Author: Adrian Fletcher
Separation anxiety is the kind of sensation that we can relate to.
Young children have the same sort of anxiety when their parents leave
for a night out. They learn that their parents will return and do not
feel anxiety anymore. The same process has to happen for our dogs so
that their anxiety is reduced. Anxiety in dogs will often manifest as
disconsolate howling, chewing things or uncontrolled urination. If the
dogs stays indoors this can be a problem for you. This article will
give you some ideas on how to ease separation anxiety in dogs.
Separation anxiety begins when a puppy is separated from it's mother
too soon. A puppy should have at least 8 weeks with it's mother before
being re-homed. If a puppy was re-homed before this time it may
experience separation anxiety in later life.
Separation anxiety training can begin as soon as the puppy enters your
home (it's new home). It is hard to resist a new puppy but you should
not make a big fuss of it too much. This is especially the case when
you are leaving it at night time. Place it in the sleeping basket and
walk away. This will get it used to you leaving and being alone for
extended periods.
You need to communicate through actions that your puppy will be alone
at time but that you will return. This will prevent separation anxiety
when the dog gets older.
Teaching your puppy about separation anxiety should be quite
straightforward. This may not be the case if you take on a grown dog.
The dog may have come to you via the dog pound or maybe a previous
owner has given it away.
If it has come from the pound or shelter then it may have been
neglected in the past. Dog's a sensitive to abandonment and have a
rational fear of being separated from the owner. It may have received
little affection whilst in the pound too, which will only heighten it's
anxiety.
If the dog has come from a previous owner there is often a reason for
this. And this is not always the fault of the dog. The family may be
experiencing problems themselves, like redundancies, money difficulties
or relationship problems. A dog is a social animal and will pick up on
this tension. These tensions may lead to behavioral problems like
separation anxiety.
So for an older dog the first step is to heal old emotional wounds. In
terms of separation anxiety, you will have to leve at some point so
start off slowly. Practice leaving. Leave for a few minutes and then
return. Don't make a gbig deal of the leaving and returning, so as to
imply that this is a normal process.
Continue this mock separation process but increase the time each time
you separate. If you hear the dog getting anxious then return to a
separation interval that he is comfortable with. Gradually the dog will
be completely adjusted to separation and will not get anxious.
Other strategies that may work are to keep you pet bust while you are
out. So you could hide some tasty treats in the garden to take his mind
off the fact that he is alone.
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