Separation anxiety happens when your dog is super-attached to you and your dog’s world seems to collapse when you leave. Separation anxiety is not healthy for your dog and needs to be fixed right away before the condition gets any worse.
It’s a serious condition that goes beyond a little whining when you go.
Separation anxiety in dogs is one of the reasons dog owners give up on their dogs. A dog can cause a lot of destruction if separation anxiety is not dealt with. The dog is not to blame if this happens. Hate to admit it, but it’s our fault if our dog has separation anxiety.
Fortunately, there’s a lot we can do. We need to be open to train ourselves and our dogs to get past this.
In severe cases, some owners even don’t go that often anymore because of the behavior of their dog. They don’t want to leave just to come back to a destroyed home. I understand the thought process behind it but it’s not a solution to the problem.
Let’s go over what really causes separation anxiety in dogs and what you can do with training. In the end, I have a dog breed list for you which dogs are more easily stressed when left alone.
When your dog has separation anxiety your dog might:
- urinate
- defecate
- bark
- howl
- chew
- pace
- dig
- try to escape
- dig and scratch at doors or windows in an attempt to reunite with you
Symptoms of separation anxiety don’t mean that your dog isn’t house trained. It doesn’t mean your dog doesn’t know which toys can be played with. These are signs of severe separation anxiety.
Causes of separation anxiety in dogs
The cause of dog separation anxiety varies depending on the history of the dog and what is happening around the dog at that time. Separation anxiety can be triggered by:
- extreme attachment or dependency on the owner
- change in routine
- traumatic event
- big life change (new home / new family member / death of a family member)
Dogs love routines because that makes them feel safe. There are few things you need to do when you adopt a rescue dog but with routines, right from the start, you can ease possible anxiety in your rescue dog.
When you know something will be different in your life, remember that it will affect your dog as well. To avoid any unnecessary stress in your dog, make small changes in a period of time if possible and see how your dog reacts.
How you can stop your dog’s separation anxiety with training
Separation anxiety is triggered when your dog knows you are leaving. With training, you can change the way your dog reacts to you leaving. This way your dog will not get triggered.
In order to do this, you need to be really aware of what things are the triggers for your dog. Is it the sound of your keys or the way you move around before you leave? There can be several triggers as well. Your dog is watching you more than you know and picks up subtle clues and changes in your mood.
If the trigger is the sound of your keys, you can simply put your keys in your pocket 15 minutes before you leave. If it’s your jacket or shoes, you can put them on and sit in your coach for a while and then take them off.
Make those sounds and movements even if you are not about to go anywhere: shake your keys in the hallway on your way to the kitchen. Make those triggers normal sounds around your house.
Your dog will notice in time that your keys, shoes and jacket, for example, don’t mean that anything is going to happen. Your dog will start to relax around those noises that were triggers of anxiety before.
Usually, dogs will start to bark or misbehave in minutes when you have left the house if they have separation anxiety. Having something your dog can do right when you leave can help a lot, like a special toy your dog gets only when you are gone. That way you leaving seems a good thing for your dog and your dog will have something right away that distracts.
Having another dog to hang around with doesn’t necessarily help. This is because the separation anxiety has to do with you leaving, not who is still in the home.
In our case, our older rescue dog is really laid back and doesn’t mind being left alone. Actually, I feel he even enjoys some quiet in the daytime so he can sleep in peace. But our younger rescue dog did start to show some symptoms if everybody left at the same time on the weekend and he couldn’t join the fun. Our older laid-back-dude might have calmed his baby brother a bit because he didn’t mind that we left. But still, we made sure to train ourselves and our younger rescue dog to be okay about us leaving without him.
15 dog breeds that might have severe separation anxiety
With some breeds, separation anxiety can form more quickly. In the case of some companion dogs and dogs that have high energy, they need something to keep them busy when left alone. These dogs are more often:
- Toy poodles
- German shepherds
- Australian Shepherd
- Labrador Retriever
- Vizsla
- Border Collie
- Cocker Spaniel
- Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
- Bichon Frise
- Italian Greyhound
- Havanese
- German Shorthaired Pointer
- Jack Russell Terrier
- Chihuahua
- French Bulldog
When choosing which dog breed is best for you it’s important to think about how long you will be gone during the day. With training and sometimes with creativity you can ease the anxiety in your doggo so that your dog will wait for you nicely.
The best breed for first-time dog owners is usually recommended to be labrador retriever. That’s a great breed for a lot of reasons. This kind of training that involves separation anxiety symptoms can come as a surprise.
It’s good to understand that as soon as you bring a dog into your home, you need to start preparing the doggo and yourself for time apart.
Having separation anxiety from your dog
It’s normal to have separation anxiety yourself when you leave your dog alone. Acknowledging this is half the battle. When you feel anxious, your dog will pick on that and come anxious too.
It’s good to pay attention to how you’re feeling when you are about to leave your dog alone.
Leaving the house calmly and slowly is important. If you are stressed or nervous it can make the situation worse. Dogs read your emotions very well.
What can happen if you continue to have separation anxiety from your dog
- You can’t bear the thought of being separated from your dog and you get out of social situations because of that.
- You can’t stop talking about your dog to anyone that listens and don’t forget to show those doggo pictures.
- Dreading the time when you have to leave your dog.
- Rounding yourself with pictures of your dog because your dog is the greatest.
- Freaking out because you don’t know what your dog is doing when you are not at home.
- Creating special evenings so that you can just stay in with your dog and snuggle.
Okay, let’s be honest. I have done all of these at one point. But when your dog is happy, confident, and healthy it’s fine to leave your dog alone. Dogs don’t think about the time like we do and they don’t remember things as we do.
When I was a first-time dog owner it helped me a lot to learn what dogs can remember and how they really remember things.
Conclusion
When your dog is super-attached to you, there’s a possibility your dog will begin to suffer separation anxiety. Some dog breeds that need a lot of companionships and a stimulative environment can suffer more often than other breeds when left alone.
It doesn’t really matter how the separation anxiety got started. More importantly, you need to figure out how you are acting now and what are those triggers for your dog.
You need to be ready to train yourself and your dog to do things differently. It’s possible to get over this serious condition with consistency and have a confident dog!¨