Seperation Anxiety

[Sorrell]

Separation anxiety is anxious, problem behavior that is acted out when the dog is alone. Separation anxiety leads to problem behaviors. These behaviors exhibit themselves in a variety of ways. They can be shown as digging, excessive barking, chewing, and various other destructive behaviors. A dog exhibiting these behaviors does not necessarily have separation anxiety, but they are major symptoms.

While this may seem strange, there are simple explanations as to why dogs act this way.

Separation anxiety can be explained by exploring the natural behaviors of a dog.. Dogs are natural pack animals. It would never be a normal circumstance for a dog to be alone. People cannot be with their dogs at all times, which is unnatural in the pack mentality.

Now we need to discuss what can be done to prevent this problem.

Prevention of separation anxiety is accomplished by determining what behaviors owners must change in order to modify those of their dog.
A. Mimicry involves a dog copying actions they witnessed their owner doing prior to his departure. If a person rushes around the house prior to leaving, the dogs observation of this can cause anxiety in them. The dog is thinking-why is she so frantic? What is going to happen? Try to have at least five minutes of quiet, peaceful time in front of your dog before you leave.
B. Induced anxiety is caused through verbal communication prior to the owners departure. Two types: first the owner “baby talks” the dog before leaving, “Mommy doesn’t want to leave her sweet sweet baby puppy, no she doesn’t” This can make your dog feel anxious, because they are being comforted in no apparent danger, leading them to believe the danger must be impending. The second type is an owner who threatens the dog before leaving, “You better not get in the trash while I’m gone or else!” This obviously makes the dog nervous because even if they did get into the trash yesterday, they won’t associate this.
C. A lack of outlets for natural behaviors can lead to destructive behaviors. Chewing is calming, having appropriate chew toys is essential. Dogs physiologically need to chew. If they are not given things to chew on they will find something on their own.

To stop separation anxiety the best things that you can do are prevent the problems. If the dog is in the trash, lock the trash. If they dig holes or chew furniture, confine them to a crate with appropriate chew toys while you are away. Crates are makeshift caves and can make your natural cave dwelling dog feel very secure while you are gone.
Separation anxiety is a problem that owners can deal with once they understand the causes and how to prevent it. While this has just been a brief overview of separation anxiety, I hope that it has helped anyone dealing with this problem. Dogs are wonderful pets and companions when they can live in harmony with their owners. Preventing separation anxiety is one step towards achieving this goal. If anyone has specifc questions regarding this, I am happy to elaborate on the different areas.

 

[Pointy_kitty]

ok, so i've taken into mind all of the causes and solutions
she has a billion different toys for chewing and chasing (but chewing is not the problem) so thats fine
barking isn't too bad (every once in a blue moon when all of the neighbourhood dogs freak out over our wildlife)
a simple "hush" and she is done
MY biggest problem with my dog is digging, which is rare, but when it happens and i simply walk towards the hole she cowers, knowing that she has been bad
why would she do it if she would know it was wrong?
my dog is outdoors most of the time, as her particular breed are notorious hunters and my house is filled with small animals/ birds and a cat
to make up for this she is walked twice a day (1/2 hour in the morning and an hour at night)
during the day (usually after work i come out and do about an hour of gardening/ reading outside and usually throw her ball around for her for at least half an hour after that
i am worried that she does not get anatiquate attention


i have to go but i will get back to you on the rest soon

 

[Sorrell]

It does sound like your dog is getting adequate physical attention What I wonder is if her mind is being worked enough...Try getting her involved in some activities where she has to think, agility, obedience training (I'm sure she's had some, but trust me, no dog can ever possibly know all that they are capable of). None of this has to be expensive. You can make your own obstacle courses out of things you have aroung the house. Example: lay a broom handle across two laundry baskets and teach her the "over" and "under" commands. Try to mix things up a little so that she is always thinking. Another one that I love is called proofing in obedience. Example: There is an exercise called the recall where the dog is left sitting and the handler walks 10 feet away. The dog is then called and given the down command halfway to the owner. Then the dog is called again, they sit in front of the owner and then are given the finish or heel command to return to heel position standing at the owner's side. There are so many commands in this exercise that can be proofed. Instead of giving the "down" command, I might say "bananas" you can see the dog hesitate because they know what they normally would do, but they recognize that the command was wrong. It's awesome to proof and see how smart your dog really is.
Well, long post but the gist is, you can pet and walk all day long, but when a dog has high intelligence (like yours) she will need some mental stimulation as well, and this will help curb the anxiety.


Also, make sure that you never punish the digging unless you catch her while she is actually digging. If you come home and punish for holes that she dug earlier, she will associate your homecoming with punishment and her anxiety will go up even more, except this time instead of OMG when is she coming home
It will be OMG when is she coming home

 

[Pointy_kitty]

thats very informative
thank you so much for your help!

 

[silver]

WOW Sorrell.....thank you!!

I have a very smart lab mix male pup....his name is actually Pup. He is THE calmest dog I HAVE EVER SEEN. He never runs around the living room or jumps or yips.....he doesn't even bark!! He has been this way since a very small baby when we got him. He is a doll and I love him sooooooooooo much

I know the basics of teaching a dog tricks and all (I have a full grown dog that knows most things like sit, down, up, shake) and I would like to start teaching Pup!

Could you run by how to teach him to stay......and what does heal mean? Also, he is DEATHLY afraid of the bathroom because I gave him a bath ONCE!!! I wasn't mean about it either, I just put him in the water, washed him and talked to him, rinsed him, drained the water and THEN I couldn't get him out of the tub, he was too afraid so I just sat on the bathroom floor waiting for him to come out of it.......he won't go NEAR the bathroom now after just that ONE experience........can you shed any light on this for me )

 

[Sorrell]

Sure no problem. I have some errands and a softball game tonight, but I can write something up for you and post it sometime tomorrow. I actually have a bunch of topics written out on my computer because I have given lots of talks and I give handouts on different behavior problems at my classes, so that shouldn't be a problem at all!

 

[steppy104]

my dog has that when we go on vacation. but she has plenty of toys, and since my uncle mike moved in, she's got someone to stay here with her.

she doen't get confused when we get ready to leave. she knows exactly whats going on and tries to convince us to take her (sucks up and follows us arround). she really does hate it when she's alone though...she's a hole different dog. one time, we couldn't find anyone to come over and let her outside and feed her, so we had to take her to a kennel, where they were gonna try and give her a bath, and she showed teeth at them! take note, that she has NEVER acted aggresively towards anyone, and if she ever didn't like anyone she would cowar and hide, not threaten....supprised us to hear she showed teeth. we never sent her back over there....she really didn't like it, and was so glad to see us again. i think that she thought we were permanently leaving her.

 

[silver]

Ah, thats sad!

You just never know with dogs thats for sure. That's why I'm always telling my little boy NOT to touch other peoples dogs, even if we know them. It would be horrible for Eliot (my son) to get bitten by a dog of someone we KNOW none-the-less have it happen

Thanks Sorrell!