Separation Anxiety

The dog will express his anguish in various ways. As soon as the masters leave, he may possibly howl, bark, whine, urinate, defecate or scratch around the exits. Still other behaviours are possible. Usually a dog that suffers form your separation he may: constantly demands visual or physical attention; follows you everywhere; wants to sleep at your side, gets upset if you are out of sight; welcomes you enthusiastically for more than 5 minutes even if you have been away only for minutes; doesn't like to be outside alone and gets agitated as soon as you get ready to leave.

Diminish attention upon departure and arrival

Avoid patting your dog, speaking to him, reassuring him and giving him any kind of attention when you leave or return home. These actions would only condition an increased significance to isolation. This will decrease your dog's sense of affective loss. Every request for attention must thus be ignored.

Alter your relation to your dog You should determine a fixed resting place for your dog and send him there each time he settles to sleep near you. When free to choose, any dog will prefer resting places providing physical or visual contact with you. We can't stress enough the importance of this detachment. The master should turn away a dog asking for petting or play. On the other hand, the master may call his dog any time to pet him or to play.

Reduce the dog's emotional dependency in your presence

The owner should accustom his dog to being alone for short periods of time. Duration of these periods will then be increased slowly.

Options:

Leave your dog into a room.
Ask him to go to his fixed resting-place.
Use the sit stay anywhere in the house.

Render those situations pleasant for your dog. Leave various toys or food. If he barks, ignore him. If he's quiet, release and reward him. Rewards must reinforce his acceptance of being alone. Use different rooms around the house for this exercise. Repeat this procedure several times, at various moments and places, and gradually increase the duration of your absence.

Desensitising of departure stimuli

The purpose of this procedure is to desensitise all cues related to your departure (taking your keys, putting on your coat, taking your wallet etc.).You can accustom your dog to these clues. Repeat the scenario several times, without leaving, at various moment during the day. Example: Put your shoes, take your keys, touch the door knob then come back, but the keys and your shoes away.

Prepare your departure

Start with very short periods of absence and increase their duration gradually if your dog responds well. Increase time on an unpredictable basis, by increasing and reducing duration, so your dog won't be able to anticipate the precise moment of your return. Reward your dog if he shows no signs of agitation. Repeat this exercise several times before slowly increasing your time outside the door. Separation time should only be increased if there is neither anxiety at your departure, nor excessive welcomes at your return. Hide bones or toys all over the house, so your dog will be occupied searching for his rewards. Access to these preferred toys should be strictly limited to his periods of solitude.

If these techniques of behaviour modification prove to be insufficient, you may have to use medication at the same time. For further information, consult your local veterinarian.