How Do You Stop Separation Anxiety in Dogs?
Dogs always enjoy your company; they enjoy having you around. Some dogs become quite frightened when you leave them and can be disruptive or destructive when left alone, such as damaging furniture, barking excessively, and excreting inappropriately. These phenomena are called separation anxiety in dogs.
When you become a dog parent, you will be responsible for detecting your puppy’s anxiety. What exactly is separation anxiety disorder? What to do if your dog suffers from separation anxiety? We’ve put together this article to help your dog get through the period when you’re leaving him at home alone. Find out how to help our dogs to spend time alone so they can make us feel secure outside.
What Is Separation Anxiety?
A dog suffers separation anxiety when it becomes overly reliant on its parents and exhibits overt indications of distress each time they are apart. There is no solid evidence to explain why dogs experience separation anxiety. Changes in guardians or families, changes in schedules, can all create separation anxiety in dogs, and it can happen to any dog.
Signs and Symptoms of Separation Anxiety in Dogs
Dogs are very aware of indicators that their parent is ready to leave. When you put on your shoes and coat and take up your keys to leave, your dog is anxious to keep you from leaving, and when you return from your home, your dog is overjoyed. If so, they might experience separation anxiety.
Examples of separation anxiety include:
- Attempting to flee: A dog suffering from separation anxiety will attempt to flee from places where they are alone. They may attempt to gnaw on windows and doors, resulting in self-injury.
- Excessive whining or howling: Separation anxiety causes dogs to howl, bark, and whine in an attempt to escape.
- Disruptive Behaviors: Chewing, scratching at objects, or potted plants in solitary spaces. That’s why when you get home, you’ll find confetti or chewed-up plastic bags, and your potted plants may be withering.
- A lot of back-and-forth walking: A dog suffering from separation anxiety will go around the home in circles or a straight line.
But the following may not be separation anxiety:
- Dogs suffering from separation anxiety only exhibit these symptoms when left alone. If your dog shows any of the above signs while you are present, it could be something else, and you should visit your veterinarian.
- Dogs will urinate when they are excited or in close contact, as well as when they are not toilet trained.
- Young pups can also show destructive behavior/Or just because they’re bored.
- Excessive barking and howling could indicate that the dog is scared.
It would be prudent to see if these behaviors continue at home. If they exhibit these symptoms frequently or exclusively while you are not around, they may be suffering from separation anxiety. Continue reading to learn how to help your dog cope with separation anxiety.
How To Treat Separation Anxiety In Dogs
Long-term separation anxiety in your dog can lead to health issues and sickness, so learning how to handle separation anxiety in dogs is critical. It may take some trial and error to figure out what works, so keep trying until you discover a solution.
Counterconditioning is pairing a feared or disliked circumstance with something pleasant, something that the dog enjoys. Counterconditioning focuses on connecting loneliness to positive things like good snacks. Every time you leave the house, give your dog a food-filled educational toy or a favorite treat. When your dog is left alone, he will only have access to toys and his favorite treats. Just remember to put away the toys and treats as soon as you come home. This strategy works effectively for dogs who have mild anxiety. A very anxious dog won’t eat while its parent is away.
Try to find your dog’s separation threshold. Put a camera in your home, and after you leave, check your dog’s activity on your phone to see how long the anxious behavior lasts. Circling, whining, barking, howling, digging, yawning, jumping on doors, and urinating/defecating are some of the signs. Dog Camera is a multifunctional pet monitor and feeder that allows you to remotely monitor, talk to, and distribute treats to your puppy through the Dokoo software.
Once you’ve found your dog’s separation threshold, you can start desensitizing them. Desensitization is the process of making your dog less sensitive to all of the small things you do before walking out the door and leaving them alone.
For up to 30 minutes, practice leaving the house for various lengths of time. Go to the door, open a bit, don’t go out, close the door, and walk away. Alternatively, go to the door, close it, and instantly return. Approach the door, turn the knob, let go, and walk away. Do things that come naturally to you at home in between these training, like watching TV and doing the dishes.
You can use a food-tossing camera to track your dog’s status and safety at all times to help him cope with separation anxiety.