This is a guide for those needing to address Canine Separation Anxiety (SA). This guide is only useful for those dogs with mild SA. The problem here is that it’s very difficult for you to assess how bad your dog’s SA is. It may make sense to you that a dog who destroys furniture is suffering more than a dog who sits cowered in a corner, but you have no idea what kind of turmoil is going on in their heads. Please use this guide carefully and judiciously. If in any doubt, you must consult a qualified accredited trainer. Curing dog separation anxiety quickly is simply not possible. It is a weeks or months-long process. We are committed to offering the best separation anxiety treatment for dogs and so we hope you find this guide useful.

 

Assessing the situation

Put cameras on the dog. Don’t just look at the aftermath, see what’s going on in the moment. You don’t need to rush off to Amazon. You have a laptop, tablet or phone.  There’s one camera. Maybe you have two or three. Dot them around the house – especially the door you come and go from and see what happens.

 

Don’t try to trick the dog

Don’t sneak out of the backdoor. The dog has much better hearing and scent than you. He knows you’ve gone. Don’t pick up your keys a million times and put your shoes on and off repeatedly. It just confuses and stresses the dog. The single biggest factor is THE DOOR! Once you have walked through the door, the dog knows you’ve gone no matter how many times you put your coat on. In professional treatment we do address these departure queues but not until we have achieved significant success already.

Keep it simple and low-key

Use a phrase to tell the dog you are leaving, something like ‘Mummy’s going out’ Be fair to the dog and let him know what’s going on. Keep departures and returns calm and gentle, no big loud ‘Mummy’s home!’

 

Departure desensitisation

At some point, you have to go out so, teach your dog that it’s ok and you will come back. If your dog has SA then she thinks the world is falling on her head when you leave. You need to teach her that it isn’t. Start by leaving for no more than a second or two then straight back in again. SLOWLY build duration. In professional treatment, it can often take us weeks to get to 5 minutes. Keep the camera on Rover and go back in at the first sign of distress. We tend not to use food or distractions in SA treatment because it just doesn’t work. If your dog is only mildly affected, it may help. Or it may not. External factors are often an issue, so curtains closed and radio on.

If you really want to help your dog then he should not be left alone while you are treating him. It’s just confirmation to him that the world is actually falling in on his head. Get family and friends to help, get dog walkers, look for daycare but without shadow of a doubt, it will be harder to fix if he is still being left alone.

Mix up days of the week and times of day to practice departures. If you only do weekday mornings, that’s the only time she will be ok.

Other things you can try.

There is no clinically tested evidence that these things work. If there was they would be famous and every vet would offer them. There is however some anecdotal evidence that some dogs get benefits from them. Whilst we don’t necessarily recommend them, it is clear that these products don’t cause any harm and in some cases they may help.

Pheromone dispensers.

These release pheromones (naturally occurring chemicals produced by animals) which in some cases reportedly help to calm the dog. UK brand leader is Adaptil although there are many others.

Anxiety Vest

An anxiety vest looks similar to a dog coat but is stronger and wrapped more tightly. They reportedly give the dog the feeling of being cuddled and supported. UK brand leaders are Thundershirt and Kong. I personally know a  SA professional practitioner who swears by one for her dog.

 

What isn’t Separation Anxiety?

You need to know that  some behaviours of dogs, whilst not desirable, are not SA

Velcro Dogs

They follow you from room to room, sit behind you so you trip over them and push their way into the bathroom with you. For MANY MANY dogs, this is normal behaviour. If you don’t like it, you should have got a goldfish, they don’t follow you so much. If the dog follows you  around the house but is ok when you go out, you have a Velcro dog not a dog with SA.

 

Bored/Frustrated dogs

Bored dogs may well show some of the signs of SA but there is a big big difference. If your dog can be distracted by toys and kongs while you are out, then she doesn’t have SA. She just gets bored and frustrated on her own. Play enrichment games before you leave, get food dispensing toys. Practice a few departures. If she doesn’t have SA she will soon learn easily enough.

 

For  further help, and to get best separation anxiety treatment for dogs, visit the Separation Anxiety page on our website.

This guide is written and offered in good faith. It is not a suitable substitute for professional treatment for Separation Anxiety. 99 Problems accepts no responsibility for loss arising from application of these notes.