Does your dog hate to be left alone? They might be suffering from separation anxiety. Separation anxiety became especially prevalent after the pandemic, but it’s quite common for dogs. We’ve got you covered with tips & tricks to help your dog become more independent.
In this article, separation anxiety expert Petrina Firth, from The Pet Coach, shares how to navigate separation anxiety. You’ll also learn to set a dog up for success during puppyhood to prevent separation anxiety from occurring. Petrina focuses on separation anxiety training and behavior modification for dogs who struggle at home alone.
We’ve pulled top questions & answers from Petrina’s takeover for dogs that struggle with separation anxiety.
Q: My dog starts shaking as soon as I put on makeup. She slinks under the bed or hides in a planter when we leave. How can I help her to cope with being left at home?
A: Dogs are (sadly) so clever at picking up on our cues for leaving (pre-departure cues). Do you have a sitter or have you ever set up a camera to see what she does when you’re gone? I would get a camera on her and see what happens. If you see signs of panic, she likely has separation problems. In that case, teach her to be happy at home alone. You’d also want to stop leaving her longer than she can cope. There are lots of products (and distractions) you can try, but separation training is key.
Does she have any noise phobias, like traffic, fireworks, etc.? Separation anxiety and noise phobias have what’s called comorbidity (when two or more conditions are present). I often see clients whose dogs have both. She would be a good candidate for behavioral meds and working through a behavior modification program. It must be so upsetting for her around the holidays with all the noises. Have you tried a white noise machine (brown noise often works the best), which can help dampen and muffle the outside sounds (and often help dogs who panic home alone)?
Q: My Chihuahua’s separation anxiety is so severe that he often refuses to eat when his primary caretakers aren’t at home, resulting in him making himself sick from not eating. Sometimes he still feels sick for up to a day after we return and get him to eat normally again, so we’d like to avoid skipping meals while we’re gone. We’ve gotten him the best fresh food, and we started using CBD treats which help a little bit but not enough. Do you have any advice?
A: If he doesn’t eat at all, even with another person there, and it’s making him sick, then it might be time to reach out to your Veterinarian for meds. Usually, dogs are pretty happy to be with ‘a’ human. Any human will do, but in some cases, the separation anxiety is severe, and medication and spending more time with the same sitter are required. Does he have the same sitter often, or does it change? Clinical separation anxiety, where a dog is bonded to one person and can’t cope without them even when others are, is rare, but it does happen. It sounds like your dog is bonded to two people, so that is at least something! Usually, medication from the vets to supporting learning and then a separation anxiety program will be the best thing here. The other thing is to get the other people more involved in your dog’s day-to-day life, giving treats, playing, etc. ‘it takes a village to raise a dog’ is the thing to think about if you have a dog like this, so it’s not just the primary caretakers who provide (all of the) fun times.
If you’re interested in reading more about separation anxiety and tips for navigating it, you can access the entire takeover thread here. We also have experts participate in takeovers regularly in our community group. If there is a specific expert or topic you are interested in, please email whatthepup@spotandtango.com, and we’ll make it happen!
