Separation Anxiety is terrible for everyone. No one is happy when the dog is upset and discontent especially when they get to the point of being destructive to your things and harmful to themselves.
Gosh and aren't we're trapped?!! Can't even leave the room or go to the bathroom without our canine shadow? Heaven forbid if we leave the house, for when we come back and our dog has been crated, we can find a puddle of drool or worse a soiled crate. If the dog was left loose who knows what damage may have occurred? And the barking is non-stop reported by the neighbors.
It's a vicious cycle but it can be stopped....Wait! What was that?...Yes! Separation Anxiety can be corrected!
Here are 7 steps to follow. Not just when it's time to train or teach tricks but everyday, all the time for the rest of your dog's life. Now you are thinking that is way too much, I can't possibly follow these rules. I say you can when you make living with your dog a lifestyle.
Begin now!
1. A Structured Walk: this is walking with a Mission. I call it Leadership Walking. Your dog is at your side with no pulling, sniffing, lagging, zigzagging all over the place. And not on a Flexi line but a good leash and prong collar. Your dog is to walk your pace and not leave a trail of "Pee-Mail" on every upright object.
A structured walk creates a different mind set than running around rampant with free abandonment.
2. Stop feeling guilty and learn to Love the Crate: The Crate is not Jail and is very helpful in protecting your home from being destroyed. Teach a Kennel Command. Have your dog go in & out of the crate when you say so. This must include the dog staying in the crate even with the door open.
Practice this when you are home so you can hear your dog and help them overcome their anxious behavior.
3. Control Space in your house: make you dog Stay put. Tethering, keeping your dog in Place or doing the "Sit on the Dog" exercise will help them learn to calm down. Their anxious chemicals will dissipate and your dog will learn to settle and be comfortable in their own skin. This will help your dog learn how to be alone even while you are home.
How can dogs be good while you are out if they can't be quiet with you home? Just gating your dog in an area or locked in a room is not the same as making them Stay still.
4. Your home is not a Playground: using furniture like a jungle gym, barking and jumping from windows to doors, chasing the cats or children must be stopped. It is important to create a calm environment not adrenalized behavior. Think Library not Recess.
5. Control Yourself: stop gushing all over your dog when it is time to leave or when you come home. Your excited voice will only ramp up your dog and certainly give them mixed messages when you speak in a high, squeaky voice, affirming their uncertainty of their survival without you.
Be calm and matter of fact. Let your dog be the last one you say to whom you say Hello and crated first before you leave.
6. Don't ask your dog what they want: asking your dog something most often results in an answers you won't like. It is selfish on our part because we create their bad energy and therefore bad choices are made. "Do you want to go for a walk?" turns into a mess when all you needed to do was hook the leash to the collar and get out the door.
7. Use Equipment not Drugs: atleast not drugs alone. Keeping your dog drugged may seem to alleviate or lessen the problems but your dog still has Separation issues. Stopping the Barking is critical in breaking the SA pattern. Like a hysterical child, the dog can bark themselves into a frenzy. An electronic Bark collar with a split second correction is much kinder than the Citronella Spray that remains as a continual correction because the smell doesn't go away. A Remote Training Collar is another kind and effective tool. How about Whining? Yes, even Whining can be corrected. Using low level stimulation can interrupt the dog to change the pattern. Finally You are the best tool! Calmly approach your dog and give them a quick finger poke accompanied with a Fpht! Air sound. Not in their eye but on their chest or flank.
Allowing our dog to remain in this tortuous state of mind is abusive when we can calmly help our dog find peace as we reset their state of mind.
So to wrap this up, give your dog mental and physical exercise with Leadership Walking and Obedience. When you return to your home make them stay still in a Place Command or in the crate. Use effective tools because This Really Works. You can do it too! The dogs I train all crash into a deep, snoring, sleep after being out with me.
Contact Dru Therrian 440.286.9070