Separation Anxiety
Does your dog bark, defecate, urinate, destroy furniture or possessions when you leave? If so it sounds like they have seperation anxiety. Dogs are part of the family and it's only natural that they want to be with you. There are several things you can try to cut down on your dog's anxiety levels when you leave home with out. Some may make your neighbours think you have lost the plot, but they do work! Continue reading to find out how you can help your pooch become happy at home alone.
General rules
Don't let your dog follow you from room to room.
When leaving and entering the room the dog is in, or coming in and out the house don't make a big fuss of your dog. You want them to learn that you going away and coming back is no big deal.
When you are going to leave give your dog a distraction. Anxiety almost always starts before you leave and the 'accidents' immediately after, so having a tasty distraction can help them look forward to some quality time alone.
Tired dogs are less likely to be anxious, make sure they get plenty of exercise before attemping to leave them alone.
Leave Often.
Randomly during the day, give your dog a tasty chew, eg a Kong toy stuffed with treats or smeared with pate. Leave the room closing behind you and go about your business as normal, but try to stay within earshot of your dog, especially if they are young or new to your home. After a few minutes, go back in – don't disturb your dog, ideally you want your dog to be relaxed and still engrossed in the treat.
Over a period of days, gradually increase the time your dog is left alone until you get to a point that they can be left alone for up to half an hour while you are busy elsewhere in the house. Once your dog is comfortable with this, you can begin to get them used to short periods of time alone in the house.
Confuse Thy Neighbours
The next part is where you act bonkers, confuse your dog into submission and astound your neighbours with your unpredictable behaviour. As I mentioned before anxiety can start before you leave the house the familiar sounds and actions of leaving act as a trigger for the dog to become anxious. What you need to do is desensitise your dog to these things.
Once your dog is comfortable and tucking into something tasty, get yourself ready to leave the house. Prepare to leave as you normally would and follow the same routine I.e brush your hair, pop your jacket on, get your keys.
Take your jacket off again and put your keys back, your are not going out just yet.
Repeat often, you are in the house at this stage no one but the children and the dog will consider your behaviour as odd.
Once you think your dog has got used to this silly behaviour from you step it up a notch and go out the door and immediately return.
Build up the time ouside the main door to a few minutes (before your dog starts to become anxious). If your dog is comfortable with this length of time, fantastic! Repeat a few times over the course of day.
Gradually increase the time you leave your dog alone in the house to about half an hour over a period of days.
If your dog shows any sign of anxiety, take a few steps back and start from where they were last comfortable