Does your dog bark and whine whenever you leave her alone? Does she howl and chew up your furniture or have accidents whenever you leave the house? Well, before you get a dog, do some homework. It’s important to know that separation anxiety can be a real problem for dogs. They can be destructive and often dangerous to themselves and their surroundings.
The truth is separation anxiety is caused by several different things. Some dogs bark out of pure loneliness and boredom. This happens when they constantly sit and wait for their owner to return. They have no other way of gratifying their anxiety although chewing and sometimes digging at the door are sometimes used as a means of relieving their frustration.
Separation anxiety can also be caused by a lack of exercise. A dog kept cooped up inside all day will have a greater chance of feeling anxious since she has nothing to do. Exercise will help your dog get rid of this excess energy and once she gets rid of it, she will feel better and less anxious. Take your dog on a few walks a day so that she can get the outdoor exercise that she needs.
It may be necessary to see your vet and ask him for some reason as to why your dog is suffering from separation anxiety. He or she may suggest that you spend some time with your dog outside or bring her to a trainer who can evaluate how to handle your dog.
Here are a couple of things that you can do to help your dog feel less anxious when you leave:
Keep your dog busy while you are away. One of the main reasons why a dog becomes anxious and stressed is because they are feeling bored and frustrated. Your dog needs to feel like she has a job or purpose in life, so she should be given plenty of exercise and activity. This is not the same as punishment for being anxious. Be positive and give your dog a lot of attention. Besides, you don’t want your dog to feel as though you are mean.
Reduce your dog’s anxiety. One of the best ways to reduce anxiety is to get her used to it. Approach it as a chance to spend quality time with her. That way, she will start to associate your leaving with a reward and be ready for it.
No matter what method you use to get rid of your dog’s anxiety, be sure that you are not abandoning your dog. abandoning dogs is when they are moved to dog shelters or abandoned and usually at the age of 8 or 10. Before that age, you should have already crate trained your dog so she can better cope.
Separation anxiety is usually exhibited by adult dogs. However, you may find adult dogs that are suffering from separation anxiety too. However, these cases are very rare. In most cases, the cause of it is learned behavior. Your dog may have been accidentally taught to be afraid of being left alone by her human family.
In such cases, getting your dog used to being alone will not solve the problem. She will still be afraid and anxious. Fixing this behavior will take time. However, you can teach your dog to be more comfortable when you leave.
Here are a couple of things to try when your dog is becoming anxious:
Practice leaving your dog alone in a room (with all of her toys with you in the room) for a short period before leaving and returning as you usually do. You can leave and return a few seconds early each time and vary the number of times.
Leave and enter quietly and gradually increase the amount of time you are out of the room. The idea is to get her used to you not being there.
After a few days of this, you may need to move the location of your activities a bit further away from your dog until she becomes more comfortable. This should take several weeks of training. Be patient and don’t expect to accomplish this overnight.
One of the first things you need to do is to break all the annoying barking, howling, whining or howling that your dog is doing when you leave. You need to have the trust and respect of your dog in order to be able to get her to relax.
Whenever you return, don’t make a fuss over your dog. I mean, you don’t need to involve an Atlanta Process Server just to get your dog to be quiet. At first, this will just stress her out and cause her to whine even more. Wait until she has stopped paying attention and give lots of praise when she has done something successfully.
Before you leave your dog, take her favorite toys with you and put them in her bed (or crate) so that she has something to occupy her mind and keep her from thinking about you leaving.
Just like with children, exercise is also of great benefit. You will need to be able to take her for walks to exercise her without her becoming stressed out.