Cure Your Dogs Separation Anxiety

3 Effective Methods for Reducing Separation Anxiety

Dogs are pack animals. It is in their genetic code to both prefer and expect to be in constant contact with others in their pack. You, as the dog owner(s), are their pack. Whenever you and your family leave to go to the store, work or school, to your dog it is as though its entire pack has left it alone. Dogs also have very little sense of time – every time you leave, even for a few hours, to your dog it is as though you were gone for days.

For many dogs, these feelings of abandonment lead to a common dog behavior problem known as separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is one of the worst problems for dog owners, because it can lead to destructive behaviors resulting from misplaced nervous energy, as well as unwanted barking and occasionally nervous “accidents.” While there is no way to completely stop separation anxiety, there are ways to reduce its affects so that your dog will be able to handle the stress of you leaving and cut down on unwanted behaviors.

Methods for Easing Separation Anxiety

• Don’t Make a Fuss When You Leave

Separation anxiety is compounding – meaning that it slowly builds over the time of your absence. That is why you want to reduce the amount of separation anxiety your dog experiences when you leave. Your dog will always notice you leaving, but you can reduce the anxiety they feel immediately upon your absence. Ignore your dog for a full 5 or 10 minutes before you go. Do not say “goodbye” or hug your dog or give it any kind of attention. If you are constantly giving your dog attention before you leave, you are giving it a great deal of energy and then immediately leaving, as far as your dog is concerned, for what seems like forever.

• Don’t Make a Fuss When You Get Back

You love your dog, but when you get back from wherever you were, don’t acknowledge your dog or make a fuss for a full 10 minutes. It may be hard, but when you come home and immediately shower your dog with love, it is like saying to your dog “Wasn’t it awful when I was gone?”

• Exercise Your Dog

One of the main creators of separation anxiety is misplaced energy. Your dog experiences energy and is feeling your absence, so it attributes that energy to missing you and gets more and more anxious over time. A tired dog will have less energy, giving it less to turn into separation anxiety.

Note on Dog Behavior

One thing to remember is that your dog cannot help the effects of its separation anxiety. If your dog chews apart your shoe in your absence, chances are it did not even realize it was doing it. As a result, do not punish your dog when you see the effects of their bad behavior upon entering your home. It will not help your dog’s separation anxiety – it may even make it worse.

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