful to have some classical music playing on your radio while you are gone. Just keep it at a low volume. This will help to calm your dog and give him a sense of not being alone.

Your dog also needs a place he can see outside. If your dog can see what is happening he may not feel so isolated.

If you will be gone for 8-10 hours plan to have someone walk your dog in the middle of the day. This will meet your dogs needs for attention and exercise.

It is important that when you return home you do not seem overly concerned for your dog.  Simply greet him calmly and act like everything is all right. You will only validate his anxiety by being overly sympathetic. If you are too sympathetic your dog’s anxiety will increase because you are affirming his feelings of panic.

Is your family’s life style the best situation for a dog?  Consider that carefully before getting a dog. Are there long periods of time when you are away from home? Do you have the desire and the time to give a dog adequate attention? If you want your dog to be happy and healthy he must have adequate exercise and social activity. The needs of a dog cannot be met by every family.

I hope this article has been helpful. For additional help with dog training go to Dog Secrets Discovered.

I highly recommend that all dog owners crate their dogs.   Some people believe that crating your dog is cruel.This is totally wrong.   Dogs have a den instinct and a crate is a great way to give them a den where they can go to sleep and feel safe.It is natural for a dog to sleep in its den, so they tend to remain calm and settled.I highly recommend to crate your dog.  It will help with separation anxiety in dogs

There are a couple of added benefits to crating your dog separation anxiety.  The first thing that crating your dog gives you is peace of mind while you are gone.An appropriate sized crate is one where the dog can lay sideways and stand in.Before you put your dog in the crate, make sure you take of their collar.Dog Collars can get stuck in Vari-Kennel and wire crates.Sadly, dog have been killed from this.

If your dog has chewed up your carpet, couch or cupboards, the most sure-fire way to make sure it doesn’t happen anymore put your dog in its crate while you are gone.   If you have dog that chews their crate, you can coat those spots in bitter apple, or hot pepper sauce.If your dog can break out of it’s crate, you need to get a stronger crate.Some people need buy aluminum crates to keep their dogs.

Another good thing about leaving your dog in a crate is it is less likely to go to the bathroom at home. Your dog will try its hardest not to soil its den.Crating your dog is a great way to avoid accidents in the home or minimize the damage to the crate alone.

Most dogs accept crates quickly and learn to love them! I recommend providing a crate for your dog for it’s lifetime. You can always remove the door once your puppy has grown up and can be trusted. Make sure you keep the door on if your dog has separation anxiety and has wrecked items in your house!

Dog separation anxiety can be become a major, expensive problem when left untreated.  Be sure to spend the time to get the issues solved now!