Anxiety Separation in Dogs

Anxiety separation in dogs is one of the main causes of owners giving up on their pet. Do you get home and find your dog going crazy barking and jumping on you in excitement? You may think… my dog missed me, but more often than not… he was tormented by your absence and his behavior is a result of anxiety separation.

A dog of any age can become a victim of anxiety separation syndrome. Dogs by birth are social animals and they resent being left alone unless trained to do so. You must not mistake your dogs excitement on greeting you, this is at most times associated with anxiety separation in dogs. A dog with this problem may hurt himself and destroy objects around him. The main point to be noted is that anxiety separation in dogs occurs only when your dog is left alone and without your companionship. We hope this article can assist you in ridding your dog any anxiety separation in dogs disorder that may exist.

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The main cause of this problem is that your dog gets overtly possessive about you and feels very uncomfortable without your presence. Trust us, most dogs have this trait and if you let this arise as a character, it is very difficult to rid. Anxiety separation in dogs predominantly arises out of him being left by himself – boredom! A bored dog will chew, dig, bark, scratch..do any and everything that keeps his mind off of you. And then when you come home…Hello!!

If you see any of the following traits in your dogs behavior, you may be addressing an anxiety separation in dogs disorder:

He gets over excited when you are about to depart from his presence.
Your dog is normal when you are around. When you are away, he is a changed person…destructive!
Your dog follows you everywhere you go and immediately becomes distressed if he can’t be near you.
He goes “crazy” greeting you when you walk into your home
He displays all or any of these characteristics in excess: barking, howling and whining; chewing, digging and destroying home objects; pees and poos in your absence, lack of appetite due to depression.

Always remember when diagnosing anxiety separation in dogs, excitability should not be confused with your dogs torment.

Tips to treat anxiety separation in dogs:

While entering and leaving your house, avoid situations where excitement is generated. Entry and departure should be routine and make your dog not to feel your absence.
Don’t let your dog dictate play methods. You should be doing this so that he plays when you want him to.
Give your dog a lot of exercise. This way he will use the time of your absence as a rest period and not miss you so much.
Ensure that he has something to do while you are away, leave chewable toys behind for him to play with. You can also scatter his treats in different areas so he is busy with his treasure hunt while you are gone.
Do not punish him as this will reverse your efforts
Crate train him so that he can spend time in his “own space” while you are away
Your dog should not be leading you for his attention demands. Instead it should be you that decides how and when this is done.
Try and determine the trigger of your dogs anxiety and solve that. For example, if he gets edgy when you wear your coat or pick your car keys up, then this should be avoided. This will bring down his anxiety level.
Leave him alone for short periods and increase the frequency of the absence over a period of time. Frequent coming and going will get the fear of losing you out of his mind.
You can as a last resort consult your pet doctor and use calming medicines.

We hope you found this article on anxiety separation in dogs helpful. Remember, training will take time and needs a good deal of patience on your behalf. But there is something that you can do – you owe it to your dog!

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