Petcademy

What is separation anxiety?

Anxiety is defined as the anticipation of a threatening event. Dogs with separation anxiety will become anxious or distressed when you leave them, or are about to leave them, alone.

What are the signs of separation anxiety?

• Barking or howling when you leave the house or go into another room

• Urinating or defecating in the house when left alone

• Chewing, digging and other forms of destruction when left alone

• Following you from room to room when you are walking around the house

• Trying to escape when left alone or separated from you

• Pacing back and forth in circular patterns, or back and forth, when left alone

How you can help your dog manage their separation anxiety

• Create a predictable schedule. This includes feeding, walking, and playing with your dog at the same times each day. This will help your dog feel better about their home environment and bring down their general anxiety. 

• Counter conditioning your dog to feel differently about your departure. In other words, instead of associating your departure with feelings of panic, you want them to associate your departure with good things, like delicious treats. To do this, provide your dog with a work to eat toy (like a Fun feeder, KONG classic toy or Toppl) every time you leave. 

• Manage your departures. Leave for short periods of time and pair your departure with something your dog loves (like a KONG stuffed with frozen peanut butter). You want to return before your dog gets stressed. Over time, you want to stretch how long you can leave your dog before they start to feel anxious.

• Introduce dog appeasing pheromone (DAP) products to fight anxiety. DAP products emit the same pheromone that is present in a mother dog's milk and can calm and soothe both puppies and adult dogs. A DAP heat-activated pheromone collar combined with at least one natural supplement like Solliquin, Zylkene or Quiet Moments can help ease your dog’s anxiety.

• Never scold your dog. Your dog’s separation anxiety isn’t something they can control and, if you punish them for expressing their anxiety, you could exacerbate the situation.

• Consider hiring a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer (CSAT). These trainers specialize in helping dogs with separation anxiety. To find a trainer near you, ask your veterinarian.

Pro tip

It’s important that you don’t try and train your dog when they’re in peak-anxiety mode. If your dog is anxious and afraid, they won’t be absorbing any of the training.  We suggest creating a log so that you can start to recognize signs your dog is feeling high and low stress levels, and then using those lower stress level times to work with your dog.