Separation anxiety in dogs can be distressing for both dogs and owners. For the dog it will have an impact on its quality of life. For owners, it is extremely upsetting knowing your dog is going to get very stressed whenever you leave it and apart from an animal that is upset you don’t know what you are going to come home to.
How Do I Know If My Dog Is Going To Suffer From Separation Anxiety?
If your dog is overly attached or dependent on you or another family member, it may result in separation anxiety. Separation anxiety occurs in dogs who are overly attached and to their owners (or another family member). They depend on their owner for everything and follow them around from room to room.
As you prepare to leave the house, they may start to become anxious, shaking, shivering, drooling, pacing, withdrawing, refusing to eat are all signs of stress and may indicate your dog is going to struggle being ‘home alone’.
What Will My Dog Do When I Leave The House?
Separation anxiety may manifest itself in destructive behaviour, inappropriate elimination or vocalisation that causes complaints from the neighbours.
A client of mine had a beautiful mixed breed dog, that literally tore the wallpaper and then skirting board off the walls when she was left alone. He made arrangements for her to go to his parents every day, then got a second dog, which gave her the reassurance she needed. BTW: the concept of the second dog may work, but it’s not a guarantee of success.
Why Do Some Dogs Suffer From Separation Anxiety And Others Don’t?
Some dogs may be more likely to suffer from separation anxiety than others, but the type of dogs and scenarios described below are only suggestions:
- Dogs who have not learnt to be alone when they were puppies. Some puppies acquired during lockdown never learnt at the right age to cope with being alone;
- Rescue dogs who have suffered a traumatic experience
- Dogs who suffer from anxiety
- Dogs who have been left alone and suffered a bad experience (such as fireworks)
- Some breeds are more likely to suffer from separation anxiety either because they are highly social (Labradors) or are easily bored (Collies).
How To Help A Dog With Separation Anxiety
Owners need to understand helping a dog with separation anxiety will be a long process and a lot of patience will be needed.
Below are a number of points that will help a dog with separation anxiety. But remember that every dog is an individual and what works for one, might not work for another.
Preparing To Help A Dog With Separation Anxiety
- Before leaving any dog (and this is good practise for all dogs), ensure they are relaxed, have been exercised, fed and have had a toilet break.
- Look at your routine, does it have an effect on the dog? Picking up keys, putting on a coat, shoes, being anxious about being late for something. These can all act as warning signs that your dog is about to be left.
- Some dogs enjoy enrichment activities such as a stuffed Kong, snuffle mat with some kibble –use some of their daily food allowance for these. Be careful about leaving a dog with chews when you’re not there to supervise, in case they choke. Some dogs will not eat due to anxiety so this is individual.
- Music or radio left playing softly may help a dog to feel less anxious. YouTube have some amazing music for dogs. Classic FM is another choice or just a radio channel with voices talking softly.
- Essential oils. Some dogs respond well to essential oils, such as lavender which has a calming effect. But you need to test what your dog’s reaction is before using. I sometimes use a couple of drops of lavender oil in a room diffuser when we have anxious house guests.
Keeping A Dog Sub Threshold
Any dog suffering from separation anxiety needs to be kept ‘sub threshold’. This means when you leave your dog, it has to be for short intervals at first.
You need to build the dog’s confidence very slowly.
One client of mine built her dog up to being left in 10 second increments. This might sound incredibly short periods, but it is so important to do this slowly. She literally goes out of the front door and times it on her phone.
Desensitise Your Leaving Routine
Your dog will pick up on the signals that you’re leaving (as mentioned above). So start by desensitising each stage of your routine.
Pick your keys up, put them down again. Pick your coat up and go and sit down. Whatever your routine is, change it, so your dog stops associating your keys, coat etc as signals that you are leaving.
Teach Your Dog To Settle
Settling on a mat or bed where your dog can go for some quiet time away from you, when you are in the house will help to give them some independence and build up their resilience.
The idea is to encourage them to settle before you leave and keep them occupied with a stuffed Kong or something similar, so they are otherwise engaged when you leave. As mentioned above you can also use music and or essential oils to create a relaxed and calm environment.
What Do I Do When I Come Home?
If the dog has created a mess of any kind, resist the temptation to scold it. This won’t do any good and may mean a dog becomes more anxious.
Try to ignore your dog or give it minimal fuss when you get back. A huge effusive reunion is not going to help the situation, as much as you might want to praise and enthusiastically fuss your dog.
I cannot emphasize enough that, whatever steps you take to help a dog with separation anxiety need to be done very slowly. It may take months to build your dog’s confidence. In the interim you can’t be with your dog 24/7 so consider what steps you may be able to put in place as an interim measure: dog walkers, dog sitters, day care for example.
You may need to step back a stage if your dog starts to get anxious again. If nothing seems to be working then it may be sensible to speak to a qualified behaviourist who can work with you on your individual dog’s anxiety.
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