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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
When not coordinating trainers for MAGDRL (Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League), Tressa Everts has been saving dog owners from their dogs for thirteen years.
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9/1/2004
How do you know if your dog suffers from separation anxiety? Here's a quick simple test.
Most dogs will greet their people enthusiastically when they get home and after about 30 seconds
or a minute it's all over. Dogs with full blown separation anxiety however can go a little nuts with pleasure.
They'll pant, leap around, and keep jumping up for 5 minutes or more before they run out of steam.
After the initial greeting, they'll try to stay close - so much so that owners feel as though they have
a shadow.
A word of warning. A plan to solve separation anxiety will be a lot of work and for the short term may be
very disruptive to your lifestyle.
It's not unusual for shelter or rescue dogs to have some initial difficulty adjusting to a new home or to form
an overly dependent relationship with their new owners. It's probably not the shelter itself that causes
these problems as much as the dog's uncertainty about where this new change, or the one after that,
is going to lead. Dogs get anxious when they can't predict what's going to happen next in their lives.
This type of anxiety is usually short lived and once you establish a set routine should end on its own.
Make sure you do not punish the dog for the things it does. When you punish a dog who is suffering from
anxiety, it generally will add to his stress. It will not cause the bad behavior to stop. What you want to do
is teach him the rules, not a lesson in cruelty. It is sometimes helpful to allow the dog more access
rather than less as it makes the whole environment seem less confining.
I like to use this as an example. Imagine that the two of us are in a car that has just gone off a bridge
and is sinking into the water. How panicked do you feel? Now imagine that I'm trying to teach you a
foreign language while we're in the process of going under water. How well do you think you'll be able
to learn? This is the same way I think dogs with separation anxiety feel. We first have to learn how
to calm them and then we can teach them the correct behavior.
Dogs used to live in packs, and they are genetically wired to be with others. When we go off to work
each day, some of them just can't handle it. Obedience training flies out the window when anxiety
strikes.
People are predictable. Most of us follow a fairly set routine. Our dogs are watching and listening
and sniffing, they're not stupid. When they are prone to separation anxiety, they start getting
emotional at the first cue that a departure is about to happen. They get progressi
vely more emotional
as each additional cue occurs. Sometimes something as simple as changing your routine can ease
the dog's fears. Varying the pattern of departure will often make the dog less focused on that one
door and what happens when it opens and shuts. Can you leave by a different door? If so, try that.
They understand that you are leaving, but they may be able to cope as long as they haven't got
that front-door stimulus putting their anxiety into high gear.
Turning on a radio or television sometimes helps the pets associate the sound with calmness
they feel when they are with their owner, even when the owner isn't home.
Initially try to limit and change the amount of time you are gone. Go outside and come back in 2 minutes
later. Go outside, and come in the back door. Vary the time of day and length of time you're gone
if possible. The key is to confuse the dog about the leaving ritual. By changing your routine on a regular
basis it becomes much harder for a dog with separation anxiety to predict when you're actually leaving.
This is important because once these dogs have identified your patterns; they'll start getting more anxious
as each pattern item is ticked off the list. Most of the destructive behavior happens within 5 to 30
minutes of the owner leaving. Some dogs have the worst behavioral problems right before their owner
gets home. This is especially true where house soiling is concerned, and the dog is punished for doing so.
Play the "find it" game, and in addition to the treats hide a bone stuffed with peanut butter too.
Having something to actually chew on will relieve some of the anxiety.
Do not crate your dog if he isn't used to it. He will hurt himself, and it won't make the problem better.
A pet must not be forced into situation where she will only be more upset and frightened.
Dogs should be rewarded for calm behavior and never punished for being afraid.
Try to get your dog as much exercise as you can! A dog that is worn out is a lot less likely to be destructive.
A general guideline is three miles twice a day for a large dog.
Sometimes a trip to the Veterinarian is needed. They can prescribe medication to be used short term to help
alleviate some of the dogs fear while they are learning to cope. Medicine alone will not stop the anxiety,
but it is very successful in conjunction with behavior therapy.
Mostly, you need to be patient and kind to help your dog overcome their fears.
If all else fails - call an Animal Behaviorist.
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