Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety describes dogs that are overly attached or dependent on family members.  They become extremely anxious and show distress behaviors such as vocalization, destruction, house soiling, or inactivity when separated from a certain person. 

Most dogs with separation anxiety try to remain close to their owners and become increasingly anxious the longer they are separated.  They may follow the owners from room to room and begin to display anxiety signs as soon as the owners are preparing to leave.  Some of these dogs crave a great deal of physical contact and attention and they can be very demanding.  During departures or separations, the dog may salivate or pant profusely, vocalize, urinate or defecate, refuse to eat, become destructive or become withdrawn.  Typically, these behaviors occur each and every time the owner leaves; although, it can occur only on selected departures also (such as work day departures). 

KEY POINTS:

• If your pet exhibits these symptoms, please talk to your veterinarian or a behavioral trainer without delay.  The longer these behaviors occur, the harder they are to overcome.  What if it's not separation anxiety? What else could it be?  Confinement anxiety, inadequate house-training, territory defense, and some medical issues may mimic separation anxiety. 
• Training is key- medications can be helpful in some cases, but without behavior modification, anxiety medications are useless!  Lots of patience is also key- training takes time. 
• Do NOT punish your dog for these behaviors!  When your pet acts this way, he is not "mad" at you or acting out of spite.  When your pet behaves this way it is because the dog believes it is a life or death situation- he must find his owner or he will not survive!  Punishment only increases the pet's anxiety because he doesn't understand your reaction.  If you yell at, hit, or otherwise punish your pet- yes, he will cringe and act "sorry", but this is only a reaction to your demeanor, NOT an acknowledgement that the behavior was bad. 

The goal of treatment is to reduce your pet's level of anxiety by training it to feel comfortable in your absence.  This can be a long and intensive process.  Most owners will need to deal with the damage or vocalization immediately.  During initial retraining, it may be best to hire a dog sitter, take your dog to a doggie day care setting, find a friend to care for the dog for the day, etc.  Crate training or dog proofing techniques are useful too.  Crates should be used with caution however with dogs that have separation anxiety and / or also barrier frustrations because they can severely injure themselves attempting to get out of the crate.  It is important to choose a room or area that does not further increase the dog's anxiety. Basket muzzles (if departures are short), taste deterrants, and anti-barking devices (ex. citronella collars) may be useful.  Tranquilizers or anti-anxiety medications may help calm your dog to the point that effective training can take place. 

Dr. Sophia Yin, DVM, MS was a veterinarian who specialized in animal behavior.  Her website offers many interesting articles on dog behavior problems and training. 

Click HERE to view Dr. Sophia Yin's article