How To Prevent Dog Separation Anxiety
‘Separation anxiety’ is a term used to describe when a dog experiences extreme fear and panic over being left alone or separated from a preferred caregiver or companion.
Dogs with full-blown separation anxiety may whine, howl, and bark in cycles and destroy doors or door-frames in an attempt to follow you, sometimes even ending up with bloodied paws; they may also defecate or urinate when you’re absent or refuse to eat any food they are left with.
Some dogs will even throw themselves through glass windows to break free from confinement or follow their owners!
What Causes Dog Separation Anxiety?
People often adopt a puppy or adult dog on a holiday or weekend when they have extra time to spend with them. Some even take time off work when adding a new dog to their family.
This is an excellent idea but it’s also important to use that time to prepare your new dog for being left alone when you eventually return to work (or the kids go back to school).
This can be done by getting your dog used to the routine that will take place once you’re back at work in advance.
Otherwise, your new puppy or dog may get used to your company all day and get upset when you are suddenly no longer present.
Without these precautionary measures, a dog can quickly develop separation anxiety, making it very difficult to leave them alone in the future.
How to Prevent Dog Separation Anxiety
Prepare Your Dog for Your Absences before They Happen
Once established, separation anxiety can be a challenge to rehabilitate and wreak havoc in your day-to-day life: angry neighbors may complain about the noise, landlords may threaten eviction, and your social life may suffer because it's impossible to leave your dog alone.
To avoid these unfortunate outcomes, it’s important to get your dog accustomed to spending time by itself by asking yourself the following questions:
How many hours will your dog be alone?
What time will your dog get up/go to bed?
What time will the dog’s walks be?
What time will the dog eat?
Can someone return at lunchtime or during the day, to provide a toilet and play/training opportunity?
What measures can you put in place when you return to work to help ease the dog into the transition?
The more prepared you are, the better your chances of helping your dog transition to how life will be once you're back at work. Luckily, dogs are creatures of habit, and establishing a routine is easy.
Create a Schedule that Includes Routine Confinement
When you first bring a new puppy or dog home, your initial task is to help them feel safe in your house and with you.
Put their bed by your bed, or if you don’t want your dog in the bedroom, put a gate up on your bedroom door and the bed just on the other side of it.
Creating other safe spaces for them in the main living areas of your home is also essential, so providing a crate, bed, or another designated area that they can claim for themselves is extremely important.
For puppies, erecting a playpen where they can hang out near their new family members is essential for reducing the potential for separation anxiety to develop.
A bonus of confinement areas is that they keep your new puppy and dog out of trouble when you're not actively supervising them and help tremendously with potty training.
Lastly, consider taking time off from work or school to help your new dog or puppy settle in and get used to your household routine.
Alone Training: How to Prepare a Dog for Being Alone
Once your new dog is settled in, it's best to start gradually easing them into the routine that will occur once you return to work. This routine should include some form of 'Alone Training.'
Alone Training helps acclimate your dog to being in your home when no one is present and is an essential part of helping them feel secure when they inevitably find that they are by themselves during work hours.
You may think your dog can handle being by themselves, but unless you try leaving them alone first, you will not know. Alone training can help you determine whether your new puppy or dog can tolerate being alone without having a panic attack, so make time for it!
All that is involved is pretending to go through your leaving routine without actually disappearing for very long--at least, not at first.
Mock Leaving Routine: Alone Training Guidelines
You will only need about 5-10 minutes to get started. Always make sure your dog has had a bathroom break and has had a walk to expend any excess energy they may have before getting started.
STEP 1: Put on your coat/pick up your keys/get ready. Use a specific phrase that tells your dog that you’re leaving but will be back soon (‘I’ll be back’ or ‘See you later’). Go out, and immediately come back in again. Ignore your dog completely until they settle down (down = laying down).
STEP 2: Say your phrase, go out again, and immediately return. Ignore your dog completely until they settle down again. Repeat this step as many times as it takes until you see your dog has stopped being interested in what you’re doing and seems to be dozing off for a nap.
STEP 3: Repeat as above but now go out and wait 5 seconds. Return and repeat until your dog is relaxed in a down. Gradually increase this time to 10 seconds, and then 15, working up to 30 seconds as long as you see it gets easier and easier for your dog to relax.
NOTE: You may progress through these stages in one or two sessions. Or, if your dog becomes hyper-alert and worried when you go out, it may take you a week or two - the time it takes depends on your dog’s temperament.
Slowly Build Up to Leaving for Longer Time Periods
Once you've reached the 30-second mark, you can start walking away from the other side of the door briefly but return inside almost immediately. Repeat this until your dog is completely relaxed.
Work up to leaving for longer periods in brief increments until you can leave for 2 to 5 minutes with no issues. By the time you reach this length of time, the number of repetitions you’ll need to do each day is much fewer.
Try to get a couple of sessions in each day!
The good news is that the first 5 minutes of a dog being left alone are the hardest and when separation anxiety is most likely to kick in., so once you reach a 5-minute absence, you’re starting to “move into the clear.”
Can’t Leave Your Dog Alone?
Alexandra Bassett, CPDT-KA, is the owner and lead dog trainer at Dog Savvy, a dog training company specializing in game-based dog training and solving problem behaviors like dog separation anxiety.
She is certified as Knowledge Assessed by the Council of Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KA) and is available for online dog training sessions via Zoom.