Please read up on Trigger Stacking in the Behaviours page before addressing separation anxiety
Separation anxiety is when dogs become upset because of separation from the people they’re attached to. Escape attempts by dogs with separation anxiety are often extreme and can result in self-injury and household destruction, especially around exit points like crates, windows and doors.
One of the most common complaints of owners is that their dogs are disruptive or destructive when left alone. Their dogs might urinate, defecate, bark, howl, chew, dig or try to escape.
Although these problems might indicate that a dog needs to be taught house manners, they can also be symptoms of distress. When a dog’s problems are accompanied by other distress behaviors, such as drooling and showing anxiety when their owners prepare to leave the house, they are indications that the dog has separation anxiety.
Separation anxiety is triggered when dogs become upset because of separation from their owners, the people they’re attached to.
Escape attempts by dogs with separation anxiety are often extreme and can result in self-injury and household destruction, especially around exit points like windows and doors.
Spotting whether you have a separation anxiety issue
Some dogs suffering from separation anxiety become agitated when their owners prepare to leave. Others seem anxious or depressed prior to their owners departure or when their owners aren’t present. Some try to prevent their owners from leaving. Usually, right after a owners leaves a dog with separation anxiety, the dog will begin barking and displaying other distress behaviors within a short time after being left alone—often within minutes. When the owners returns home, the dog acts as though it’s been years since he’s seen his owner. Neighbours will often by the person who alert you that your dog has separation anxiety as they are the ones dealing with the consequences of your leaving the house.
When treating a dog with separation anxiety, the goal is to resolve the dog’s underlying anxiety by teaching him to enjoy, or at least tolerate, being left alone. This is accomplished by setting things up so that the dog experiences the situation that provokes his anxiety, namely being alone, without experiencing fear or anxiety.
Common Symptoms of Separation Anxiety
The following is a list of symptoms that may indicate separation anxiety:
Urinating and Defecating – some dogs urinate or defecate when left alone or separated from their owners. If a dog urinates or defecates in the presence of his owners, his house soiling probably isn’t caused by separation anxiety.
Barking and Howling – A dog who has separation anxiety might bark or howl when left alone or when separated from his owner. This kind of barking or howling is persistent and doesn’t seem to be triggered by anything except being left alone.
Chewing, Digging and Destruction – Some dogs with separation anxiety chew on objects, door frames or window sills, dig at doors and doorways, or destroy household objects when left alone or separated from their owners. These behaviors can result in self-injury, such as broken teeth, cut and scraped paws and damaged nails. If a dog’s chewing, digging and destruction are caused by separation anxiety, they don’t usually occur in his owner’s presence.
Escaping – a dog with separation anxiety might try to escape from an area where he’s confined when he’s left alone. The dog might attempt to dig and chew through doors or windows, which could result in self-injury, such as broken teeth, cut and scraped front paws and damaged nails. If the dog’s escape behavior is caused by separation anxiety, it doesn’t occur when his owners is present.
Pacing – some dogs walk or trot along a specific path in a fixed pattern when left alone. Some pacing dogs move around in circular patterns, while others walk back and forth in straight lines. If a dog’s pacing behavior is caused by separation anxiety, it usually doesn’t occur when his owner is present.
Coprophagia – when left alone or separated from their owners, some dogs defecate and then consume all or some of their excrement. If a dog eats excrement because of separation anxiety, he probably doesn’t perform that behavior in the presence of his owner.
Why Do Some Dogs Develop Separation Anxiety?
There is no conclusive evidence showing exactly why dogs develop separation anxiety. However, because far more dogs who have been adopted from rescues have this behavior problem than those kept by a single family since puppyhood, it is believed that loss of an important person or group of people in a dog’s life can lead to separation anxiety. Other less dramatic changes can also trigger the disorder.
The following is a list of situations that have been associated with development of separation anxiety.
Change of Owner or Family – being abandoned, surrendered to a rescue or given to a new family can trigger the development of separation anxiety.
Change in Schedule – an abrupt change in schedule in terms of when or how long a dog is left alone can trigger the development of separation anxiety. For example, if a dog’s owner works from home and spends all day with his dog but then gets a new job that requires him to leave his dog alone for six or more hours at a time, the dog might develop separation anxiety because of that change.
Change in Residence – moving to a new home can trigger the development of separation anxiety.
Change in Household Membership – the sudden absence or arrival of a resident family member, either due to death, divorce or kids going to university, can trigger the development of separation anxiety. Likewise the arrival of new members of the family (new relationships etc) can also trigger separation anxiety.
Other Behavior Problems to Rule Out
Sometimes it’s difficult to determine whether a dog has separation anxiety or not. Some common behavior problems can cause similar symptoms. Before concluding that your dog has separation anxiety, it’s important to rule out the following behaviour problems:
Submissive or Excitement Urination – some dogs may urinate during greetings, play, physical contact or when being reprimanded or punished. Such dogs tend to display submissive postures during interactions, such as holding the tail low, flattening the ears back against the head, crouching or rolling over and exposing the belly.
Incomplete House Training – a dog who occasionally urinates in the house might not be completely house trained. His house training might have been inconsistent or it might have involved punishment that made him afraid to eliminate while his owner is watching or nearby.
Urine Marking – some dogs urinate in the house because they’re scent marking. A dog scent marks by urinating small amounts on vertical surfaces. Most male dogs and some female dogs who scent mark raise a leg to urinate.
Juvenile Destruction – many young dogs engage in destructive chewing or digging while their owners are home as well as when they’re away
Boredom – dogs need mental stimulation, and some dogs can be disruptive when left alone because they’re bored and looking for something to do. They rely on you to provide them with stimulation, if you don’t, they’ll find their own. These dogs usually don’t appear anxious.
Excessive Barking or Howling – some dogs bark or howl in response to various triggers in their environments, like unfamiliar sights and sounds. They usually vocalize when their owners are home as well as when they’re away. For more information about this kind of problem, please see Reactivity
What to Do If Your Dog Has Separation Anxiety
Treatment for Mild Separation Anxiety
If your dog has a mild case of separation anxiety, counterconditioning to change the dog’s behaviour might reduce or resolve the problem.
It’s done by associating the sight or presence of a feared situation (being left alone) with something really good, something the dog loves.
Over time, the dog learns that whatever he fears actually brings good things for him. For dogs with separation anxiety, counterconditioning focuses on developing an association between being alone and good things, like delicious food.
To develop this kind of association, every time you leave the house, you can offer your dog a puzzle toy stuffed with food that will take him at least 20 to 30 minutes to finish. For example, try giving your dog a KONG® stuffed with something really tasty, like low-fat cream cheese, spray cheese or low-fat peanut butter, frozen banana and cottage cheese, or canned dog food and kibble. A KONG can even be frozen so that getting all the food out takes even more of your dog’s time. Be sure to remove these special toys as soon as you return home so that your dog only has access to them and the high-value foods inside when he’s by himself. You can feed your dog all of his daily meals in special toys. For example, you can give your dog a KONG or two stuffed with his breakfast and some tasty treats every morning before going to work.
** that this approach will only work for mild cases of separation anxiety because highly anxious dogs usually won’t eat when their owners aren’t home**
Treatment for Moderate to Severe Separation Anxiety
Moderate or severe cases of separation anxiety require a more complex solution and counterconditioning program. In these cases, it’s crucial to gradually accustom a dog to being alone by starting with many short separations that do not produce anxiety and then gradually increasing the duration of the separations over many weeks of daily sessions.
The following steps briefly describe a desensitization and counterconditioning program. Please keep in mind that this is a short, general explanation.
Desensitization and counterconditioning are complex and can be tricky to carry out. Fear must be avoided or it will backfire and the dog will get more frightened.
Because treatment must progress and change according to the pet’s reactions, and because these reactions can be difficult to read and interpret, if you are in any doubt about whether you can do, please consult a behaviourist for help.
Step One: Before you leave the house
Some dogs begin to feel anxious while their owners get ready to leave, e.g. a dog might start to pace, pant and whine when he notices his owner applying makeup, putting on shoes and a coat, and then picking up a bag or car keys. (If your dog doesn’t show signs of anxiety when you’re preparing to leave him alone, go to step two) Owners of dogs who become upset during predeparture rituals are unable to leave without triggering their dogs’ extreme anxiety. Your dog may see telltale cues that you’re leaving and get so anxious about being left alone that he can’t control himself and forgets that you’ll come back.
ACTION: Start by teaching your dog that when you pick up your keys or put on your coat, it doesn’t always mean that you’re leaving. Expose your dog to these cues in various orders several times a day—without leaving. For example, put on your boots and coat, and then just watch TV instead of leaving. Or pick up your keys, and then sit down at the kitchen table. This will reduce your dog’s anxiety because these signs won’t always lead to your departure, and so your dog won’t get so anxious when he sees them. This step is slow – it may take weeks or months of watching telly in your outdoor shoes !
Only after your dog doesn’t become anxious when he sees you getting ready to leave, you can move on to the next step.
Step Two: Graduated Departures/Absences
The main rule is to plan your initial absences to be shorter than the time it takes for your dog to become upset.
ACTION: To get started, train your dog to perform out-of-sight stays by an inside door in the home, such as the bathroom. You can teach your dog to sit or down and stay while you go to the other side of the bathroom door. Gradually increase the length of time you wait on the other side of the door, out of your dog’s sight.
Progress to doing out-of-sight stay exercises at a bedroom door, and then later at an exit door. If you always leave through the front door, do the exercises at the back door first. By the time you start working with your dog at exit doors, he shouldn’t behave anxiously because he has a history of playing the “stay game.”
You can now start to incorporate very short absences into your training. Start with absences that last only last one to two seconds, and then slowly increase the time you’re out of your dog’s sight.
When you’ve trained up to separations of five to ten seconds long, build in counterconditioning by giving your dog a stuffed food toy just before you step out the door. The food-stuffed toy also works as a safety cue that tells the dog that this is a “safe” separation.
- During your sessions, be sure to wait a few minutes between absences. After each short separation, it’s important to make sure that your dog is completely relaxed before you leave again
- Remember to behave in a very calm and quiet manner when going out and coming in.
- You must judge when your dog is able to tolerate an increase in the length of separation. Each dog reacts differently, so there are no standard timelines. If you detect stress, you should back up and shorten the length of your departures to a point where your dog can relax again. Then start again at that level and progress more slowly.
You will need to spend a significant amount of time building up to 40-minute absences because most of your dog’s anxious responses will occur within the first 40 minutes that he’s alone. Once your dog can tolerate 40 minutes of separation from you, you can increase absences by larger chunks of time (5-minute increments at first, then later 15-minute increments). Once your dog can be alone for 90 minutes without getting upset or anxious, he can probably handle much longer absences - This treatment process can be accomplished within a few weeks if you can conduct several daily sessions on the weekends and twice-daily sessions during the work week, usually before leaving for work and in the evenings.
Rather than leaving your dog alone for long periods, you should use a dog sitter or doggy daycare.
To Crate or Not to Crate?
Crate training can be helpful for some dogs if they learn that the crate is their safe place to go when left alone. However, for other dogs, the crate can cause added stress and anxiety. In order to determine whether or not you should try using a crate, monitor your dog’s behavior during crate training and when he’s left in the crate while you’re home. If he shows signs of distress (heavy panting, excessive salivation, frantic escape attempts, persistent howling or barking), crate confinement isn’t the best option for him. Instead of using a crate, you can try confining your dog to one room behind a baby gate.
Provide Plenty of “Jobs” for Your Dog to Do
Providing lots of physical and mental stimulation is a vital part of treating many behaviour problems, especially those involving anxiety. Exercising your dog’s mind and body can greatly enrich his life, decrease stress and provide appropriate outlets for normal dog behaviors. Additionally, a physically and mentally tired dog doesn’t have much excess energy to expend when he’s left alone
Medications Might Help
The use of medications can be very helpful, especially for severe cases of separation anxiety. Some dogs are so distraught by any separation from their families that treatment can’t be implemented without the help of medication. Anti-anxiety medication can help a dog tolerate some level of isolation without experiencing anxiety. It can also make treatment progress more quickly.
On rare occasions, a dog with mild separation anxiety might benefit from drug therapy alone, without accompanying behavior modification. The dog becomes accustomed to being left alone with the help of the drug and retains this new conditioning after he’s gradually weaned off the medication. However, most dogs need a combination of medication and behavior modification.
If you’d like to explore this option, speak with your vet
What NOT to Do
Never scold or punish your dog for being anxious. Anxious behaviors are not the result of disobedience or spite. They are distress responses! Your dog displays anxious behaviors when left alone because he’s upset and trying to cope with a great deal of stress. If you punish him, he may become even more upset and the problem could get much worse.