Dog Separation Anxiety: What You Should Know

How many times has your dog started barking when you leave the house? This is one of the most typical issues that almost every pet owner - dog separation anxiety. Though this is mildly irritating to some, but in extreme cases your dogs might start to destroy your home, or barking continuously for hours when you go away. So here is what you need to know about dog separation anxiety.

The Causes of Dog Separation Anxiety

You should know that dogs are pack animals and they sense a direct bond to their masters. And they will grow agitated when you leave the house. However, almost all of the anxiousness that they feel is because they are attached to the specific actions you take on your leave.

Your dog doesn't really have a direct motive why they grow upset when you leave. This is because their behaviors are reinforced on a daily basis; you give them attention after and before you leave or you go through the same habit every morning. This makes your dog not able to control their anxious feelings when you get out of the house.

Ways to Reduce Dog Separation Anxiety

There are a lot of ways to reduce the dog separation anxiety. Here are a few of the simplest methods.

Change Your Routine - By altering your morning routine you can lessen pre-leaving anxiety. You can get up at different times, get your keys down before you leave and wait for a while or get dressed sooner. You can also alter your routines to further reduce the pre-leaving anxiety of your dog.

Don't Reinforce It - When you pet or lavish your dog with attention just before you leave and when you return, you're actually reinforcing the behavior. One of the easiest ways to reduce dog separation anxiety is to ignore your dog for 10-15 minutes when you go out or return from work. By doing this you are removing the association between you're comings and goings and their attention. This can be done by using crate training or putting them in a different room in your house then leaving and coming back in time intervals.

Building Up to Longer Times - If your dog grows nervous the moment you walk out the door, you should start leaving the house for shorter periods of time. This can be done by leaving for several seconds and then come back. By doing this, you are altering the dog's expectations for how long you'll be gone and when will you return and also increasing how long you are able to leave every time. This will help reduce dog separation anxiety can be treated by changing the dog's expectations for how long you'll be out and when you'll come back.

You're Not Being Mean

You may think that you are being mean or cruel to your dog by using these ways. But in reality, you are really helping them to relax, and letting them know that you're coming back and also that you're in charge of the domain and there is absolutely no reason for them to feel that stressed. Not to mention that reducing dog separation anxiety is great for your dog's health - both physical and mental.

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