Separation Anxiety

When you leave your home, a healthy Velcro/clingy dog quietly waits for his owner to return. If he destroys the home and/or injures himself when you’re not in his sight, it’s a problem. This is called separation anxiety.

A dog with separation anxiety may engage in behavior that destroys household items and even harms himself. This dog may need behavior training and/or medication. Note: An older but often referenced study found that separation anxiety doesn’t develop just because a dog is “spoiled,” but it is more likely to occur in homes with one dog and one human.

Pain or Discomfort

If your dog changes and needs to be by your side every minute, and it is out of character for him to behave like this, then perhaps he’s not feeling well. If a dog is in pain, he may go to his owner for comfort. Bring him to the veterinarian to make sure there’s nothing wrong with him.

Fear

Another reason a dog might suddenly find the need to stick to you like Velcro is fear or an unsettling household change:

• Is there a new member of the household that the dog is uncomfortable with?
• An uncle that’s a little too rough or loud?
• A new baby that makes high pitched noises?
• Are you having workers in the house?
• A toddler who just learned to stomp and throw toys and scream?
• Or maybe the new puppy is just too much for your older dog (or vice versa).

My dogs were clingier while we were having noisy house repairs done, with strange men hammering all day. My dogs never left my side until the workers started bringing them (owner-approved!) treats. Dogs like routine. And any time that routine changes, it can cause him angst, and he will seek protection from you. Or he may think he’s protecting you.

Many rescue dogs or puppy-mill dogs, who have finally found their forever home, get anxious when they are asked to leave your side. They need to be close to you every minute because they are insecure and possibly fearful. Who knows what kind of environment they have experienced in the past?

When you leave, they are not sure if you will be back, so they don’t want to let go. Hopefully, they will learn that you return every time, and they will be able to rest while you’re gone. Often, medications from your vet will help to relieve the anxiety until they feel that you are not deserting them.

For some of these dogs, teaching them you will be back is as simple as practicing. You leave them alone for 20 seconds and return and give them a treat. You gradually increase the time away, over the course of a week or two, until they realize that, “Oh, Mom is leaving! She’ll be back and I will get a treat.”

Many dogs also relax more if they go to their spot or their cozy crate before you leave. It keeps them safe, and it reminds them that this is what they do while you’re away from home and, when you return, you’ll let them out.

Classes can Help a Velcro Dog

Several dogs enrolled in my Basic class each session cling to their handlers out of fear. They just cannot come out from behind their owners. We simply carry on with the class, have fun and play with toys, with dogs getting lots of treats for doing simple exercises. Eventually, the shy dog takes interest in the class and wants to join in. Within six weeks, we have a more confident pet who is a little less clingy.

There was one Chihuahua, however, that I remember from a few years ago, who never came out from behind his owner. The owner came to class each week, her dog hiding behind her. She learned how to teach various exercises, went home and taught Muffin. The result was a very shy, albeit very well-trained dog. And everyone was happy.

I hope that you are lucky enough to have a dog who loves you so much he wants to be by your side, is comfortable with you leaving him at home for a bit, and greets you with barking, spins, and kisses when you arrive back at home. And as the moon rises, it finds you cuddled up together in a chair under a warm blanket.

The post The Velcro Dog appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

A lot of dogs might spend most of their waking hours home alone and seem to do just fine, but is it okay? Are they really fine? I sometimes wonder if, instead, this is something we say to ourselves to assuage our guilt, or to avoid taking a harder look at a cultural norm that could use an update.

Let’s look at how social isolation may affect dogs, and what we can do to minimize negative effects and maximize their well-being.

Being Alone All Day is Stressful for Many Dogs

Let’s start with the most basic of truths: Most dogs will spend time home alone on a daily basis. How long depends on the owners’ lifestyle and schedule. Someone who works an eight-hour day and has a commute, followed by errands and evening activities, could conceivably leave their dog home alone for 10 to 12 hours in a single day and on a regular basis.

Dogs have historically been left alone for long stretches without a second thought. As recently as a couple of decades ago, if a family needed to be away from home for a day or two, how the dog felt about being left behind – whether indoors or outdoors – was not an important consideration. As long as he had enough food and water, most owners felt secure in the knowledge that he was all set.

Few people today would admit to leaving their dogs home alone for 24 or 48 hours or more, but leaving the dog home for 10 to 12 hours is not at all uncommon – and questioning this practice can sometimes lead to social ridicule. If an owner decides that after being gone all day, she’d rather not confine her dog or leave him alone for an additional few hours in the evening, she might be met with less-than-understanding responses. “You’re not coming out because you want to be home with your dog? That’s crazy! You’re letting your dog control your life!”

Here’s the thing, and I won’t pull any punches: 10 to 12 hours is too long for a dog to be alone in a single stretch.

I know, I know. It’s a very broad statement and there is always the argument that, “We’ve always done it this way and our dogs have always been fine!” What this means, though, is that the dogs who appear to be fine have simply learned to cope with something that is entirely out of their control. Being left alone for long stretches of time is not a likely choice that they would make if it was up to them. They’ve adapted to our routines, but it’s far from ideal for them.

We count on our dogs to be there for us when we’re ready to interact with them, but in between those moments, we expect them to do nothing and wait. It’s a tall order, but lucky for us, most dogs adapt incredibly well to anything we ask them to.

People whose dogs have difficulty adapting are the ones who come to us trainers, asking for help with behavior problems such as barking and destructive chewing, or emotional issues such as fear, anxiety, aggression, or over-excitement, to name a few. In fact, many of us trainers and behavior consultants are kept very busy as a result of the lifestyle to which many dogs are subjected!

Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Some home-alone dogs may experience separation anxiety. For more information about this extreme form of isolation distress in dogs, see Training Editor Pat Miller’s article on separation anxiety.

So How Long Can You Leave A Dog Alone?

Trainers are often asked, “What’s the maximum amount of time a dog can be left alone in a single stretch?” There’s no simple answer to this. We know that in most cases, a dog will manage if he has no choice, but we shouldn’t push the envelope just because we can.

Let’s consider the dog’s basic needs. While not all dogs are alike, most adult dogs should be able to go outside to relieve themselves about three to five times a day (more often if they are sick or elderly) and shouldn’t be forced to “hold it” for more than four to six hours at a time, on average. We know most adult dogs can hold their bladders for more than six hours, but they really shouldn’t have to.

Granted, this is relative. Some dogs, if given the opportunity, will go outside to eliminate every couple of hours, while others – even with the freedom to do so – might still only eliminate three times a day.

You know your dog best and are in a unique position to figure out what his individual needs are. When you’re home during the weekend, does you dog stick to his usual weekday elimination schedule, or does he tend to go out more often?

Puppies need to eliminate way more often than adults, and although we can set up their “home alone” environment to include a space where they can eliminate indoors, there is still the question of how long they should be left alone without human company.

Yes, Dogs Get Lonely

Dogs are social animals and should have the opportunity to interact with people at least several times a day, and with other dogs on occasion, if this is something they enjoy.

It’s even more important to not leave puppies home alone all day. Puppies younger than 14 weeks of age are in a sensitive socialization period and benefit from lots of social interaction. They should be in the company of their family for significantly more time than an adult dog.

Again, for emphasis: Leaving a puppy home alone all day is a waste of valuable – crucial – socialization time that can confer lifelong benefits.

Crating A Dog While At Work

I have a number of clients who, prior to consulting with me, had resorted to using crates in an effort to prevent their dogs from doing further damage to their homes through destructive chewing or soiling, or to curb barking at the windows. The irony is that the behavior issues were actually created by too-long stretches of isolation. Crating the dogs only made bad situations worse by increasing the dogs’ level of stress and further limiting their ability to interact with their surroundings.

A crate is no place for a dog to spend an entire day. If necessary, confinement in a small space should be temporary and for short periods of time, say, a couple of hours, tops.

There’s often a comparison drawn between crates and “dens” – that somehow a small enclosed space should instinctively make a dog feel relaxed and safe because it resembles a den. However, dogs are not “den animals” at all. And even if they were, they would be able to leave their dens whenever they please, which isn’t the case with crates.

And if your dog actually seeks out his crate to nap? Does that mean he loves it so much that he’d be okay in it for an entire day? Well, I have a favorite chair in the living room where I sometimes like to curl up and take a nap. My choosing to spend time relaxed in a space without budging for sometimes an entire hour is a far cry from being physically confined to that chair, unable to leave it to stretch, eat, drink, relieve myself, or just plain do something else. It’s time we rethink the use of crates and our dependence on them.

If the principal reason for using a crate to confine a dog during our absence is to avoid destructive or nuisance behavior, a better approach would be to address those behaviors through training, or through management that involves meeting the dog’s physical, emotional, and intellectual needs.

How to Minimize Your Dog’s Time Alone

Following are a few ways you can avoid leaving your dog alone for too long. It can be hard to make this work, but if you dig deep and get creative, you’ll find there are actually more solutions available than you might have thought:

Doggie Daycare

Even if your dog is enrolled for just one day a week, that leaves you with only four more to go to cover an average work week! Of course, not every dog is a good fit for daycare, but for dogs who enjoy other dogs’ company, even just one day a week is a good step toward meeting his social and physical needs.

Keep in mind that not all doggie daycare operations are alike. Look for clean, well-designed locations with qualified staff who will manage interactions between the dogs and provide necessary rest periods. Also note that doggie daycare is not the right environment for young puppies.

Come Home for Lunch

If not every day, then as often as you can during the work week. If there are several family members in the household, consider taking turns coming home in the middle of the day to let the dog out to relieve himself and enjoy a short visit.

Hire A Dog-Walking Service

Dog walkers have been around for ages, but in the last decade this industry has seen a surge in numbers, possibly because more people who work outside the home are recognizing the importance of addressing their dog’s needs.

The types of services offered by professional dog-walkers can range from a quick home visit to a neighborhood walk, or even day training (when a trainer trains the dog in your home while you’re at work). Again, a caveat is needed here; there are some horrible dog-walking services out there.

Work From Home On Occasion

Telecommuting is more popular than ever as technology makes it easy for folks to perform their professional tasks from a home office.

Bring Your Dog to Work with You

Obviously, not everyone is in a position to do this. I frequently work with clients to treat their dog’s separation anxiety, and this suggestion is almost always met with an immediate negative response, “No way, I can’t do that.” However, it turns out that sometimes, it is possible.

Unless you’ve actually looked into it by communicating directly with the person who’s in the position to say yes or no, hold off before crossing the idea off your list of possible solutions. It may seem unlikely, but you may be very pleasantly surprised!

Arrange for Someone to Visit Your House and Let Your Dog Out

Ask a neighbor, or your co-worker’s teenage niece who loves dogs, or that kid down the street who does odd jobs. Not everyone is comfortable with the possible liabilities a scenario like this can present, but you may already have someone you trust to handle this type of task.

Naturally, your dog needs to be comfortable with someone walking into his home while you’re out, and in the best of cases, he’ll be thrilled to receive a midday visit!

Solutions Have Higher Cost, But Worthwhile Benefits

While some of these solutions involve an additional expense, consider it a normal part of owning a dog. When calculating a budget for expenses related to caring for a dog, owners may figure in the expenses for food, toys, maybe some grooming, and the occasional vet visit. All too often, though, money for training and other services like daycare, boarding, or dog walking tend to fall erroneously into the “luxury” category. In reality, these are essential services that contribute to meeting a dog’s needs more completely.

Maybe we’ve been asking the wrong question all along. Rather than trying to figure out how to best stretch the amount of time we can leave our dogs alone, we should be trying to help our dogs get more out of every day. This idea might take some getting used to, especially since it suggests that our dogs aren’t happy. Sometimes, though, it’s good to question the status quo and ask ourselves if we can do better.

Nancy Tucker, CPDT-KA, is a full-time trainer, behavior consultant, and seminar presenter in Quebec, Canada.

The post How Long is Too Long to Leave A Dog Home Alone? appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

Separation anxiety is my least favorite behavior to deal with, as both a dog owner and a dog behavior and training professional. It is challenging to manage, has a significant negative impact on quality of life for dogs and their humans, requires a real commitment to behavior modification for a considerable period of time, and all too often results in the dog losing his happy home. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that the behavior can be modified. With a committed human in his corner, patience, and appropriate interventions, the dog suffering from this behavior can be helped.

Definitions of Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Separation anxiety is a condition in which the dog becomes upset when separated from one or more humans with whom he has hyper-bonded. A dog with true separation anxiety experiences a severe panic attack when he is left alone. Escape attempts by a dog with separation anxiety can be extreme and may result in self-injury. Household destruction often occurs, especially around exit points like windows and doors. Some dogs have even jumped through windows in their desperate attempts to find their humans.

Dogs with separation anxiety often also urinate and/or defecate in the house when left alone. This is a stress response, and is not an attempt to “get even” with their humans for being left alone. Dogs should never be punished or even scolded for their separation-related behaviors. This will only stress them more and worsen their anxiety.

Separation-related behaviors vary in intensity from one dog to the next. Milder forms of the behavior are more appropriately called “separation distress,” while the full-blown panic attack truly deserves the label “separation anxiety.”

A slightly less difficult presentation of this behavior is known as isolation distress or anxiety. With true separation distress or anxiety, the dog must specifically be with one of the humans to whom he has hyper-bonded. A dog with isolation distress or anxiety only needs not to be left alone. For some dogs, this need can even be met by the presence of another animal. Clearly, this is an easier behavior to work with. And thankfully, our Lucy only has a mild level of isolation distress.

Behaviors of Dogs with Separation Anxiety

Typically, symptomatic behaviors may begin either as the anxious dog’s human prepares to depart, or immediately after they leave. The behavior may continue for 30 to 60 minutes or longer, and in more extreme cases, for the entire length of the owner’s absence – even as much as eight to 10 hours.

Destructive behavior is one of the most obvious and difficult signs of separation or isolation anxiety (SA or IA), but it is not the only one. Here are others that can be seen in some (but not all) dogs with SA or IA:

1. Velcro Dog

SA and IA dogs tend to be clingy even when owners are home – following their humans from room to room, and lying as close as possible when owners are seated. The dog may also frantically try to follow his human every time she walks out the door, even if she’s just going out to get the mail or newspaper.

2. Pacing

As you make preparations to leave, your dog recognizes the pending event, and begins to stress – often pacing, panting, and whining in anticipation of your departure.

3. Vocalization

It is not uncommon for SA/IA dogs to be very vocal when their humans are gone.

4. House Soiling

Extreme stress can cause your dog to urinate and defecate indoors. He can’t help it.

5. Anorexia

Many dogs with SA/IA will not eat or drink when left alone. (This renders the often-given suggestion to give the dog a food-stuffed Kong or other toy relatively useless.)

6. Crate Intolerance

Dogs with SA/IA often will experience an even greater degree of panic if they are confined in a crate. Dogs who are destructive in the home due to immaturity and/or lack of house manners are often crated to protect the home, but this is generally not a viable option for SA/IA dogs. Panicked dogs have injured themselves and even died in the process of trying to escape from their crates.

7. Excessive Excitement Upon Owner’s Return

Of course, lots of our dogs are excited when we come home. The SA/IA dog may present an extreme level of arousal and excitement upon his human’s return; owners are cautioned to remain very calm, rather than getting excited in response.

Causes and Triggers of Dog Separation Anxiety

We don’t really know what causes separation and isolation anxiety, although it’s likely that dogs who do develop the behavior have a genetic propensity for it. Some dogs show evidence of the behaviors from early puppyhood; others not until later in life.

We do know that this behavior is overrepresented in dogs adopted from shelters, but we don’t know if it’s because the stress of being in the shelter triggers the anxiety, or if they are surrendered to shelters in greater numbers because of their difficult behaviors. We also know that the behaviors can be brought on by other dramatic or traumatic events in a dog’s living environment. These dogs often also have other anxiety-related behaviors, such as storm sensitivities.

Here are some known triggers for canine separation anxiety and isolation anxiety:

Schedule Change

A sudden change in the length of time a dog is left alone, or in the time of day he is left alone, can sometimes trigger SA or IA. When a schedule change is anticipated in advance, if possible, take time to help your dog acclimate gradually. If you’re switching from day shift to night shift at your job, take several days off work and use them to gradually change the hours you are away from home. As you transition to later hours, you might even think about spending a night or two at a motel or a friend’s house, so your dog can experience your absence at night in progressively longer stretches.

Moving

The stress involved in a household move, combined with the lack of familiarity with the new home, can trigger SA or IA in some dogs. Of course it’s not always possible, but if you’re planning a move and you have the luxury of being able to spend time in the new home with your dog prior to the actual move, the change will be less traumatic for him, and less likely to trigger anxiety-related behaviors.

Loss of Family Members

The sudden loss of a family member – a child going off to college, someone moving away, or a death in the family – can elicit anxiety in your dog, especially if the person leaving was particularly well loved by the dog. Again, when possible, make these transitions gradual, so your dog has time to adjust to the change.

Rehoming

Whether he’s been surrendered to a shelter or privately rehomed, getting a new home and owner is a huge life change for a dog. As much as we would love for all dogs to spend their entire lives in one forever home, there are some legitimate circumstances that require rehoming. Again, the more that can be done to prepare a dog for a new home, the better. If you know the person who will be adopting your dog, arrange for her to meet your dog and share several enjoyable outings with him, so your dog gets to know her before the move, and so you can be sure they are compatible.

If you’re surrendering your dog to a shelter, there’s not a lot you can do to help him acclimate to a shelter environment. But you should, at least, do some research to be sure you are giving him to a well-run, bona fide shelter or rescue group, not a hoarder posing as a rescue, or a flipper who sells dogs (they exist!).

If you are the new home, schedule gradually increasing departures for the first week or two when you bring the puppy or dog home to help prevent this.

Traumatic Event

Anything that creates a high degree of stress for your dog has the potential to trigger SA or IA. A burglar breaking into the house while the dog is home, a fire in the house next door with loud sirens and general chaos nearby, an earthquake, even a close lightning strike, can have long-term effects on a dog’s anxiety level.

Separation Anxiety Behavior Modification

Behavior professionals generally agree that it’s difficult if not impossible to modify unwanted behaviors if the dog is allowed to continue to practice them. Management is generally the answer to preventing your dog from practicing unwanted behaviors.

That said, management for IA and especially SA can be very difficult. This makes behavior modification for SA and IA a real challenge, as most people don’t have the luxury to be able to take several weeks off work to implement a gradual program of counter-conditioning and desensitization for their dogs. However, the closer you can come to that ideal, the more successful you will be at helping your dog learn to be comfortable staying home alone.

The management piece is the main reason isolation anxiety is easier to deal with than separation anxiety. You can leave a dog who has IA at a good doggie daycare facility, with a friend or family member, or sometimes with other dogs for sufficient companionship, and he will be perfectly happy. Not so with dogs who have SA. Because this dog has to be with you, he will be just as unhappy at daycare or your mom’s house as he is at home – and the daycare operators and your mother are likely to be very unhappy as well!

Dog owners have long been counseled to desensitize their dogs to pieces of the departure routine, so that each piece is less likely to raise the dog’s stress level. Pick up your keys and set them down throughout the day. Put on your coat and take it off. Put your shoes on and take them off. All this can be helpful, especially with milder cases. However, it’s not likely to deter a dog who has a significant case of SA or IA.

Serious SA/IA modification consists of very gradual counter-conditioning and desensitization to small increases in distance between the dog and his human. We have a saying in behavior modification, “If you think you are going too slow, slow down.” For SA and IA modification, you need to slow down even more.

Trainer/author Malena DeMartini-Price has specialized in separation anxiety since 2001, and has written an excellent book on the subject, Treating Separation Anxiety in Dogs. She also offers a training program that certifies trainers who seek to work with cases of SA and IA. Her treatment protocol is divided into five phases. To highlight how slowly a successful modification program goes, she says, “You won’t progress to the next phase until the dog is truly successful in the previous one … For example, if a dog can’t successfully stay behind a baby gate for a few minutes while Mom is out of sight (Phase 3), you can’t advance to the next phase.”

If you are looking for a trainer to help you with your dog’s SA/IA behavior, you can connect with a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer (CSAT) by visiting this link.

Veterinary Behaviorist Dr. Karen Overall has created a 15-day protocol (she calls it “Protocol for Relaxation”) that is perfect for SA and IA (although I caution my clients that it is likely to take far longer than 15 days). For each task on the list, you ask your dog to sit and stay, or lie down and stay. At the conclusion of each task in the list, you feed your dog a treat, tell him stay again, and perform the next task. The protocol can also be helpful for modifying crate anxiety behaviors.

To give you an idea of how slowly you move through the exercises, here is Dr. Overall’s list of tasks to do with your dog on day one:

Day 1: Dog’s Task

1. Sit for 5 seconds

2. Sit for 10 seconds

3. Sit while you take 1 step back and return

4. Sit while you take 2 steps back and return

5. Sit for 10 seconds

6. Sit while you take 1 step to the right and return

7. Sit while you take 1 step to the left and return

8. Sit for 10 seconds

9. Sit while you take 2 steps back and return

10. Sit while you take 2 steps to the right and return

11. Sit for 15 seconds

12. Sit while you take 2 steps to the left and return

13. Sit while you clap your hands softly once

14. Sit while you take 3 steps back and return

15. Sit while you count out loud to 10

16. Sit while you clap your hands softly once

17. Sit while you count out loud to 20

18. Sit while you take 3 steps to the right and return

19. Sit while you clap your hands softly twice

20. Sit for 3 seconds

21. Sit for 5 seconds

22. Sit while you take 1 step back and return

23. Sit for 3 seconds

24. Sit for 10 seconds

25. Sit for 5 seconds

26. Sit for 3 seconds

Slow going, right? Each of the subsequent days takes you gradually farther and farther away from your dog, for increasingly long periods of time. At the end of the protocol you are out of sight (in another room) for 10 seconds. Obviously, you would need to continue your work from there to gradually build up to leaving the house for increasing periods of time. It’s not an easy task.

I also tell my clients they can break it down into even smaller steps if necessary to help their dog succeed. For example, rather than going from 5 seconds (the first task below) to 10 seconds (the second task) they could start at 3 seconds and just increase the difficulty by one second at a time.

Karen Overall’s entire protocol is available online.

Separation Anxiety Medication for Dogs

Some humans are reluctant, for various reasons, to use medication for canine behavior problems. With most of my clients whose dogs do not have IA or SA, we agree to implement a behavior modification plan, and we usually start to see changes in behavior in reasonably short order. Not so with dogs who have severe anxiety issues. The quality of life for these dogs (and for their humans) is usually so poor that we need to relieve their anxiety as quickly as possible – and the right medication can go a long way toward doing that.

However, medication alone won’t fix the problem. The purpose of behavior modification drugs is to increase the ability of your dog’s brain to receive behavior modification efforts. Stress impairs learning ability, and a dog who is super-stressed (anxious) can’t learn well or easily, so the appropriate medication can be a lifesaver for these dogs.

Identifying SA or IA in your dog early on and addressing it appropriately can make a huge difference in his quality of life – and yours. Hoping that your dog’s undesirable behavior is due to some other cause, and delaying the implementation of effective steps to manage his anxiety may worsen the situation dramatically.

I know this from personal experience. We misjudged the reason for our Lucy’s barking on the back deck when she was young (a year old) and left her outdoors for a period of time in order to not reinforce what we thought was her demand barking to come in. Later, we ascertained that the barking was, in fact, due to isolation anxiety – but this was only after Lucy, in her frantic efforts to get to us, fell off a stone wall, ruptured her left ACL, sprained her left front wrist, and tore the ligaments in her left shoulder. She recovered from her injuries, and sadder but wiser, we took a much gentler approach to helping her learn to be alone.

We still don’t leave her in the backyard unattended, but she is able to be crated and/or left in my office with a baby gate across the door. She won’t eat or drink when left alone, but she doesn’t bark, isn’t destructive, and doesn’t hurt herself. And that’s a huge improvement! We’re all much happier.

The Right Medication for Your Dog

I am not a veterinarian. Therefore, I should not – and legally cannot – tell you what medication or medications you should use for your dog’s isolation or separation anxiety.

I can tell you, however, that most veterinarians do not study behavior in vet school (it is not required at most colleges that offer veterinary medical degrees), and many of them have no more idea than I do (and some of them less) what medications might be appropriate. Many of them are likely to just reach for the same drug they’ve always used, or the one that was promoted most effectively during a recent visit by a drug company representative. I can also tell you that Dr. Karen Overall says that acepromazine is exactly the wrong drug for most behavior modification purposes, and yet it’s the one that many veterinarians reach for simply because it’s been around a long, long time.

There is a small group of veterinarians who have studied behavior and have taken and passed the “boards” – an examination that allows them legally to call themselves “veterinary behaviorists.” There is another small group of veterinarians who specialize in behavior and, although they are not “boarded” in behavior, are educated enough (and know when to ask for help) to make good decisions about the best, most appropriate medication for your dog’s behavioral issues. Prescribing behavior drugs is an art as well as a science. These veterinarians who specialize in behavior are the artists, and fortunately for us they are happy to share their talents.

Most of them are more than willing to do free phone consultations with other veterinarians who are seeking advice on which drugs (and what dosages) they should use for client dogs with behavioral issues such as SA and IA. Any time I start talking drugs with my clients, I urge them to insist their vet take advantage of this service and reach out to a veterinary behaviorist for guidance. I urge you to do the same.

There aren’t very many of them – and your vet may not be able to find one local to you. But they don’t have to be, since they are all just a phone call away. The current list of veterinary behaviorists can be found by following this link.

Remember … insist.

The post Separation Anxiety in Dogs: Symptoms and How to Modify the Behavior appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

Sometimes something goes wrong in dogs’ heads, and they become afraid of commonplace things. Men with beards. Other dogs. Being alone. Sometimes their fear makes them anxious. Sometimes it makes them aggressive. It always makes their lives more difficult, for themselves and for the people who love them.

Behavior modification is crucial in helping dogs like this become more comfortable in the world. Behavior medication can also be crucial in many cases, because sometimes, it seems, a dog’s brain has gotten out of whack in ways that behavior modification alone can’t fix. Sometimes the dog needs support in the form of medication before he can begin to take in what behavior modification is telling him: that his world is a safe place.

See the different types of behavior medications for dogs.

Stress-related behavior problems in dogs include fear aggression, generalized anxiety, and separation anxiety. In humans, they include major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The medications that help individuals overcome these problems include some that primarily reduce depression (“anti-depressants”), some that primarily reduce anxiety (“anxiolytics”), and some that do both. Many medications used in dogs are referred to as “anti-depressants” because in humans they are primarily used for their anti-depressive action, but their primary use in dogs is for their anxiolytic action. We don’t know exactly what is different in the brains of dogs, or humans who suffer from stress-related behavior problems, and we don’t know exactly how behavior medications work to improve brain function in individuals with these problems. But we’re starting to put some pieces of the puzzle together.

What we know for sure is that while medication can help behavior problems on its own, it does a whole lot better when paired with behavior modification. We also know that most behavior medications take four to six weeks to take effect. So what’s going on with a dog’s brain chemistry during those weeks?

The Serotonin Theory

Broadly speaking, anti-depressants work to change the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that work to pass signals between one neuron and another; the first neuron releases a packet of neurotransmitter molecules, the next neuron receives and acts on the information, and the first neuron sucks the neurotransmitter molecules back up to be reused.

There are a variety of neurotransmitters in the brain, but one, serotonin, is one of the most common targets of anti-depressants. Individuals with low serotonin levels are often anxious and sometimes aggressive. According to the serotonin theory of anti-depressant function, anti-depressants work by increasing the availability of serotonin or similar substances in the brain.

For example, although neurons normally take serotonin back up for reuse after its initial release, a class of anti-depressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) slow down this reuptake process. Serotonin remains in the gap between two neurons for longer, and the end result is more serotonin available for signaling. In theory, this should result in a less anxious emotional state.

In practice, SSRIs do result in mood improvements for many anxious or depressed individuals, particularly if they are undergoing behavior modification at the same time. But although these medications change serotonin levels in the brain within hours, their behavior effects aren’t apparent for weeks. If changing serotonin levels were the entire answer to the question of how anti-depressants work, then these medications’ effects should be almost immediate. And yet there remains this long waiting period, so frustrating to so many owners of fearful dogs, before the behavior effects actually kick in. What else could be going on?

The Hippocampus Theory

The answer might lie in a changing brain structure. One region of the brain, called the hippocampus, is critical in managing associations between stimuli (like the approach of a strange dog) and emotion (fearfulness versus a positive emotion). Individuals with fear-based behavior issues may have trouble making new, positive connections in their hippocampus; their ability to learn may be impaired. In humans with severe stress-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, the hippocampus can be actually reduced in size!

Behavior medications affect the hippocampus profoundly, increasing the number of connections between neurons in this brain region and sometimes restoring normal hippocampus size. Importantly, they help individuals make new associations to stimuli, so in the presence of behavior modification work, pains should be taken to ensure that these associations are positive ones.

Finding the Right Behavior Medication for Your Dog

Behavior medication is, as described above, not about sedating a dog. It is about reducing the dog’s anxiety and increasing his ability to make new, positive associations to stimuli that he previously found frightening. However, sometimes these medications do have side effects, which range from gastrointestinal problems (vomiting, diarrhea) to behavior effects (sedation, other unwanted personality changes, even increased anxiety or aggression). There is a large variety of behavior medication available, so remember that if your dog reacts poorly to the first medication that your veterinarian tries, there are other options! Let your veterinarian know that you don’t like how your dog seems to be feeling on the medication and ask if there’s something else you can try.

Finding the right medication or mix of medications for your anxious dog can be tricky. If your veterinarian doesn’t have experience with behavior medication, you might consider visiting a veterinary behaviorist – a vet who has completed a behavior residency and passed a board exam. Veterinary behaviorists can be few and far between, but if there isn’t one in your area, many are willing to consult with your veterinarian remotely to offer advice on the appropriate medication regimen (usually for a fee). Ask your vet if she is willing to explore this option. Or, look for a general-practice veterinarian with a special interest in behavior who is a member of the American Society of Veterinary Animal Behaviorists (AVSAB).

Finally, remember that although we don’t know exactly why many behavior medications take so long to take effect, you must expect to wait a month or two before you can be sure whether or not a particular medication is helping your dog. Be patient! The wait can be frustrating, but the rewards of seeing your fearful dog begin to respond to behavior modification are worth it.

The post Behavior-Modifying Drugs for Dogs: Medications for treating fear, phobias, and anxiety in dogs appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

But it’s important that I not allow my irritation to show, because frequently, despite the fact that the problem took months or even years to develop, the people really are on the verge of giving up on the dog. Sometimes, whatever has been going on with the dog has tipped the scales significantly enough to prompt the client to ask for help right then and there. I want to harness that motivation! I want to seize that moment and get everyone working together on a solution, finally.

I received such a call on a Saturday afternoon from an exasperated woman whose 4-year-old miniature Poodle had a housetraining issue. The dog had never been successfully housetrained, she said, and now she and her husband were desperate.

They wanted this problem solved now, immediately. “You have to help us!” On learning how long the problem had existed, I asked what compelled them to seek help at this time.  “It’s gross,” she said. “It has to stop.”

People don’t generally book a behavior consultation because they suddenly consider their dog’s behavior gross after tolerating it for four years. I prodded a bit more. “Well, nothing’s worked. We must be doing something wrong!” Aha! It made me very happy that she hadn’t put the blame on the dog and that she appeared to recognize that there was something she and her husband should be doing differently. I figured I would get more details when I got there, and I booked them for that evening. Yes, it was a Saturday evening, but I kept thinking of all the fabulous training and practice opportunities they would get the very next day, Sunday, when they were both home all day. The timing was perfect.

I kept in mind that addressing a long-existing housetraining issue can be tricky, and it’s stressful for everyone involved, for a number of reasons, including:

– The humans are at the end of their rope (even though they’ve let it go on for several years).

– The dog is stressed because everyone seems to be so angry with her all the time.

– The humans are about to learn that the problem won’t be fixed overnight, and that they’ll have to significantly change their routine in order to make any progress.

– The dog is about to have the only toilet facilities she’s ever known, taken away from her . . . just try to imagine how confusing that must be, for anyone!

Logical Developments of Dog Behavior Problems

At the clients’ house, I was greeted at the door by a very enthusiastic, friendly little female poodle named “Silly.” I learned that the couple mostly worked on opposing shifts, and, to make matters more complicated, their schedules were unpredictable and irregular. This meant that a routine was difficult for them to stick to, and also explained why it was important that we meet “right now,” as it was one of the rare times they were both at home.

We quickly ruled out any medical issues as a potential cause for Silly’s “accidents,” as she had very recently  received a clean bill of health from her veterinarian at an annual health visit.

My attention was drawn to a couple of training “puppy” pads on the floor – one in the kitchen and another in the bathroom. I asked if Silly had ever been trained to use the pads; the answer was “Yes, sometimes she uses them.” Sometimes means that the answer was actually no; she had never been trained specifically to use the pads – she just managed to hit them sometimes when she eliminated in the spots in the house that she preferred for elimination.

I asked if they had ever attempted to train her to relieve herself outside. They said, “Not really, but sometimes if we’re outside, she’ll go potty there and she knows we’re happy about it.” Again, I surmised that no formal training had actually taken place.

I also learned that the husband had, on several occasions and on the advice of several well-meaning friends, resorted to spanking Silly if she was caught in the act of relieving herself in a location other than on the pad. He had also “rubbed her nose in it” if a mess was discovered after the fact. As a result, Silly now only relieved herself in a corner of the basement when no humans were around, or in the living room during the night when everyone was asleep.

The owners also mentioned that Silly was free-fed, and while she used to nibble throughout the day, she now ate and drank only after the owners had gone to bed. They said she often emptied her water bowl completely during this time.

The Behavior Modification Plan

We began by removing the training pads and establishing scheduled feeding times, in order to promote regular digestion and elimination.

We also devised a plan that would allow Silly the opportunity to go outside every 30 minutes for the next several days, always accompanied by someone who could reward her immediately if she relieved herself outside. This plan might prove difficult for some owners, but I learned that the owners’ next-door neighbors (in a duplex) were actually the husband’s parents, fond of Silly, retired, and readily available. I quickly recruited them to help handle this task.

Silly is not crate-trained and is not comfortable being confined, so we established a large area in the kitchen that could be closed off, where she could be left alone for short periods between visits from the parents. When the owners were home, she was to be either actively supervised or tethered to them at all times. They were to continue the frequent visits outside, with the intention of gradually stretching the time between outdoor trips as Silly became more successful with her outdoor potty breaks.

I explained to Silly’s owners that punishing her, whether in the act of eliminating in the house or upon finding evidence of a previous “accident” indoors, would discourage Silly from eliminating in front of them. In order to help Silly feel comfortable eliminating – outside! – the owners agreed to stop punishing her for any “mistakes” that she made.

Immediate Progress

During my visit, I took several opportunities to step into the backyard with Silly on a long leash and was lucky enough to be able to reward her – not once, but twice! – for relieving herself outside. When asked if they were up for the task of doing this all day on Sunday, with the aim of creating opportunities to reward Silly outside, both owners were extremely enthusiastic.

After one week, with the help of the parents and the urgent commitment of the owners, Silly had slipped up only once during the day when left alone for longer than planned and not confined to the kitchen area. And now that she was routinely praised and rewarded for eliminating outdoors, she also began scratching at the back door when she wanted to go outside!

The couple is now optimistic that their problem will finally be resolved. Best of all, the relationship between themselves and their darling little dog – a relationship that had been damaged by the punishment and mutual distrust – is well on its way to being repaired.

Crises as Opportunities

President John F. Kennedy once noted that when written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters, one that represents danger and one that represents opportunity. Perhaps that’s what Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel had in mind when he was more recently quoted as saying that one should “never let a serious crisis go to waste,” because  “it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”

Even life-threatening crises, such as when an owner considers surrendering or even euthanizing his dog due to serious behavior problems, can be seen as an opportunity for a trainer  – or even just a friend with a better dog education or more dog experience –  to help encourage and redirect the owner toward a smarter and more positive solution.

Not all conversations that begin with “You need to fix this right now!” grow into easy success stories like this one, and yet I can’t help but think that my having responded immediately, while the iron was hot, had a lot to do with fueling – and reinforcing! – the couple’s determination to address their problem in a new and better way.

The post Solving Your Dog’s Behavior Problem Crisis appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

Sierra didn’t exhibit the classic signs of separation anxiety, namely, destruction, urination and/or defecation, and vocalization. We’d leave her loose in the house alone and return to find everything intact, no mess, and no complaints from the neighbors about noise. I never would have suspected there was a problem except that when I was gone, even for short periods, I’d find her panting heavily. It wasn’t due to hot weather – we adopted her in late December – so I set up a video camera to monitor her activity.

Here’s what I discovered: Immediately after my departure, Sierra began pacing between the window where she could see my car pull out, and the French doors, where she could view it disappearing down the hill to the main road. The vocalizing that accompanied the pacing went from soft whimpering to a pronounced series of whines, and soon turned into barking. The barks became more urgent. Finally, she melted into a series of pitiful howls. Reviewing the footage tore at my heart. My girl was clearly suffering.

Donning my red cape, I instantly morphed from Dog Mom into Behavior Woman, able to solve tall canine conundrums in a single leap of logic. I used the same types of solutions that had worked for many of my clients, while simultaneously ensuring that Sierra was never left alone unless we were practicing our protocols.

But it soon became obvious that Sierra just hadn’t read the right books; she not only didn’t show typical symptoms, but she also didn’t respond to many of the things that normally worked. My red cape obviously needed some sprucing up.

Living with a dog who has separation issues is very different than giving someone else advice about doing so, and I soon developed deep empathy for owners. I also became a one-woman research and development team. I scoured the latest studies, read and re-read all the available literature, and tried out a variety of tools and techniques.

I eventually redesigned parts of my protocols, created outside-the-box tactics and, eventually, wrote a book about separation anxiety, Don’t Leave Me! Step by Step Help for Your Dog’s Separation Anxiety (Phantom Publishing,  2011). Along the way, I discovered that some of the long-held, traditionally accepted truths about separation issues just aren’t valid, at least for some dogs.

Here are seven common myths, and why you shouldn’t take them at face value:

1. Dogs Who Have Separation Anxiety are Always “Velcro” Dogs

This is a term commonly used for dogs who stick close by your side, not wanting to be away from you even for a moment. It’s true that many dogs with separation issues follow their owners around the house. Some owners can’t shower in peace, while others can’t even use the bathroom without taking their dogs in with them. And a 2001 study by Gerard Flannigan and Nicholas Dodman did find that hyperattachment to the owner was significantly associated with separation anxiety. With all of that, it makes sense to believe that all dogs with separation issues must be Velcro dogs.

Sierra shattered that particular myth for me. A true predator at heart, she enjoys nothing better than lying on the ramp outside the back door and surveying her domain. The hills that surround our house are plentiful with lizards, mice, bunnies, and other assorted critters. Sierra is very patient and lightning fast, and more than once I’ve found her with a hapless lizard hanging out of her mouth. (I keep threatening to sign her up for Predators Anonymous, but so far my warnings haven’t been heeded.) Suffice it to say that following me around the house is pretty boring compared to watching over her Wild Kingdom, and she’d prefer to be outside; that is, as long as she knows I’m in the house. Once she hears the car pull away it’s game over, and the stress of separation kicks in.

Sierra’s not the only one. There are plenty of other dogs who, while they might not be strongly predatory, are just fine in or outside the house a long as they know someone is at home. So don’t jump to conclusions. If your dog follows you around like drama follows Lindsay Lohan, it could be separation anxiety, but it’s not necessarily the case. And if your dog doesn’t shadow your every move, that doesn’t mean separation issues can be ruled out, either.

2. Letting Your Dog Sleep in Your Bed Will Cause Separation Anxiety

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard trainers advise owners not to allow their dogs to sleep with them, for fear the dog would become so bonded that being left alone would become unbearable. Nothing could be further from the truth. The above-referenced study also concluded that “activities such as allowing the dog on the owner’s bed . . . were not associated with separation anxiety.”

While it’s true that sleeping in the owner’s bed won’t cause separation anxiety, if your dog already suffers from the issue, all of that nighttime closeness won’t help. After all, the goal is for your dog to learn to feel relaxed when alone, and if he can’t even be physically separated from you overnight, how can he remain calm by himself during the day when you’re gone? Start by giving your dog an alternate sleeping space. Don’t worry; it can be right by your bed at first. Place a dog bed next to yours and gently coax your dog back into his own bed each time he tries to climb up into yours; or, if necessary, use a short leash to tether him in place nearby. You might eventually choose to have him sleep farther away or outside the room altogether, but getting him out of your bed is a good start.

3. If Your Dog Has Separation Anxiety, He Won’t Eat While You’re Gone

Think back to a situation where you were extremely worried or afraid. Chances are, a tasty pizza wasn’t the first thing on your mind. For many stressed-out dogs, the same mechanism is at work. But chewing provides stress relief for dogs, and in many cases, despite their stress, dogs will excavate stuffed Kongs, gnaw on chew bones, or work at food-dispensing toys. If you stuff a Kong or other food dispenser for your dog, place the item within easy reach and lay out a short trail of super yummy treats leading to it. This trail o’ treats is more likely to entice your dog to begin chewing than leaving the Kong lying there by itself.

Some dogs are too wound up to stay in one place to chew. For those dogs, a food dispenser that can be batted around, such as the Molecuball or Kong Wobbler, is a better choice. These products allow the dog to expend that anxious energy in a more active way, and by providing that focus, may even prevent destruction.

4. If Your Dog Destroys Things While You’re Away, He Must Have Separation Anxiety

I once had an owner tell me that his dog was suffering from separation anxiety. When I asked how he knew, he said he’d discussed it with his veterinarian, who had put the dog on medication. I asked how the problem had been diagnosed. What were the symptoms? The dog, he informed me, had chewed a shoe while he was gone. I waited. And? Well…that was it. The dog had destroyed a shoe. The man had heard that dogs with separation anxiety chew things, had put two and two together, and had, with the veterinarian’s assistance, come to this conclusion. While it’s true that destructiveness is the number one symptom of separation anxiety, many dogs are destructive for other reasons, including boredom, under-stimulation, or not being completely trained.

In cases of true separation anxiety, destruction is often focused on the owner’s belongings, since the scent is comforting to the dog, or around doors and windows where the owner has left or can be seen leaving. Destruction of other items is possible, of course, but again, destructiveness in and of itself is not necessarily a sign of a separation issue. As with other clues, it must be factored in to the total case history.

5. Getting Another Dog Will Solve the Problem

Oh, if only this one was always true! Whether getting a second dog will alleviate the anxiety of the first depends largely on whether the original dog’s distress stems from being separated from a particular person (what we typically think of as separation anxiety), or from simply not wanting to be left alone, which is more accurately called isolation distress. In the case of the latter, any warm body will do.

That’s good news, as the problem might be solved by the presence of a different person, another dog, or, in some cases, even a cat. So for a dog with isolation distress, getting another dog certainly could help; but there is always the chance that it won’t; and, in the worst-case scenario, you could end up with two dogs with separation issues!

Unless you were planning to add another dog to the family anyway, it’s better to do a bit of experimenting first. Consider fostering a dog for a rescue organization or borrowing a friend’s sturdy, non-anxious dog for a short time. That way, you’ll find out whether your dog is more relaxed with a buddy while you’re gone. (Just be careful to end the experiment if your dog makes the guest dog anxious.) Who knows, if it works out, you might even decide to adopt the foster dog permanently!

6. A Dog with Separation Anxiety Should Never be Left in a Crate When Alone

This one is another partial myth. There are dogs who, if left crated, will frantically try to escape, and may injure themselves in the process. Others will chew themselves to the point of self-mutilation. Clearly, for those dogs, crating is not a good option. But for a dog who is comfortable in her crate, who sleeps in it at night, and doesn’t mind being contained there for brief periods during the day, the crate might just be a saving grace. Many dogs will settle down more quickly when crated, particularly if the crate lends a feeling of being safely enclosed. For that reason among others, I prefer the plastic snap-together type crates to the wire ones.

7. If Your Dog Has Separation Anxiety, It’s Best to Ignore Him While You’re at Home

This one was probably an extrapolation of the traditional advice to ignore your dog for 10 minutes before leaving the house, and for 10 minutes after returning. The logic goes that the less difference in emotional peaks and valleys between when you’re at home and when you’re gone, the easier it will be for the dog. But I didn’t get a dog to ignore him, and I bet you didn’t either. Besides, imagine that your significant other suddenly began to ignore you. Wouldn’t you wonder what you’d done wrong? Would you not become anxious and stressed even if you weren’t to begin with? Dogs are masters of observation and believe me, if you suddenly start to ignore your dog, chances are you’ll cause more anxiety, not less. It is true that you shouldn’t make a huge fuss over your comings and goings, but keeping things on an even keel emotionally is the key.

Treat the Individual

If your dog has separation anxiety, keep these myths in mind. While some might hold true, others just might not. Closely observing your dog’s behavior and evaluating it on an individual basis will allow your treatment plan to be that much more successful.

The post 7 Separation Anxiety Myths appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

I had to desensitize Sam’s “She’s leaving me!” triggers. For Sam, this was walking toward or reaching for the door; being a former street dog, he hadn’t yet learned that an owner who was picking up keys or putting on a coat equaled leaving. I included these things anyway. During these exercises I was in “robot mode”- showing no emotion at all and ignoring Sam. I was keeping a very close eye on him though – making sure he showed absolutely no sign of anxiety. My goal during these exercises was for him to become so bored with my comings and goings that he stopped paying attention to them at all. Here is the sort of thing that I would do:

Calmly and while ignoring Sam, pick up keys, sit back down. Repeat every few minutes (keeping time variable).
Pick up keys, stand up, take a few steps toward door. Put keys down, sit down. Repeat. Adding more steps toward the door until I could touch it.

-Keys, touch doorknob, sit down.

-Keys, touch doorknob, turn doorknob, sit down.

-Keys, turn doorknob, open door a smidgen, shut door, sit down.

-Keys, turn doorknob, open door a few inches, shut door, sit down.

-Keys, turn doorknob, open door a foot, shut door, sit down.

-Keys, turn doorknob, open door wide, shut door, sit down.

-Keys, turn doorknob, open door wide for two seconds, shut door, sit down.

-Keys, turn doorknob, open door wide for four seconds, shut door, sit down.

-Keys, turn doorknob, open door wide for eight seconds, shut door, sit down.

-Keys, turn doorknob, open door wide for five seconds, step out with one foot, step back in and shut door, sit down.

-Keys, turn doorknob, open door wide for five seconds, step out with both feet, step back in and shut door, sit down.

-Keys, turn doorknob, open door wide for 10 seconds, step out with both feet, step back in and shut door, sit down.

-And so on and so on. Or rather, until Sam falls asleep or goes about his other business, completely bored with my antics and unconcerned with my whereabouts.

The post Helping Your Dog with His Separation Anxiety Issues appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

Separation anxiety is a serious condition. Dogs suffering from the more severe forms may salivate, pace, bark, howl, and/or urinate and defecate in panic. They can destroy cars, homes, and possessions at an incredible rate, and dig and chew their way out of windows and doors. They sometimes resort to self-mutilation when left alone. Just think about how intensely frightened you’d have to be to lose the contents of your bowels when left alone, or to rip out the walls of a room to escape. These dogs are suffering immensely and miserably. They need help from a patient and understanding owner – and the owner needs professional guidance from an experienced, educated trainer who understands the behavior and the necessary steps to overcome it. What I didn’t realize until early this year was that, in order to help a dog triumph over a severe manifestation of this condition, extraordinary support for his owner is absolutely crucial.

First Signs of Severe Separation Anxiety

I learned this the hard way: first-hand. Though I had no intention of doing so, I adopted a dog that I had cared for at an animal refugee shelter in Thailand. Siam Sam was one of hundreds of street dogs left behind in an evacuated city about 50 miles north of Bangkok. His was one of the cities hardest-hit by record floodwaters. The human residents had been evacuated from the disaster zone, but the abandoned dogs – street dogs as well as family pets – were left behind and had nowhere to go to get away from floodwaters. They climbed onto any surface that was above the water level.

Sam and several other dogs were spotted by an animal rescue team organized by Soi Dogs and the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) and photographed as they peered out from the second-story window of an unfinished building. It was their safety zone from the floods, but there was no food and they were facing certain death by starvation or disease, not to mention being easy targets for poachers of the dog meat trade. Sam was one of the lucky ones rescued and evacuated to a shelter.

I met Sam in one of these emergency shelters in Thailand when I went there to do relief work. He was one of hundreds of dogs housed in a cattle quarantine facility with four or more dogs to a stall. I can’t say exactly why, amidst all of the hardship in the shelter, Sam stood out to me. He made me laugh every day. He was silly, but in a noble kind of way, like he was clowning around to lighten the mood for the other dogs and the volunteers. He didn’t seem to be affected the same way a lot of other dogs were; as the days of close quarters in the shelter stretched into weeks, many of the dogs got more and more stressed. Fights broke out constantly. Several dogs succeeded in chewing their way through the bars in efforts to escape; some withdrew and shut down. Sam seemed calm in comparison; he smiled and did something goofy each time I went inside his stall.

It was grueling work to take care of hundreds of dogs in such a crude facility in sweltering heat, with just a handful of volunteers – and yet Sam was able to make me smile every day. He began to really grow on me and I knew I’d miss him the most.

Two days before I was to fly home, I went inside Sam’s stall for the nighttime feeding and he grabbed onto my waist with both paws, buried his head in my hip and wouldn’t let go. He repeated this behavior every time I went into his kennel for the next two days. I knew that dogs who were unclaimed a few weeks after the cities were repopulated would be returned to those city streets – and I found that I simply could not leave Sam to an uncertain future on the streets of Thailand. I made arrangements to have Sam shipped to me if he wasn’t claimed.

About 30 days later I flew to Los Angeles and met him at the airport. I was excited to see him again, but concerned about how he survived the flight. Sam was visibly shaken from the 20-plus hour flight and I couldn’t tell if he recognized me or not. He had become quite thin since the last time I saw him and he had lost a lot of hair. Since I said goodbye to him in Thailand, he had been moved to two different shelters while waiting to get his papers in order. He was well looked after, but I think his mental state deteriorated from all of the stress. I rented a luxury sedan so that he would be as comfortable as possible and Siam Sam and I drove home to Berkeley, California.

I spent the next week or so slowly getting him used to living in a house. He was afraid of being indoors and walking through any kind of doorway. He was happiest outside, so we spent a lot of time going into and coming out of the house. I offered him his choice of three different sizes and shapes of comfy plush beds and he chose to curl up on the cold floor each and every night (now he will not even consider sleeping on any bed less than six inches thick!).

Once it seemed that he was getting comfortable, I decided to leave him (and my other dog) for about 20 to 30 minutes while I went to the store. This was a big mistake. I should have tested a shorter absence first. I came home to the frightening spectacle of Sam hysterically screaming and frantically panting. His forelegs were bloody and his pupils dilated. The kitchen doors and windows had claw and teeth marks indicating where he tried to escape. Curtains were chewed and fecal matter was spread all over the floor and walls. My heart sank – but I hoped that it was a short-term problem that I had caused by leaving him too soon and for too long.

I tried again a couple of days later, but this time it was an experiment, rather than a real departure. He had been crated a lot during his stay in the shelters in Thailand and had been fine, so I thought he might do better in a crate. I put him in a crate with a food-stuffed toy, walked out of the house and spied on him from a window. His reaction was immediate and heart-wrenching to observe. He again became hysterical and frantically tried to chew through the bars, and then started chewing his legs. All this within minutes.

I was stunned. I knew he might have a hard time adjusting to his new life and that it would take patience, time, and understanding – and I was totally on board for that. But I wasn’t prepared for the severity of his disorder, and I wasn’t prepared for the hardship of helping him overcome this affliction. The first couple of times I left Sam were hell for him. My hell began after that.

Keep Separation Anxiety Treatment Slow and Steady

I have helped hundreds of owners of dogs with mild separation anxiety (SA). I could probably recite in my sleep the steps that an owner needs to take in order to modify mild to moderate SA behaviors. However, when a client came to me with a dog who had a moderate to severe case, I would refer them to another trainer. It’s not that I felt I was unqualified to help owners through this process; I understood the theoretical steps to modify the behavior. Honestly, it was that I couldn’t imagine standing in their shoes.

Seriously. I couldn’t fathom never leaving a dog alone throughout the lengthy training process and making all the difficult life changes necessary. Rehabilitating a dog suffering from severe SA may require months of painfully incremental steps of desensitizing the dog to his fear of being left alone and/or confinement. During this tedious process the dog should never be left alone. I couldn’t picture myself spending hours each week of mindlessly dull, repetitive desensitizing departures with the dog’s success measured in seconds! So how could I advise someone else to do it?

Well, that was then; this was now. Now I was the owner of a dog with severe SA. I needed to get over regretting Sam’s adoption and feeling sorry for myself and get to work.
Here is what I knew I needed to do, and what I immediately started doing for Sam:

-Made an appointment with a veterinarian, to make sure he was well and didn’t have a health problem that could be contributing to the issue – and, just as importantly, to get a prescription for an anti-anxiety medication for Sam.

-Increased his daily exercise.

-Started “alone” training, to begin helping him to be comfortable away from me. (I have another dog, but as in most severe SA cases, Sam couldn’t have cared less whether my other dog was home with him or not; he was anxious about being away from humans.) We worked particularly on minuscule stays, “go to your place,” and rewarding calm behavior.
Started using counter-conditioning, by giving him food-stuffed Kong toys to work on while I was in another room.

-Started desensitizing pre-departures and departures, getting him accustomed to my leaving. I endlessly picked up my keys and walked toward the door – and returned. Tediously. Until we were both exhausted and bored with it.

-Used any “can’t hurt/might help” remedies I could think of, including the flower essence remedy called Rescue Remedy, “dog appeasing pheromones” (DAP), a Thundershirt, and the calming music CD Through a Dog’s Ear.

-Used “shaping” exercises such as “101 things to do with a box,” to encourage him to engage his brain and offer behaviors that I could reward. I did not want him to always look to me for a cue; I wanted to encourage his independent thinking.

-Resisted cuddling and “babying” Sam because I didn’t want his attachment to me to become even stronger. And I didn’t want to reinforce his anxious behavior.

Your Needs are Important, Too

I also had to modify my own life quite a bit so that Sam was never left alone. I knew the drill too well: from this moment forward, until he was well on his way to being cured, I would not be able to leave him alone, not ever. My life had just changed dramatically. I was now standing in those shoes that I could not imagine being in before. I was about to enter into an undetermined period of isolation from friends and family, endless hours of desensitizing protocols, ordering all my supplies and groceries online, and the hardest part for me: relying on others for help.

I called a friend of mine who specializes in SA and pleaded with her to help me. I felt dazed by the colossal tasks I was facing and I needed someone to get me started. “Get a support system in place,” she said. “You cannot do this alone.”

I was daunted by what lay before me, but I had no choice. I didn’t want to ask for help, but I knew she was right: I couldn’t do this alone. I have a training business to run, and couldn’t possibly take him with me to every class I taught. I had to find some paid and volunteer dog-sitters; I couldn’t afford to pay professionals for all the time I needed sitters!

I sent out a somewhat dramatic email asking for help (I was in a panic!) to a group of friends – and was amazed to find several patient people willing to watch him on a regular schedule while I worked. I organized a different sitter for each day I was gone so as not to put too much strain on one person; I needed these people to be in it for the long haul.

Not all of the sitters worked out. I had to find people Sam was comfortable with and who I could trust to keep him safe from any extra stress. It was critical that he never be left alone, that he never be punished or stressed or else it would cause a major setback. I had to find people who understood Sam’s condition and took this seriously. Some people don’t understand the severity of the condition, or believe that it’s just attention-seeking behavior, boredom, or “brattiness.”

Oddly though, I felt that I could understand the sensation of pure panic suffered by dogs with severe SA, like Sam. One summer when I was about 5 years old, my brother and I were playing around with an old cedar chest. We loved looking at the old photographs and keepsakes my mother kept inside. At one point my brother suggested that I climb inside it and report to him how dark it was once the lid was closed. I remember protesting but then decided it was safe when he crossed his heart, hoped to die, and swore to God he wouldn’t lock it. Click. It locked automatically and the key was long lost.

I became panic-stricken. I screamed and kicked and pounded with my fists from the inside. I heard my brother yelling for help as he desperately tried to pry open the lid. My fear grew worse with every moment I was trapped inside. Extreme panic suffocated me; I felt that I couldn’t breathe. I began to try and claw my way out with my bare hands. I will never forget the uncontrollable fear that overtook my mind and body during this incident. It was more than just being scared; it was sheer terror.

This, I imagine, must be close to what a dog with severe SA feels when left alone. I was trapped in that chest for probably five minutes. Most dogs with SA are left alone for 8 to 10 hours a day, five days a week, and for many weeks or months before their owners seek help. Unimaginable! The lucky ones have an owner who finds a trainer or behaviorist who understands the disorder and can coach them through treating and modifying the behavior.
Most, unfortunately, will get bad advice from all sorts of people (trainers included) who do not understand this complex condition, causing the behavior to get worse, and will end up being relinquished to a shelter and/or euthanized.

In the past few months, I’ve heard stories from other owners of SA dogs who have been advised to crate the dogs and rap sharply on the crate when the dog screams or paws at the cage walls; to spray the caged dog with water; to use a shock collar to “interrupt” the anxious behaviors; and more. It makes my skin crawl to hear these stories, and to imagine how this treatment must make a dog feel when he is already blind with panic and terror.

Strategies for Managing Your Own Stress

I am incredibly blessed to have such a wide circle of dog-loving friends, who became Sam’s “staff” and looked after him so I could do the bare minimum of work away from home. But because I wanted to minimize how much I had to lean on these valued friends, I cancelled everything else that required me leaving the house without Sam. I stopped making appointments for private consultations with training clients. I also stopped going to the gym, hair appointments, movies, dinner out, and gatherings with friends. I cancelled all my doctor and dentist appointments and professional meetings. I couldn’t even go to the store! I ordered all of my groceries and supplies online.

I remember one pathetic moment when I ran out of a few things and my next delivery wasn’t due for several days; a friend brought a tube of toothpaste to my workplace for me. I felt very isolated and depressed. My friends slowly stopped including me in get-togethers and I missed five important milestone birthday celebrations of close friends. It seemed at times I would never lead a normal life again. I felt trapped in my own home.

I kept it up, however; I was fully committed to this dog! I was the one who brought him here – I had to see him through it! If behavior modification protocols to treat SA are not followed carefully and correctly, the dog will suffer and have major setbacks.

Here are the things I put into place during this period:

-I found and frequented only the stores/places that allow dogs; for groceries and other things available only where dogs are not allowed, I found stores that would make deliveries.

-I set up a rotating schedule of dog-sitters for Monday, Thursday night, Saturday, and Sunday, during the hours that I teach dog-training classes. (Kim, a a friend who is from Thailand, and her husband Vince, offered to dog-sit Sam on Thursday nights, and began a tradition of cooking an elaborate Thai meal that would be ready to share with me – and Sam! – when I got home from teaching my night classes. We started calling this event our Thursday night “Ditch and Dine.” Their kindness, generosity, and gracious company brought me to grateful tears many times.)

-I used Web cameras (and later, a program on my iPhone) to monitor Sam’s behavior when I stepped outside my front door, so I could calmly return before he had even a few seconds of anxiety about my absence. In this way, I could stretch my “departures” out as long as possible, without risking a setback.

-I turned down invitations to anything where my dog was not allowed (missing events with friends/family).

-I kept Sam safe from stress.

I was videotaping each “departure” training session so that I could go back and watch to make sure his body language was calm while I was outside the door. Live streaming also made it possible for my trainer friend who specializes in SA to log in and watch the footage on her computer, too. It was helpful to have an extra pair of eyes and I welcomed her opinion. It was really important to have her validate my progress and keep my sanity in check.

After a month of practicing every day, I had tediously worked my way up to 90 seconds – a minute and a half when I could consistently walk out the front door and not have Sam become anxious. Then, suddenly, our progress was stopped in its tracks. Sam was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and needed 6 to 8 weeks of chemotherapy. He had an 80 percent chance of remission with this treatment, so it was a no-brainer for us. However, this was a big setback for our SA work and he had major regression. It was extremely stressful for him to have chemo, and for the next two full months, Sam made no progress whatsoever. He obviously felt unwell, and even with his daily Prozac, he was clingy and anxious.

This was incredibly disheartening and depressing for me. My spirits were pretty low at that point. I felt like I had wasted three months of tedious work in total isolation, and I was daunted by the process of starting over from scratch. I was also terrified that I was going to lose my support system. My wonderful dog sitters had already been on the job for three months and now I was back to square one. I was going to lose my mind!

I was lonely, trapped in my own home, and I was tired of being misunderstood. People in my life who were supportive at first were also starting to become skeptical. “Why is it taking so long? You’re being neurotic and making it worse. Just leave him and go to the store, for goodness’ sake. He’ll snap out of it!” I didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning. I couldn’t face another day of it.

Enlist Your Friends’ and Family’s Support for Your Dog’s Separation Anxiety

Then, one day, I came to the realization that if I, a seasoned trainer, was feeling this way, how on earth do other people who have SA dogs cope? I knew of at least four students in my regular classes who were struggling with SA dogs. They had heard me talk about Sam in class and confided in me that they, too, were battling this problem. That’s when I decided I should start a support group for people with SA dogs – and it was the best thing I’ve ever done.

I found a nearby pub with a large outdoor area and a dog-friendly manager, and invited those clients to join me for drinks and sympathy. We had a great time at the first get-together and word began to spread. Many people found out about it and pleaded to join. I then started a Facebook group so we can support each other in between pub meetings.

My SA Support Group is comprised of people who are all dealing with or have dealt with a dog with SA. It’s important to understand that the unpleasant feelings are normal, that we aren’t alone, that we are not going crazy, and it will get better. We listen to each other’s struggles and encourage each other to carry on. We congratulate the tiny successes as the major milestones that they really are! Who else is going to get excited about a 30-second increase in the dog’s ability to stay home alone?

The group makes the struggle less of a struggle. Even though I’m a dog trainer, and often find myself giving dog-training advice to others in the group, I can honestly say that our meetings are as therapeutic for me as they are for anyone. I was going bonkers from the lack of socializing! A support group makes the experience far less isolating and validates the hard work that we all do. It also is a big relief that no one is judging us, and we can talk freely without the worry of being labeled as obsessive or neurotic. We all look forward to it; it’s fun and it gives us fuel to carry on. Some of us have already won the race and we find satisfaction in helping others still struggling through it.

It astonishes me that, in my 20-plus years of dog training, I haven’t seen a serious discussion of how life-altering (in a bad way!) dealing with a SA dog can be. One of my fellow “SA club” members (interestingly, another dog training professional who rehabilitated his own dog with severe SA) baldly stated, “It can drive grown men to tears.” The fact that this condition is generally misunderstood by most people can further add to feelings of isolation.

It baffles me, because this is such an important piece of the puzzle. If the owner, who is already isolated, confused, and distraught about the situation, is not getting support, then she won’t be motivated to continue with the lengthy training required to get the dog past his fear. If she doesn’t do the work, then the dog doesn’t get better. If the dog doesn’t get better, the owner is miserable, the dog gets returned to the breeder or shelter and either lives in misery or dies. It seems to me that support should be at the top of the list!

Dealing with an SA dog can also cause strife in friendships and relationships. Many couples have confessed at our group sessions that they argue a lot about the dog and that both parties have periods of feeling envious of, or bitter toward, the other. It is common for one person in a relationship to do most of the work with the dog while the other goes about their life – and this, too, can cause a lot of resentment. A friend struggling with an SA dog told me, “As I kissed my husband goodbye in the morning, I remember thinking how lucky he was that he escaped from the building that had become my prison.” Several have even admitted to me that the other party gave them an ultimatum; that if the dog didn’t improve soon, then the dog would be gotten rid of. I can’t imagine the extra amount of stress this would add to an already horrible situation!

Some “SA Club” members confessed to feeling guilty for somehow causing the separation anxiety in the first place. Some expressed feeling resentful toward the dog and then feeling guilty for being resentful! Several admitted to almost losing their jobs because of consistently being late for work or not coming in at all (because of a pet-sitting snafu or general depression).

One thing has become clear to me, as a constant attendee of this club: If an owner does not get support throughout this lengthy process, relationships become strained, employment suffers, motivation wanes, and training stops. Everyone loses in the end, most notably the dog.

This knowledge has helped me through the past few months of working with Sam. I’ve now learned to stay away from people who are not supportive! If a friend tells me that I should “Just let him cry it out!” or “Just let him deal with it while you go to the store!” I avoid discussing Sam with them, or avoid them altogether.

It Will Get Better

I never could have gotten here without my support group and my dog-sitting friends, including Colleen Kinzley, who watched Sam for me at the location where I teach on Monday nights – which also happens to be the place she works every day, and her night off! With the help of all of these special people, I’ve been able to continue Sam’s training and he’s been able to make more and more progress. As Sam has improved, and the amount of time that he can be left alone has increased, I have been able to “release” some of my dog-sitting friends from their duties (though I don’t know how I will ever repay them for their great kindness).

I still use a camera app for my smartphone, so I am able to watch Sam in real time on my phone when I leave the house. I now have three cameras set at different angles so I can watch him and be ready to come back home if he starts to get upset.

Last night I went to work and left Sam home. I had my cameras running and checked in on him in between the classes I was teaching. I was gone for 5½ hours. He mostly slept the entire time.

I think we’ve crossed the finish line. It was unspeakably hard, probably harder than anything I’ve ever done. But I have to say that through this difficult journey some beautiful things have happened: I’ve made a lot of new caring friends. Even today I cannot believe the selfless efforts that these people made to help Sam and me. I could not have done it without their support and the support of the group I created. I am more grateful to them than I can ever express.

Before this started I was afraid of separation anxiety. Now, because of this journey with Sam, I have a newfound sympathy and understanding of what owners of SA dogs are going through and feel confident and uniquely qualified to help others through this.

Many people have asked me, “If you had known about the SA before you brought Sam home, would you have still brought him home?” I can answer that honestly and without hesitation: No. Had I known what was in store for me I would have tearfully said goodbye and walked away.

But if you ask me now, “Would you do it again?” I’d say absolutely, unequivocally yes. My life is better after all the struggles in so many ways, but mostly it is just better with Siam Sam in it.

Sandi Thompson, of Bravo!pup, is a dog trainer and a long-time model for training articles in WDJ. She shares her home in Berkeley, CA, with Siam Sam and her little dog, Turtle, who sometimes gets mistaken for WDJ’s Otto.

The post Treating Your Dog’s Separation Anxiety appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

Thirty years ago the phrase was uncommon in dog training circles. Today it’s a rare dog owner who hasn’t heard of separation anxiety in dogs, experienced it with a one of her own dogs, or at least had a friend whose canine companion reportedly suffered from this difficult disorder. Separation-related behaviors seem more common these days, and sadly, can also result in human frustration and anger – and sometimes even the euthanasia of an offending dog when a despairing owner reaches her wits’ end.

In her excellent book, Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals, Dr. Karen Overall defines separation anxiety as, “A condition in which animals exhibit symptoms of anxiety or excessive distress when they are left alone.” The most common separation anxiety symptoms in dogs include destructive behavior, house soiling, and excessive vocalization. Many dogs with this challenging behavior also refuse to eat or drink when left alone, don’t tolerate crating, pant and salivate excessively when distressed, and go to great lengths to try to escape from confinement, with apparent total disregard for injury to themselves or damage to their surroundings.

It’s natural for young mammals to experience anxiety when separated from their mothers and siblings; it’s an adaptive survival mechanism. A pup who gets separated from his family cries in distress, enabling Mom to easily find him and rescue him. In the wild, even an adult canine who is left alone is more likely to die – either from starvation, since he has no pack to hunt with, or from attack, since he has no pack mates for mutual protection. For this reason, signs of separation anxiety in puppies is somewhat expected.

Given the importance of a dog’s canine companions, it speaks volumes about the dog’s adaptability as a species that we can condition them to accept being left alone at all! We’re lucky we don’t have far more problems than we do, especially in today’s world, where few households have someone at home regularly during the day to keep the dog company.

There was a time in our society when fewer dogs were left home alone – Mom stayed home while Dad went off to work every day – so dogs had less exposure to the kind of daily isolation that contributes to separation anxiety behavior. Some behavior scientists theorize that experiencing a fear-causing event when a young dog is already mildly stressed about being alone can trigger more intense “home alone” anxiety behaviors.

In today’s world there are a significant number of dogs who are afflicted with some degree of separation distress. The best solution for how to break a dog’s separation anxiety depends largely upon the dog’s situation and anxiety triggers. Fortunately, many dog owners these days are willing to seek solutions to behavior problems rather than just “getting rid of” the dog. As a result, behavior professionals are likely to see canine clients with separation distress disorders.

Symptoms of Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Another reason separation anxiety seems more prevalent today than a few decades ago is that it is misdiagnosed with some frequency by laypersons. With an increased awareness of the condition has come an increase in misidentification of behaviors that resemble separation distress behaviors, but really aren’t.

For example, house soiling can be related to anxiety, but there are many other potential causes. These include incomplete housetraining, lack of access to appropriate elimination areas, unreasonable owner expectations (expecting the dog to “hold it” for 10 hours or more), fear, excitement, marking, submissive elimination, or physical incontinence.

Destructive behavior may be a result of separation anxiety, or it could be normal puppy behavior, play, reaction to outside stimuli, and/or an outlet for excess energy. Separation distress could be the cause of excessive barking and howling, or the dog could be stimulated to bark by street sounds (traffic, people talking), trespassers (i.e., a mail carrier, intruder, Girls Scouts selling cookies), social facilitation (other dogs barking), play, aggression, or fear.

It’s critically important that a problem behavior be correctly identified prior to the implementation of a behavior modification program. It does no good to try to modify separation anxiety if that’s not really the problem.

If a dog pees in the house when left alone as well as when the owner is home, it’s more likely a housetraining problem than a separation issue. However, a dog urinating in his crate when the owner leaves the house, but who is fine holding it through the night, is an example of possible separation anxiety. Separation-related destruction is usually directed toward escape efforts – chewing or clawing at or through doorframes, windowsills, and walls. If the destruction is more generalized throughout the house, it points toward one or more of the other possible causes, rather than an isolation issue. A strategically located video camera or sound-activated tape recorder can help identify possible outside stimuli, such as visitors to the home or unusual noises, that might trigger what otherwise may appear to be separation-related behaviors.

Isolation Distress and Separation Anxiety: What’s the Difference?

Distress over being left alone is not always a full-blown separation anxiety problem. First, a dog may suffer from a mild distress to a severe anxiety disorder. “Distress” indicates a lower intensity of stress behaviors when the dog is alone, while “anxiety” is an extreme panic attack.

The distinction between “isolation” and “separation” is equally important. Isolation distress means the dog doesn’t want to be left alone – any ol’ human will do for company, and sometimes even another dog will fill the bill. True separation distress or anxiety means the dog is hyper-bonded to one specific person, and continues to show stress behaviors if that person is absent, even if other humans or dogs are present.

Our Cardigan Corgi, Lucy, suffers from moderate isolation distress – she doesn’t like to be left alone outdoors. Before we realized the significance of her behavior, she managed to injure herself badly, falling off a stone wall onto cement steps eight feet below in her persistent attempts to reach us through a window. Indoors, her isolation distress is milder. She may bark briefly if we leave her alone downstairs, but quickly calms and settles.

Missy, on the other hand, demonstrates true separation distress. The eight-year-old Australian Shepherd had been in at least four different homes prior to joining our family last fall. As is sometimes the case with dogs who have been rehomed numerous times, she attached herself to one of her new humans (me) completely and almost instantly.

If our whole family is in the barn, and I go back to the house for some reason, Missy could care less that my husband is still with her in the barn; she becomes hyper-vigilant, watching anxiously for me to return, ignoring Paul’s attempts to reassure her or engage in other activities. Fortunately for us, her stress level is mild; other than some scratches inflicted to our kitchen door on the second day of her arrival to our home, she’s done nothing destructive; her level of stress over my absence is low, and tolerable, and consists primarily of pacing, whining, and barking. But it may explain why we’re at least her fifth (and final!) home.

Case Study: Misdiagnosis of Separation Anxiety

Lexi was a five-year-old spayed female Husky/Greyhound mix in rescue, presented by the foster mom as having separation anxiety that manifested as destructive behavior. Lexi had been in several prior foster homes, none of which reported destructive behavior.

As we discussed Lexi’s behavior during her behavior consultation, the dog paced almost constantly, and displayed numerous other signs of general stress, including whining, attention-seeking, and exploring doorways, even though her current human was sitting quietly in a chair in the center of the room. Her behavior did not change significantly when her human left the room.

The foster parent mentioned that she had noted a heightened anxiety when Lexi heard “mystery electronic beeping” in the house – probably fi’om a watch hidden in a drawer that the owners were unable to locate. She also reportedly reacted badly to the beeps of other watches, cameras, and other electronic devices.

I concluded that while Lexi did, indeed, have anxiety problems, they were not separation-related, but rather a more generalized anxiety. While we have no way of knowing for sure, I surmised that at some point she may have been contained in an underground shock fence, and the beeping sounds that caused her heightened anxiety were similar to the warning beep of the fence. For a dog who has been trained to such a fence, the sound of the beep, through association with the shock, can be every bit as aversive and stress-causing at the shock itself.

We implemented a behavior modification program for generalized anxiety that included partnering with a veterinarian for the administration of anxiety-relieving medication, and the foster parent made sure not to leave Lexi alone with access to the room where the mystery beeping occurred (the kitchen). Lexi was eventually adopted and is doing well in her new home, where her owners are continuing her behavior modification program.

How to Treat Separation Anxiety in Dogs

There are a number of steps you can take to resolve your dog’s isolation- or separation-anxiety behavior. The program spelled out under “Preventing Separation Anxiety” below can also be used to modify an existing isolation/separation condition. However, you will progress much more slowly through the steps of the program with a dog who suffers from separation-related behaviors; your dog’s strong emotional response to being left alone will make this a much more challenging proposition.

Here are some other avenues to explore, to complement your modification work:

• Exercise your dog well before you leave. A tired dog has less energy with which to be anxious and destructive. End exercise sessions 20 to 30 minutes before you go, so he has time to settle down.
• Five minutes before you leave, give him a well-stuffed Kong to take his mind off your imminent departure.
• Make your departures and returns completely calm and emotionless. No huggy/kissy “Mummy loves you” scenes. If he gets excited and jumps all over you when you return, ignore him. Turn your back and walk away. When he finally settles down, say hello and greet him very calmly.
• Defuse the pieces of your departure routine by also doing them when you are not leaving. Pick up your car keys and sit down on the sofa to watch TV. Dress in your business suit and then cook dinner. Set your alarm for 5 a.m. on a Saturday, then roll over and go back to sleep.
• Mix up the pieces of your departure routine when you are leaving, so his anxiety doesn’t build to a fever pitch as he recognizes your departure cues. We are creatures of habit too, so this is hard to do, but can pay off in big dividends. Eat breakfast before you shower instead of after. Pick up your keys and put them in your pocket before you take your dog out for his final potty break. Put your briefcase in the car while you’re still in pajamas. Make the morning as unpredictable as possible.
• Use a “safe” cue such as “I’ll be back,” only when you know you’ll return within the time period your dog can tolerate. As suggested in Patricia McConnell’s wonderful booklet on separation anxiety titled “I’ll Be Home Soon,” this helps your dog relax, knowing he can trust you to return.
• Explore alternative dog-keeping situations to minimize the occasions when you do have to leave him alone – doggie daycare may be suitable for some dogs, but not for others. You may be able to find a neighbor or relative who is house-bound and might appreciate some canine companionship.
• If you are considering adoption of a second dog, try borrowing a calm, stable, compatible dog from a friend, to see if that helps to relieve your dog’s distress.
• Try using Comfort Zone (DAP) plug-ins and sprays in his environment to help ease his anxiety.
• Remove as many other stressors from your dog’s world as possible to help him maintain his equilibrium in your absence. No choke chains, shock collars, physical or harsh verbal punishment (especially in connection to his anxiety behaviors).
• Consider working with a behavior professional to be sure you’re on the right path – and to help you explore the possibilities of using anti-anxiety medications to maximize the effectiveness of your modification efforts.

Fixing separation anxiety is hard work. It’s all too easy to get frustrated with your dog’s destructive behavior. Remember that he’s not choosing to do it out of spite or malice – he is panicked about his own survival without you, his pack, there to protect him. It’s not fun for him, either; he lives in the moment, and the moments that you are gone are long and terrifying. If you make the commitment to modify his behavior and succeed in helping him be brave about being alone, you’ll not only save your home from destruction, you will enhance the quality of your dog’s life immensely – as well as your own – and perhaps save him from destruction, too.

Preventing Separation Anxiety in 10 Steps

The most important ingredient in a successful separation anxiety prevention program is to set your dog up for success. When you bring a new dog or puppy home, implement a program to help him be comfortable with being alone for gradually increasing periods. This will help to assure him that it’s not necessary to panic: you haven’t abandoned him; you always come back. Be sure to exercise him well before you practice; a tired dog is a much better candidate for relaxation than one who’s “full of it.”

Here are the 10 steps of a two-day program to create a dog who is comfortable being left alone. Note that if you are modifying an already existing distress or anxiety condition
you will need to work through the steps of the program much more slowly.

1. Bring your dog home at a time when someone can spend a few days with him to ease the stress of the transition.

2. Prepare a quiet, safe space in advance such as a playpen or puppy pen, or a dog-proofed room such as a laundry room.

3. When you bring your dog home, give him a chance to relieve himself outdoors, and spend 10 to 15 minutes with him in the house under close supervision. Then put him in his pen and stay in the room with him.

4. Stay close at first. Read a book. If he fusses, ignore him. When he’s quiet, greet him calmly, take one step away, and then return before he has a chance to get upset. Speak to him calmly, then go back to reading. You’re teaching him that if you leave, you will return. Other family members should make themselves scarce during this time: your dog needs to learn to be alone.

5. Continue to occasionally step away, gradually increasing the distance and varying the length of time that you stay away, so that eventually you can wander around the room without upsetting your dog. Each time you return, greet him calmly. Every once in a while say “Yes!” in a calm but cheerful voice before you return to him, then walk back to the pen and feed him a treat.

6. After an hour or so, give him a break. Take him outside to potty and play. Hang out for a while. Then go back inside and resume his pen exercises.

7. Begin again, staying near the pen until he settles. More quickly this time, move along steps 4 and 5 until you can wander around the room without generating alarm. Now step
into another room very briefly, and return before your dog has time to get upset. Gradually increase the length of time you stay out of the room, interspersing it with wandering around the room, sitting near him reading a book, and sitting across
the room reading a book. lf he starts to fuss, wait until he stops fussing to move back toward him. Teach him that calm behavior makes you return, fussing keeps you away.

8. Occasionally, step outside of the house. Your goal for the first day is to get your dog comfortable with you being away from him for 15 to 20 minutes; it’s usually the first 20 minutes of separation that are most difficult. Vary the times so he doesn’t start anticipating your return. Remember to give him plenty of potty and play breaks: every hour for a young pup, every one to two hours for an older dog.

9. On the second day, quickly repeat the warm-up steps, until you can step outside for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, interspersed with shorter separations. On one of your outdoor excursions, hop into your car and drive around the block. Return in 5 to 10
minutes, and calmly re-enter the house just as you have been during the rest of the exercises. Hang out for a while, then go outside and drive away again, for a half-hour this time.

10. Now it’s time for Sunday brunch. Be sure your dog gets a thorough potty break and playtime, then give him 15 minutes to relax after the stimulation of play. Put a Kong stuffed with delightful treats into his pen, round up the family, and calmly exit the house for an outing of a couple of hours’ duration. When you arrive home to a calm and happy dog, drink an orange juice toast to your graduation from separation anxiety prevention school.

Time Alone for Dogs: There is a Limit

It’s unfair to ask a young dog to stay home alone for 5 to 10 hours; he needs to get out to relieve himself midway through the day. If you force him to soil in the home, at worst you can cause stress-related behaviors, at best you may create house-training problems. Options may include taking him to work with you, having family members come home on their lunch hour, arranging for stay-at-home neighbors to take him out, hiring a pet walker to walk him and play with him, or sending him to a well-run doggie daycare environment. (Note: The daycare option is not appropriate for a very young pup.)

If you set up a routine to help your dog succeed, he’ll someday earn his Master’s Degree in Home Alone, and be trusted with full house freedom. lt may be too late for some dog owners to say they’ve never had a dog with separation anxiety, but it’s never too late to say “never again”!

DOGS WITH SEPARATION ANXIETY: OVERVIEW

1. Take steps to prevent separation anxiety in your new dog by conditioning him to accept being left alone.

2. Assess your dog’s anxious behaviors (destructive behavior, vocalization, and inappropriate elimination) to determine if the behaviors might have a cause other than separation anxiety.

3. Understand that your dog’s difficult behavior is not deliberate, and that punishment is ineffective, inappropriate, and will only exacerbate the behavior.

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. Miller lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Pat is also author of The Power of Positive Dog Training; Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog; Positive Perspectives II: Know Your Dog, Train Your Dog, and the brand-new Dog Play: How and Why to Play With Your Dog.

The post How to Help With Separation Anxiety in Dogs appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

Fear-related canine behaviors can be debilitating to the inappropriately fearful dog. They are heartbreaking, frustrating, even sometimes dangerous for the human trying to deal with her dog’s strong emotional responses, and for the dog who may injure himself or others in his desperate efforts to escape or protect himself from the fear-causing stimulus. Fortunately, there are steps an educated owner can take to decrease the intensity or frequency of her dog’s debilitating fright.

Three faces of fear
The complex of fear-related behaviors includes fears, anxieties, and phobias. While they are closely related emotional responses, they differ significantly in several ways, including the presence or absence of a physical trigger, the intensity of the dog’s response, and the ease with which the emotional response and related dog behaviors can be modified. In general, these three conditions can be among the most difficult of behavioral problems to treat.

There is a strong genetic component to fear-related behaviors. Whereas once we tended to place a lot of the blame on owners for their perceived role in creating fearful dogs, today we recognize that a genetic propensity toward fearfulness is a significant factor in the actual manifestation of fear-related behaviors.

While environment – especially lack of socialization – can play a critically important role in bringing these behaviors to fruition, genes explain why two dogs with similar upbringing and socialization can react so differently in the presence of a potentially fear-causing stimulus, and why even a well-socialized dog can suddenly develop phobic behaviors.

Fear is defined as a feeling of apprehension associated with the presence or proximity of an object, individual, or social situation. It’s a valuable, adaptive emotion, necessary for survival and appropriate in many situations. It’s good to be afraid of grizzly bears, tornados, and semi-trucks skidding out of control on icy highways. Your dog is wise to fear the flashing heels of a galloping horse, strong waves crashing on an ocean beach, the spinning wheels of a passing car. People and animals who feel no fear are destined to live short lives.

Of course, overly fearful dogs may lead short lives as well. Fear-related aggression is a significant risk to a dog’s long and happy life. A fearful dog’s first choice is usually to escape, but he may bite defensively if cornered or trapped, and dogs who bite are often euthanized. In addition, a constant emotional state of fear makes for a poor quality of life for a dog, and for humans who are stressed by their fearful dog’s behavior.

Debates about anthropomorphism aside, most biologists agree that human and nonhuman mammals experience fear similarly. Recall one of your own heart-stopping, adrenalin-pumping life experiences. Perhaps you were approached by a menacing stranger in an alley on a dark night, threatened by a large predator on a camping trip, cornered by an angry bull in a pasture, or just missed rear-ending a car in front of you when a moment of inattention caused you to miss the warning flash of taillights. Remember how helpless, vulnerable, and terrified you felt? You can empathize with your dog when you see him trembling in the presence of a stimulus that elicits a similar response in his canine brain and body.

Anxiety is the distress or uneasiness of mind caused by apprehensive anticipation of future danger or misfortune, real or imagined. Anxious dogs appear tense, braced for a threat they can’t adequately predict, sometimes one that doesn’t actually even exist. Anxiety can be a chronic condition, one that significantly impairs a dog’s (and owner’s) quality of life, and one that can be more challenging to modify than the fear of a real and present danger.

Separation distress is perhaps the most widely discussed anxiety-related behavior in dogs, but owner absence is not the only cause for canine apprehension. Many dogs are anxious on car rides – anticipating, perhaps, a visit to the vet’s office, or some other “bad” place. A dog who has been attacked by a loose dog while walking on leash may become anxious about going for walks, constantly stressed, scanning the neighborhood for another potential attacker.

Again, human anxieties are similar to canine. If you’ve been mugged in a dark alley, you are likely to experience some degree of stress anytime you find yourself walking down an alley in the dark. Some people experience extreme anxiety over taking exams, even when their past successes show that they pass tests with flying colors. Barbra Streisand, successful singer that she is, suffers from extreme performance anxiety, still becoming physically ill every time she’s about to walk on stage. The danger or misfortune may be imagined, but the anxiety is very real.

Phobias are persistent, extreme, inappropriate fear or anxiety responses, far out of proportion to the level or nature of threat presented. They are stubbornly resistant to modification through habituation or desensitization – repeated low-level exposure to the stimulus that causes the extreme response. While inappropriate in degree, a phobic response is not totally irrational – it is usually directed toward something that could be harmful. Common human phobias are related to snakes, spiders, high places, flying – all things that have the potential to be life-threatening. In reality, the majority of snakes and spiders are relatively harmless, it’s rare for humans to accidentally nosedive off a skyscraper, and only a tiny percentage of airplanes ever crash. Common canine phobias include extreme reactions to thunderstorms and other sounds, fear of humans, and inappropriate response to novel stimuli (anything new and different).

Lucy and the parade
When we adopted Lucy, our Cardigan Corgi in June 2004, one of the things that appealed to me was her obvious self-confidence. This was a dog, I thought, who could travel with me to seminars, appear in public, perhaps even compete in Rally or Agility, or both. I worked on socialization, taking her places with me whenever I could. She took it all in stride, just as I anticipated – until I made the mistake of taking her on the Humane Society of Washington County’s Halloween Parade float. I thought she was old enough at nine months to handle the parade environment. I was wrong.

The parade is the pride of Hagerstown, Maryland – an all-afternoon and evening affair as floats and marchers get lined up and ready to move through the center of town. Lucy was enjoying the commotion, eating yummy treats as we strolled past stationary floats, greeting people and practicing socialization and good manners behaviors. With the signal that it was time for the parade to begin we hustled back to the float, loaded up, and settled in our seats along with a half-dozen other dogs and their handlers.

Lucy continued to enjoy the attention as we rolled along the spectator-lined street. People of all sorts walked up to the slow-moving float and petted her. Her ears were up, her eyes bright, and her tail wagging merrily. Then she heard the drums. I hadn’t realized our street would merge with the marching band street. I watched helplessly as my confident Corgi melted down before my eyes. Her ears flattened back against her head. Her tail went down, her eyes lost their shine, and she began to tremble, rapidly losing her enthusiasm for the treats she had been happily enjoying.

Then I made my second big mistake. We should have bailed out of the parade at that point and arranged for someone to come back and collect us after the festivities were over. Instead, I opted to stick it out, hoping to use my higher-value treats to counter-condition and desensitize her fear response to the drums.

Unwittingly, I achieved the exact opposite result; the constant exposure to the too-intense stimulus effectively sensitized her to loud noises, increasing her fear response. That sensitization caused her to be intensely sound-phobic, which has since generalized to thunderstorms, the banging of our horses in their stalls in the barn, and worse luck, cheering and applause.

Getting brave
Whether you’re working with fears, anxieties or phobias, the solution to an inappropriate emotional response is counter-conditioning and desensitization (CC&D) to change your dog’s emotional response to the stimulus or situation. In The Cautious Canine, author and behaviorist Dr. Patricia McConnell calls counter-conditioning a “universally effective treatment for fear-based behavior problems.” Think of it as training your dog’s emotions rather than training his actions. Behavior change will follow emotional change.

Counter-conditioning involves changing your dog’s association with a scary stimulus from negative to positive. The easiest way to give most dogs a positive association is with very high-value, really yummy treats. I like to use chicken – canned, baked, or boiled, since most dogs love chicken and it’s a low-fat, low-calorie food. Perhaps your dog is afraid of your vacuum cleaner. Here’s how the CC&D process works:

1. Determine the distance at which your dog can look at the non-running, stationary vacuum cleaner, and be alert and wary but not extremely fearful. This is called the threshold distance.

2. With you holding your dog on leash, have a helper present the non-running vacuum at threshold distance X. The instant your dog sees the vacuum, start feeding bits of chicken, nonstop.

3. After several seconds, have the helper remove the vacuum, and stop feeding chicken.

4. Keep repeating steps 1-3 until the presentation of the vacuum at that distance consistently causes your dog to look at you with a happy smile and a “Yay! Where’s my chicken?” expression. This is a conditioned emotional response (CER); your dog’s association with a non-running vacuum at threshold distance X is now positive instead of negative.

5. Now you need to increase the intensity of the stimulus. You can do that by decreasing – in tiny increments – the distance between X and your dog, by increasing the movement of the vacuum at distance X, or by turning the vacuum on. I’d suggest decreasing distance first in small increments by moving the dog closer to the location where the vacuum will appear, achieving the desired CER at each new distance, until your dog is happy to be right next to the non-running, non-moving vacuum, perhaps even sniffing or targeting to it.

6. Then return to distance X and add movement of your non-running vacuum, gradually decreasing distance and attaining the desired CERs along the way, until your dog is delighted to have the non-running, moving vacuum in close proximity.

7. Now, back to distance X, with no movement. Have your helper briefly turn on the vacuum; you feed the dog treats in that instant. Turn off the vacuum and immediately stop the treats.

8. Repeat until you have the desired CER, and then gradually increase the length of time you leave the vacuum running, until your dog is happy to have the vacuum on continuously.

9. Begin decreasing the distance between the dog and the vacuum in small increments, moving the dog closer to the vacuum, obtaining your CER consistently at each new distance.

10. When your dog is comfortable and happy to have the running, stationary vacuum close to him, you’re ready for the final phase. Return to distance X and obtain the desired CER there, with a running, moving vacuum.

Then – gradually! – decrease the dis-tance between the vacuum and your dog until he is happy to be in the presence of the running, moving vacuum. He now thinks the vacuum is a very good thing, as a reliable predictor of very yummy treats.

The above example concerns a fairly simple fear behavior. The more complex the stimulus and the more intense the response, the more challenging the behavior is to modify. Anxieties and phobias generally require a greater commitment to a longer term and more in-depth modification program, and often beg the intervention of a good, positive behavior professional.

What about medication?
I used to be strongly opposed to using drugs in behavior modification except as a very last resort. That was years ago, at a time when the most widely used drugs were valium and acepromazine. Those drugs have a strong sedative effect – creating a “groggy doggie” who is still very aware of the fear-causing stimulus, he’s just too drugged to do anything about it. Still inappropriately prescribed by some vets today for behavior modification, they are quite likely to make fear-related behaviors worse, not better.

These days, I’m much more likely to suggest consulting with a behavior-educated vet sooner, rather than later, about the use of behavior modification drugs.

I’m not a vet, so I can’t prescribe drugs; in fact, it would be inappropriate for me to even suggest to a client that a specific drug might be just what her dog needs.

What I can do is tell her that based on the behavioral history form she has filled out for me, my observations of the dog, and our subsequent discussions regarding the success of our behavioral modification program, it’s appropriate to talk to a veterinarian about the possibility of adding pharmaceuticals to our modification program. I am most likely to suggest this in cases where dog’s and owner’s quality of life are significantly impacted by a dog’s fearful and/or aggressive behaviors.

Today’s classes of psychotropic drugs are a far cry from the sedatives of the past. They are designed to help repair brain chemistry that’s out of kilter – to open a window in the dog’s brain that will enable ongoing behavior modification to be more successful. Admittedly, it’s a little experimental; most of the drugs were designed for use in humans, and use in canines is an off-label application – more reason to work closely with a veterinarian who is very knowledgeable about canine behavior.

People tend to have a knee-jerk “cringe” reaction when someone suggests “drugging” their dog. I understand and applaud a dog owner’s caution; behavior modification drugs are not benign, and they need to be used with care. There is potential for adverse reactions, and the dog needs to be monitored closely to determine if the drug’s impact is beneficial, neutral, or harmful to the dog.

That’s why I believe that any canine candidate for behavior-modifying drugs needs to have an observant owner, a know-ledgeable behavior professional, and a behavior-educated veterinarian on his team. So don’t automatically say “No!” to drugs; just use them wisely, and with care and assistance from your animal behavior professionals.

For more information about the medications most frequently prescribed for fear and anxiety in dogs, see “Understanding Behavior-Altering Drugs For Canine,” July 2006.

The damage done
I frequently chastise myself for taking Lucy to the parade. In my defense, I didn’t realize we would meet up with loud drums – and plenty of dogs without a genetic predisposition for sound-phobia would have been fine with the noise. In fact, because of the genetic influence, there’s high likelihood that Lucy’s noise phobia would have been triggered sooner or later anyway, perhaps by a very intense thunderstorm.

The good news is that my husband and I have made some progress with Lucy’s sound-phobia. Loud television programs offer ideal opportunities for counter-conditioning and desensitization, as do recordings of thunderstorms and applause, where the intensity of stimulus (volume) can be controlled.

Real thunderstorms are another story, however. They inevitably are super-threshold – occurring at an intensity that triggers a strong emotional response, trembling and shutting down to a degree where she can no longer accept high-value treats. For those, we’ve added melatonin, a snug T-shirt (the economy version of an Anxiety Wrap, a product that operates on the concept of “swaddling” as a comforting device), a Comfort Zone® plug-in “dog appeasing pheromone” diffuser, and the use of an anti-anxiety drug (Alprazolam) obtained through consultation with our behavior-knowledgeable veterinarian.

We’re considering the purchase of a Storm Defender cape (a coat that neutralizes the static charge that accompanies thunderstorms) to see if it might be even more effective than the snug T-shirt, and we may use a Calming Cap (a mask that reduces the dog’s vision and thus reduces his visual stimulus) to reduce the intensity of stimulus of lightning flashes. We’re encouraged by Lucy’s improvement, and hope for the day when she’s no longer traumatized by storms and applause. We might even make it to the Rally ring one day.

The post Reducing Your Dog’s Anxieties appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

Right off the bat, Carly was a doll, incredibly sweet and affectionate with the kids, bashfully compliant with adults, and playfully submissive to every other dog she met. The Hoyes signed her up for an adolescent dogs class, and Carly learned the basics of good manners training (plus a few cute tricks) very quickly.

There was only one fly in the ointment: As soon as the kids went back to school and Carly was left home alone during the day, things in and around the Hoye’s house began to get chewed. Initially, they thought it was just puppy teething, and to save the rugs and furniture (not to mention the hardwood floors and woodwork around the doors and windows in their restored Victorian) the Hoyes started leaving Carly outside during the day. But she soon advanced to chewing the lattice off the sides of the deck and the shingles off the sides of the house. She also chewed hoses and laundry baskets and any other random item she found in the yard. On the weekend, when the family was home, she continued to be an angel.

The dad, Dan Hoye, grew increasingly irritated with the destruction, but I hastened to explain that Carly’s behavior was not spiteful or some sort of “payback” for being left home alone. This was classic behavior for a dog who was experiencing separation anxiety. Carly was looking for things to do to keep herself busy and feel marginally better about being separated from her pack; it was stress relief.

Situation worsens
The mom, Maureen Hoye, was being very patient with Carly, and actively looking for solutions for managing the anxious dog. As she explained, “This was really the only thing we didn’t like about Carly; otherwise, she was the perfect dog for us.”

However, my explanations about separation anxiety didn’t reduce Dan Hoye’s frustration, especially when Carly added digging to her stress-relieving repertoire. She dug up plants and drilled holes in the lawn. She burrowed so enthusiastically next to the fence on the far side of her yard that she got the home-alone Labrador in that yard digging, too, and together they tunnelled into each other’s yards. Soon, long expanses of the wood fence between the yards began to sway and tip, as each post was undermined and loosened.

I advised the Hoyes to stop feeding Carly in a bowl, and start leaving her each day with a number of food-filled Kong toys, hidden in various places around the yard. This tactic worked brilliantly for a few days, but as Carly learned to hunt for and empty the Kongs more efficiently, it distracted her for only an hour or two. After unstuffing the Kongs, she would go back to work on the yard. Worst of all for me, the work-at-home neighbor, Carly started engaging in long barking sessions.

I had offered to provide daycare for Carly, and at this point, eager to avoid aggravating all the neighbors, the Hoye family took me up on my offer. On many days, Carly would come over and hang out with my dog and me in my office, which has a door to the backyard that I mostly keep open while I work, allowing the dogs to come and go as they please. We even removed a plank in the fence between our yards to facilitate an easy transfer.

The downside of this arrangement was that I’m not always home. Plus, I’m sure the Hoyes weren’t entirely comfortable with the thought of their dog spending many work days bonding with another family!

News of a potential solution
One day, at a photo shoot for an unrelated article, I happened to mention Carly and her family’s dilemma to Sandi Thompson, head trainer for Sirius Puppy Training in Berkeley, California. Thompson frequently models for the training articles in WDJ, and I enjoy talking about dog behavior with her. When I told her about Carly, Thompson grew excited. “She would be a perfect dog to test our invention,” she said.

That’s when I learned that Thompson and David Rucker, her engineer partner (another dog owner who sometimes consults for pet product makers), had dreamed up an idea for a machine that would dispense food-filled Kong toys to a home-alone dog. Rucker had built several prototypes of the machine and the couple was distributing them to a number of professional trainers and behaviorists for evaluation and testing.

That very day, they loaned me one of the prototypes – a large, unwieldy contraption with no resemblance to the machine’s current incarnation. The point was not how it looked; it was how and whether it would work to assuage a bored, anxious dog’s destructive and disruptive behavior.

That evening, I enthusiastically rushed the device over to my neighbors’ house, eager to share this new technology with them. The agreed to set up the machine so it would deliver four food-filled Kongs to Carly the next day.

As per Rucker and Thompson’s directions, they first operated the machine in “demonstration” mode in front of Carly, so she could hear the “preview” tone that precedes delivery of each Kong, and witness the toy itself rolling forth with its goodies inside. (Rucker added this feature to assuage concerns, expressed by some behaviorists, that a dog might wait anxiously all day in front of the machine, afraid to miss it eject a Kong. The tone is loud enough to alert a dog who has gone somewhere else in the house or yard, so the dog soon learns to be confident that the machine will let him know each time a Kong is about to emerge, and he will feel free to occupy himself elsewhere while waiting.)

The KongTime machine can be placed on the floor, or, if an owner is worried that her dog might spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get the Kongs out ahead of schedule, it can be placed on a counter or table. In this case, Rucker suggests that the owner run the machine on “demo” mode, to test the trajectory of the ejected Kongs. If they bounce or roll into a spot where the dog can’t get them, they can cause more anxiety!

A huge success
The Hoyes’ KongTime test went exactly as KongTime’s inventors intended. As Maureen Hoye recalls, “From the very first day, all of Carly’s destructive behavior stopped completely. She quickly learned that the tone meant a Kong was about to come out, and she’d go running toward the machine as soon as she heard it. Of course, it didn’t take her any less time than usual to unstuff the Kong, but she seemed to be content in between the Kong deliveries, knowing that more would arrive later. As far as I’m concerned, it was nothing short of miraculous.”

I was a more-than-interested witness to this miracle, with a front-row seat to Carly’s transformation. From my kitchen window, I could watch Carly in my neighbor’s backyard. Within days, she changed from an anxious dog who paced and dug and barked and chewed when home alone, to a bit of a couch potato. Almost every time I looked out the window, she was either lying on the Hoye’s deck or on the lawn, or chewing a Kong. Occasionally she’d get up to chase a squirrel out of the yard or along the top of the fence. Then she would lay down again. The Hoyes and I were both pleased, and a little surprised. It seemed almost too easy.

The Hoyes used the machine prototype for about two months, until its inventors needed it back. Carly completely stopped all her destruction and barking during that time, and we were all a little worried when we had to say goodbye to KongTime. The Hoyes went back to their original program of hiding food-filled Kongs all around the deck and yard when they left for work, and this time, that seemed to do the trick. Carly stayed destruction-free, with very minor, occasional exceptions.

Worth the wait
It’s a good thing for me and my neighbors that Carly’s problems seemed to be solved, since it took several years for Rucker and Thompson to finish the design process, obtain patents and financial backing, and begin production and distribution of the final incarnation of KongTime. Personally, I’ve been waiting rather impatiently, because I’ve been wanting to promote it in WDJ. I know so many home-alone dogs who would benefit from this tool.

Sadly for me, the Hoyes moved to another part of town. Carly had earned the privilege of spending her days in the house, sometimes with a sliding glass door open so she could go in and out as she wished. I no longer got to talk to her daily over the fence, or have her come over and visit. But the Hoye twins and my son are best friends, so I still see Carly periodically at the Hoyes’ house and at Little League games. And when they go on vacation, I get to dog-sit.

Curiously, Carly has been fine this whole time – no behavior problems despite being home alone all day during the school year. That is, until just a few months ago.

One day, Maureen called me to report that Carly had suddenly relapsed, causing hundreds of dollars of damage to their home. The boys came home from school and found the house in a shambles. The sliding glass door in the kitchen, which had been closed that day, was covered with slobber and footprints, to a height of six feet. All the vinyl window shutters in one section of the Hoye’s living room were chewed up. Several doors and door jambs throughout the house were scratched and gouged, apparently by nails and teeth. And the window-shades in Brendan’s room were chewed and knotted.

Maureen and I talked about the incident and tried to guess what might have set off what was clearly a sustained attempt on Carly’s part to get out of the house. Was she panicked? Or just bored? Since Carly does enjoy watching squirrels out the window, Maureen guessed that the dog might have been running from viewing spot to viewing spot, trying to get at the squirrels. “When is that darned KongTime going to be available for sale?!” Maureen asked me.

I called David and Sandi and learned that, coincidentally, they had just received the first units off the production line. They were nice enough to give one to the Hoyes that day – which also happens to be the last day Carly has wrecked anything.

It’s been about three months, and the Hoyes are still setting KongTime for Carly every day. Now that it’s on the market, they don’t anticipate ever going without the machine again. “At this point, it’s all about breaking up the monotony of her day,” says Maureen.

She also admits that when the family first got Carly, the young dog’s destructive behavior and barking was probably caused by separation anxiety, which the KongTime seemed to alleviate. This most recent outbreak, Maureen speculates, had more to do with boredom. “I think she invented a new game of ‘chasing’ the squirrels that she sees out the window from one window to the next, and she just got swept up in it,” says Maureen. “Reintroducing KongTime – in the nick of time! – broke the pattern.”

Sometimes, the Hoyes set KongTime for Carly on the weekends when they are home. “We like to watch her when we hear the preview tone,” says Maureen. “It’s fun, because she really does enjoy it. When she hears the tone, she runs to the kitchen and grabs the toy, gives it a flip or two to get the loose food out, and then takes it off to her bed or the backyard to work on emptying the sticky stuff.”

Not a sole solution
Despite its success in Carly’s case, Rucker and Thompson are quick to explain that no owner should depend on KongTime to provide the sole solution for a bored or anxious home-alone dog.

“We don’t want people to think Kong-Time is going to be a cure-all,” says Rucker. “A dog who is home all day by himself faces a number of challenges. We’re confident that KongTime will help, but we also feel that it’s best used as part of an overall program to alleviate all of the factors that cause a dog’s anxiety-related behavior.”

Helping the dog’s owner identify the potential contributors to the dog’s stress is where Thompson’s 20-plus years as a dog trainer come in handy. She frequently consults with dog owners on the phone, asking questions to help them analyze the situation. Has the owner stopped allowing the dog access to the outdoors? Has a new cat moved into the neighborhood, one who might be teasing the dog from atop a nearby fence? Is the dog battling a flea infestation or allergy that might be cranking up his discomfort?

All of these problems need to be addressed to effectively improve the dog’s behavior. As Thompson says, “KongTime is a useful supplement to anything and everything else the owners can do to reduce the dog’s tedium and isolation.”

Prevention role
Given Thompson’s long history teaching puppy classes, it makes sense that she would most like to see KongTime used for puppies in a preventive role, rather than as a fix for behavior problems that have resulted from a dog’s home-alone stress. “At some point, puppies have to be weaned from constant attention; eventually, most people have to go to work and leave their puppies home. In my opinion, KongTime is an ideal tool to give those puppies something to occupy themselves, and perhaps prevent boredom and stress-related problems from ever developing.”

Other trainers concur. Dana Cleveland, a trainer and the training and behavior manager for Citizen Canine, a daycare and boarding facility in Oakland, California, volunteered the dogs at her workplace as KongTime testers. “The dogs get good exercise here, but they do have a couple of periods a day when there isn’t much to do,” she says. “David and Sandi asked me to test KongTime in any way I saw fit, so I used it with several young, restless dogs who I thought might benefit from some extra fun and enrichment.”

Cleveland laughs, and then adds, “Also, frankly, I had doubts as to whether the machine would hold up to a couple of these dogs. I chose dogs that I thought might be able to break into and damage the machine; the most likely culprits included a couple of young Labradors, some known major chewers and food pigs.”

To her amazement, KongTime stood up to each of the six dogs Cleveland tested it with. “I gave it to one dog in particular, a seven-month-old Lab. I thought, if anybody has the ability and desire to bust into this machine, it will be this guy – but he never did! He just waited for the Kong, and then I’d see him on his bed, eating his Kong, wagging his tail. In fact, none of my test dogs tried to bust into it; they were just thrilled when the Kongs rolled out.”

All in all, Cleveland says she found KongTime to be a valuable tool for providing dogs with fun and enrichment. “I’d use it for any dog who was home alone for more than a couple of hours,” she says.

“I definitely recommend it to our clients, since many of the daycare dogs are here because they have such bad separation anxiety. KongTime gives them another tool in their toolbox for the times when daycare is not an option. It wouldn’t fix a dog who had very severe separation anxiety, but it’s ideal for the average home-alone dog, and to prevent boredom in home-alone puppies.”

I’m no trainer, but I’m obviously a believer. Consider KongTime for any anxious or under stimulated dog you know. You could really improve his or her life.

Also With This Article
“Many Uses of the Kong”

-Nancy Kerns is Editor of WDJ.

The post Help for the Home-Alone Dog appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

“I was asked to leave my agility class because my dog kept barking and lunging at the other dogs. We have to channel her energy somehow. What are we going to do now?”

“I just don’t know if I should keep him. He’s a great dog with us, but he’s so wild around other animals and people. I’m afraid he’ll hurt someone or get into a serious dog fight.”

Does this sound like your dog? Every dog gets “wild” sometimes. But some of us live with dogs who exhibit difficult or wild behaviors every day!

It might help you to learn that many dogs who exhibit “difficult” behaviors such as hyperactivity, aggression, and destructive separation anxiety do so as a result of stress. The behaviors that we find so troublesome – barking, overenthusiastic greetings, dragging us around on leash, destructiveness, etc. – are all efforts by the dog to relieve his stress.

By your own standards, your dog’s life may not seem all that stressful – after all, he doesn’t have bills to pay, does he? But when you apply the more scientific definition of the word – anything that alarms or excites him, triggering his sympathetic nervous system into action and flooding him with the “fight or flight” chemicals adrenaline and noradrenaline – you may be able to see how many seemingly unrelated things in his environment actually contribute to his “misbehavior.”

Again, the triggers could be anything the dog sees as exciting or threatening. For some dogs, this may be strange people or dogs. For others, visual stimulation such as the sight of squirrels or cars going by out the window could trigger stress. Auditory cues such as trains, sirens, or garbage trucks might set off their internal alarms. For emotionally needy dogs, being left home alone might trigger a stress reaction.

And imagine how difficult it must be to not act out in some physical way while being flooded with adrenaline! (For a long discussion of the physiology of stress, see “Stressed Out?” WDJ January 2000.)

There is hope
Dogs whose stress results in behavior issues like nonstop barking or even aggression are often labeled “difficult” dogs. Living with a difficult dog can be unpredictable and sometimes even frightening. Simple things – like friends or family coming to dinner, going for a walk in the neighborhood, even taking him to the vet – can be an ordeal.

I know, because I live with a “difficult” dog. My Jesse is sweet, sensitive, playful, and a great companion. She is also, to put it mildly, difficult in many day-to-day situations. My family has dealt with typical stress issues such as separation anxiety, hyperactivity, and jumping, as well as more serious stress-related problems, like dog to dog aggression. Jesse’s natural response to stress manifests in fight rather than flight.

Yet today life with Jesse is so easy and enjoyable that I sometimes forget that she is a difficult dog. What has made the difference? It hasn’t been one single change, but rather a holistic approach. By integrating a positive attitude, lifestyle changes, training, and behavior modification, life with our difficult dog has become much easier than I ever thought possible.

I am what I am
Changing your attitude about your dog is the first and possibly the most difficult step in developing a saner life together. It probably seems obvious that a positive outlook can make a huge difference. But when you live with a dog who sometimes behaves in a frightening way (like snarling at other dogs), it’s hard to remember his wonderful qualities. It’s also hard to have faith that things can and will get better.

Focus on your dog’s good traits. Every dog has traits we see as positive and some we see as negative. By identifying your dog’s good traits, you’ll begin laying a foundation for strengthening those traits and bringing out the best in your dog. Try writing down all of your dog’s good qualities. Post them on the refrigerator or somewhere else where you will see them often.

Take some time to re-frame the negative traits, too. I used to think about Jesse’s protectiveness and aggression toward other dogs as a “problem.” Like many trainers, I assumed her behavior issues were because of a lack of something – like not enough early socialization or not enough training.

Then, one day, I challenged myself to think about what Jesse, a cattle dog mix, would be like on a working ranch. In the city, her ushering other dogs away from her home and family is seen as aggressiveness. On a ranch, her protectiveness over her “flock” would help keep predators away. Her hyperactive nature, which is difficult to cope with in a small home with a small yard, would lend itself to endless hours of herding. Even her relentless hunting of small furry creatures (like rats, gophers, and squirrels) would most likely be appreciated in a rural setting where it is important to control the vermin population. On a ranch, she would not be seen as a difficult dog. She might even be a prized dog!

Identifying the aspects of your dog’s nature that are natural and normal can help you understand that your dog is not being bad – or even difficult – but just being true to her genetically inherited nature. Many of the qualities that I think of as “difficult” in Jesse would actually be desirable under the right circumstances.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I can just ignore Jesse’s natural behavior traits. After all, I don’t live on a ranch. But by looking at your dog’s positive qualities, and re-framing the challenging behaviors, it may be easier to appreciate who your dog is, and not expect her to be someone she isn’t.

Prevent emotional overload
Before implementing any training or behavior program with a difficult dog, you will need to figure out a short-term management plan to help prevent the emotional overload that leads to stressful outbursts. A stressed dog can’t learn and a stressed person can’t teach.

Management means controlling your dog’s environment to the extent that he doesn’t have the opportunity to become hyperreactive, anxious, or aggressive – at least long enough for you to help him learn new coping skills. Management may involve confinement, head halters, changing routines – anything to help prevent the dog from acting out. Remember, each time a dog has the opportunity to act out, he stands a good chance of being rewarded for doing so, increasing the likelihood that he will act out again in the future.

Consider this example: Muffin and her human companion are walking down the street. Muffin sees another dog coming her way. Perhaps Muffin is worried and unsure how to behave. She barks and lunges in hopes that the other dog will move away. The human companions of both dogs cooperate, by moving the dogs to opposite sides of the street. For Muffin, her barking and lunging just successfully resulted in the other dog moving out of her space. While she may not have been given a single treat, Muffin was definitely rewarded for her behavior.

Of course, from the human perspective, if a dog is acting aggressively toward another dog while on a walk, crossing the street is a perfectly reasonable solution. So how can you avoid rewarding a dog like Muffin for aggressive behavior?

If possible, do not give her the opportunity or place her in a situation where she is likely to be aggressive. Hyper-vigilance on the part of Muffin’s human companion could be the initial management strategy. By turning corners, walking the other way, or crossing the street when another dog came into sight, before Muffin had a chance to bark or lunge, Muffin’s human could successfully prevent Muffin’s angry outbursts. Walking her earlier in the day, before the prime dog walking hours, could also help.

In addition, it would help to use a head halter on Muffin for all her walks so that her head could easily be turned away when she did see other dogs.

Train for the brain
According to James O’Heare, executive director of the Academy of Canine Behavioral Theory, the best strategy to get a dog through a stressful event is to focus the dog’s attention on a specific cognitive task. In other words, give him something to do – engage his brain. A dog whose brain is engaged is much less likely to react emotionally in any given situation. (Conversely, a dog who is in an emotional state generally cannot think or focus on a specific task. In our home, we say that the dog has “lost his brain” when emotions take over.)

Teaching a dog an incompatible behavior is one of the first courses of action and will help both in physically managing the dog and with gradually desensitizing him to the stimuli that sets him off. For example, teaching your dog to watch you while heeling can be a terrific management tool for dogs with compulsive greeting problems or on-leash aggression. If the dog is watching you, he can’t lunge at that other dog!

In addition, develop a repertoire of fun and engaging behaviors to help your dog de-stress. These should not be control exercises, but rather, active behaviors that are strictly for fun and play. For some dogs, catch games with a ball or toy work very well to de-stress. Use these fun activities to help your dog unwind after a stressful event.

For example, if you are walking down the street and pass a strange dog, have your dog heel and watch you, keeping her engaged and offering plenty of great treats until you are well past the other dog. Then, let loose with a few fun games to help you both let go of any residual stress. Are there specific behaviors your dog does well and enjoys doing? Make the behaviors you love in your dog the highlight of your training. This can, in and of itself, help defuse stress-related behavior.

Improving, one treat at a time
I am a huge fan of classical conditioning. In Jesse’s case, classical conditioning is what tipped the scale, shifting her from a well-behaved stress case, to a mostly relaxed, engaged, and happy dog.

Classical conditioning shifts a dog’s emotional response from a negative one to a positive one. For example, you can use classical conditioning to help a dog who is stressed or afraid of kids, other dogs, or even scary sounds, to learn to love the very things that used to scare him. While training a dog can help him behave in stressful situations, behavior modification can shift the very way the dog views those same situations.

Classical conditioning works best when you can expose your dog to specific stress producers at very low levels of intensity, simultaneously pairing this with something that is purely positive and enjoyable. If your dog gets overexcited or stressed when he sees kids, exposing him to children at a great distance while feeding him wonderful treats can help him learn that children make good things happen. As he becomes more comfortable with kids in the distance, you gradually position yourself and your dog ever closer to the children, all the while pouring on the treats.

This technique is not an immediate solution to most stress-related behavior problems, however. It takes time and commitment. (For in-depth information about this powerful behavior-altering tool, see “Classical Conditioning” in the June 2001 issue.)

Solutions abound
The above strategies are just a few of the many available to those of us living with difficult dogs. Many others tools are also available, including visualization, TTouch, massage, and homeopathic remedies. But perhaps the best tools we have are our positive outlook, and faith in our dogs.

The journey we travel with our difficult dogs can be a gift (though admittedly, it is sometimes disguised as a curse). My difficult dog has taught me to evaluate what is important in my relationships with my dog friends and to change my expectations of both my dog and myself. But possibly the most important thing she has taught me is that living with a difficult dog doesn’t really have to be all that difficult.

Also With This Article

Click here to view “Reforming a Reactionary Dog”

Click here to view “Dog Rehoming: When is the Right Decision?”

-by Mardi Richmond

Mardi Richmond is a freelance writer and trainer living in Santa Cruz, California, with her two wonderful dogs, Jesse and Blue. She is also the co-author of Ruffing It: The Complete Guide to Camping with Dogs.

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