FIX YOUR DOG'S SEVERE SEPARATION ANXIETY - Tips On How to Get Your Dog Comfortable Being Alone
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 พ.ค. 2024
- In this dog training video, we discuss how to treat severe, chronic separation anxiety. We define what real anxiety is and why it is so challenging for your dog to recover. I give you a step by step guide as well as helpful do's and do not's of this process.
Sources:
"Comparison of the efficacy of a synthetic dog-appeasing pheromone with clomipramine for the treatment of separation-related disorders in dogs" (Gaultier et al.)
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Disclaimers: Jenna Romano is not a veterinarian. Always consult a veterinarian before giving your dog any food. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Jenna Romano will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of information contained in this video including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness or death to you or your dog.
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My 8 month old puppy Hudson (chihuahua spaniel mix) is dealing with isolation distress. He gets plenty of exercise and nice long walks twice a day. When someone is home, Hudson is fine to be in his crate, wait patiently, or play with his toys in another part of the home while we’re in the bathroom or kitchen.
Initially we believed him to have separation anxiety, but as we reinforced crate training and constant rewarding for being quiet when left the room, we discovered his issue is only when we leave the home.
We approach leaving our house the same way we approached crate training and keeping him in other rooms (we call them “In and Outs”).. started with short periods of time, rewards when he was calm, extended to longer periods of time the more comfortable he got. When doing In and Out training, we can build up his time to hours in his crate, or 15/20 minutes waiting outside the house (it’s a cold winter in Canada, can’t stay out there long).
The problem comes when we leave the house and Hudson realizes this no longer is a training exercise, he howls excessively until our return. He refuses to relax in his crate or take a nap. He once howled for 3 hours straight when we needed to go out. How am I suppose to reward a calm puppy for my return if he’s never calm and doesn’t stop howling? We need to eventually re-enter our home, but because he’s howling that means Hudson wins.
We can’t do “In and Out” build ups everytime we need to go out to the gym, dinner, grocery shopping, etc.
Please help!!
Michael and Stephanie
I adopted a dog 2 weeks ago and that was the worst 2 weeks of my life. I'm crying all day, can't eat, can't sleep. She was whining when I wasn't home, now she's whining when someone is there as well. I'm really tired and exhausted. 😔
Hey there! I totally sympathize for you. Having a new puppy is A LOT of hard work. What can you do differently as you move into another week to make the experience better for you and Puppy?
I can't stress enough how important it is to find out and understand how to work with the experience and needs of rescue dogs. I mean no criticism toward you, if you're new or inexperienced the rescue shelter ought to have asked your knowledge level and advised about your dog in particular. While it is not ideal to return a dog, it sounds like this one is pushing you beyond your limits and comfort. That is as far from what you want as possible, and unless you immediately get lots of help I fear the situation will continue to deteriorate. Dogs require so much more contact, interaction, time, and attention than all but a few other animals commonly kept as pets. First time owners (it happened to me too) are usually colossally under prepared for the nature of this commitment, and make numerous mistakes. While there are absolutely wonderful rescue dogs available, there are also strong positives in owning well bred animals too. As long as they're from a reputable and certified breeder, one advantage is that you have a clearer idea of the a temperament, exercise, and mental stimulation a dog will need. You are also not required to compensate for the mistakes or even abuse of the previous owner(s). On the other hand, raising a puppy from 8wks on, is nearly as demanding as parenting a toddler. An adult rescue dog usually won't need such intense eyes-on monitoring, but it does happen. While it isn't ideal, if you don't have the resources to address this issue, returning the dog gives it another chance, and gives you an opportunity to select a pet that is a better fit to your experience, amount of time, and ability to meet their needs.
It sounds like you’re not coping. I’m so sorry! An option may be to return your dog if both of you are deteriorating. I encourage you to hang in there for a bit longer. Can you afford a vet behaviour therapist?
how many rounds do you suggest doing per day?
also, what do you suggest if I have to leave that day for 1-2 hours (no one else to watch my dog).. last time I did this he howled nonstop the entire time. and when I started training him, he could only last about 15 seconds maximum before getting anxious. obviously he is not ready to be alone for 1-2 hours but in this case I have to leave him. will this make him regress? or will it just show him that I will return even though it's a longer period?
Thank you so much, very helpful. Will definitely try this.
THANK YOU ! Your method worked
I have tried everything! Will try this now
You are an absolute God-send. My dog is almost 4 years old and has, with the exception of 2 weekends, 1 5-day trip and a few hourly and half-day trips in her first 3 years of life, she has never been seperated from me. The last time I left her with a friend for a short lunch date was almost a year ago, and she had thrown herself into full exasperated panic mode. My friend, who is a rescue foster mom, said she never seen anyrhing like it. She has never been crate-trained, which most of the training videos suggest doing and the one's that don't, just basically say let them suffer through it. I finally feel like I've been given the tools to succeed in this thing and I can't thank you enough! Subscribed.
Thank you so much for the information. I always thought staggering the time on leaving was a good idea too. Your video even better than Cesars LOL!! Thanks girl!
Thanks, my friend!!!! I'm so glad this helped you (and your dog). Let me know if you have any questions.
Just found this video and I'm so thankful for it! IT really paints a clearer picture for my dog's behaviour. One question though: How would you go about regaining the dog's trust after accidentally breaking their trust? I have a 3 y/o mixed breed, and we left her for 4 hours and she escaped through a vent, bit then came back.
Hey @Dog Laison thank you so much for you video. What's your opinion about talking through the camera to reassure the dog? Is the Furbo could be a good tool to treat A2 type of separation anxiety ? Thanks!
Thank goodness I found your channel. I have only listened so far, but finally it sounds like you know what I'm dealing with with my rescue dog. I've had our dog for 8 months, and we decided to adopt because I only work for 4 hours every single day at the same time. HOWEVER, we didn't know she had separation anxiety and anxiety in general. Barking, whining, scratching, ripping-- she does it all when left alone. Immediately we crate trained her, and although she does well in the crate when we're home, when we leave she's in the anxiety state. For 8 months, the same thing. I thought that eventually she would just realize my schedule and that I ALWAYS leave and come home at the exact same time every day. But it doesn't matter to her, she's panicking still every day. I need to get her to relax during that time 🙃
How is she now
This video is 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you for the love, my friend. 😘
Very interesting video :) Is it possible to do a video on how to prepare your dog before we go back to work?
Hey Deborah! Thanks for commenting. I'm currently working on another really important Sep Anx video that will be out in a couple weeks. I'm excited for you to see it.
Going to start trying this with my pup! I feel like I’ve tried so much stuff, but based on what you’re saying, I think I’ve been trying to progress more quickly than she was ready for, so I’m gonna try it slower. I am curious though, so if we’re talking about like, you’ve gotten up to... 15 minutes or whatever of “learned behavior”, how are you supposed to work up to say, multiple hours? Is there some point where if they can be alone for an hour or so, that they could handle longer? Or is it still just more of constant baby steps? Baby stepping up to five to eight hours seems tedious and delicate.
Great video! Which pheromones/CBD brands do you recommend if we choose to use them? Thanks!
We adopted our sweet Zena girl from our friend who owns a pitbull rescue about a year ago. We believe she is pitbull and bulldog cross. Her story like that of so many dogs at rescues is so sad. In her case we know much of it but not all. She was taken to a local boarding facility by a woman who said she had a medical emergency with her parent out of state. The woman said she was fully vaccinated and spayed and 3 years old. She also said she would be back in a week. Well long story short 6 months after she was dropped off the boarding facility STILL hadn't heard from her. They ended up getting a court ordered transfer of ownership to them. They reached out to my friend's rescue. They were over full but agreed to do what they could. Shortly after that we had a big storm and a tree fell on the part of the facility Zena was housed in. Zena was fine but they had no place to put her. They contacted the rescue again. They still didn't really have a place for her but it was an emergency situation so they did take her. A couple days after taking her they had a medical emergency with one of their dogs so that dog had to be put where they had Zena. They ONLY other place they had for her was in the room where the aggressive dogs were kept. Zena is VERY friendly and sweet. NO agression at all. They had a dog that would break out of his crate and attack Zena through her crate (no they weren't keeping them crated all the time but we were in the middle of a huge heatwave and so they couldn't be outside so had to only use their night time crates. ) MY husband had been saying HE wanted a dog ( we have 2 other dogs we for through the rescue that are sisters and litter mates GSD/pit cross. Luna is our 29 year old son's ESD and then Lyla who I had agreed to foster when her adoption fell through and she and I really bonded) We had been planning on waiting for our son to move out again but under the circumstances agreed to go out and meet Zena. We fell in love instantly and brought Luna and Lyla out and they all seemed to get along well. OK, so that's the back story I'm sorry it ended up being so long. When we got home with Zena and the 1st time we had all 3 dogs together didn't go well. We discovered she was actually NOT spayed! So we got her spayed almost as soon as we got her. But this poor sweet girl has to be able to see one of us at all times or she starts chewing herself to bits. My husband works nights so if she can be touching him (or me) she's OK but she foes through this whole process before she settles down in which she has to be ON TOP of us. I have MS and am pretty much bed bound because I can't walk very well any more and because of pain. I had major abdominal surgery about a month ago too. (It meant that I couldn't change positions without help and of course had a very sore tummy). Most of the time there is so.eone home with her. But occasionally not. If say the bedroom door is closed with her on the outside and we are inside she will poop on the floor ( even though she is fully housebroken and she has free access to the back yard. She is very well mannered, well trained, and KNOWS she is loved. But like I said she has to be touching us pretty much in. order to be calm.(or st least be within eyesight of us. HOWEVER if we take her with us and leaver her alone in the car she seems to do ok. I love this dog but she drives me nuts sometimes! We also have to flip flop between she and Lyla because they don't get along and with my health being how it's been I haven't been able to work with them. My aide I think has been an issue where their training etc is concerned. None of them are getting enough exercise ( but they are getting food, water, and lots of love as well as being on a schedule to go outside. I haven't been able to get home to let the. Have play time though.
I have been doing your suggested training plan after reading the book you suggested for many months and still can only go out of the door for a minute or less, depending on the day. I haven’t been out without my dog once, and had her for 14 months now. She stays happily with friends, but they also can’t leave her. I think it might be FOMO. Do I have to treat that differently?
Thank you so much for your help! Great video!
Cute pup! I saw someone mention this comment before and it went unanswered. How can you build up to 4-8 hrs a day for those of us who have to return to in person or have other events going on?
Hi! I have a 4 month old aussie puppy. I just recently found your channel & I’m already learning so much. The whole training process has been rewarding but also very overwhelming being a new dog owner and trying to find out the best information. I would say my main problem with my puppy is separation anxiety. I’m not sure if that’s the official name for it since she’s so young. But I struggle with leaving her alone. She howls and barks for the majority of the time and often pees more. Even when I shower or go to the bathroom she’s crying outside the door. I’ve tried crate training as well and didn’t close the door for weeks and gave her fun things in the crate, the minute I closed the door for a couple seconds she hasn’t wanted to go back in. I’ve been trying my best to do the methods I’ve seen on videos like this. I’ve worked on desensitizing and leaving her for shorter times, Just wondering if she’s still too young to really follow all these methods and if it’s something she’s likely to grow out of with time & training, or should I treat this as if it’s separation anxiety. I’m new to this and just want to learn the best information I can. Thanks for your channel it’s been helping me a lot!
Hey, Melanie! First, I'm so glad you found my channel and I'm so glad that you're learning so much. Congrats on the new puppy!!
To be fair, it's hard for me to tell based off just one comment whether you're dealing with separation anxiety disorder (SAD) or puppy isolation distress. It could be either one. Or it could even be isolation distress on its way to becoming SAD. Chronic SAD doesn't really just solve itself, and she wouldn't necessarily "grow out" of SAD. Isolation distress tends to be based in confusion and loneliness. And so this can be a little easier to treat.
Also, likely at this age, it's a little to early to know whether she has claustrophobia. She may just be an individual that doesn't do well in tiny places like a crate or x-pen. But I think it's too early to really know that for certain. So I would continue to try to desensitize her to small areas, like a bedroom or play area. You wouldn't want to "desensitize" this by just walking away and leaving her in there. That would likely have the opposite affect. If closing the door is the problem, see if having a baby gate that she can see through helps her.
You will also want to manage how often and for how long she is alone. The more she has the opportunity to cry and become helpless, the more likely it is that you will have emotional distress in the future. So we need to be limiting her time alone to ONLY the time limits that she can actually handle - even if that's only 2 minutes at a time right now.
If you leave her in there to "cry it out", you will be causing learned helplessness which can be very burdensome on her confidence. Many people don't realize that one of the ways you can "make an insecure puppy" is by making them cry and cry and cry until they "give up" because it teaches them that they're incapable of solving their own problems.
To be fair, this is the best I can do helping you without knowing more of her individual personality and context. But I hope this does help you some! Let me know if you need any clarifications! (:
Dog Liaison thank you so much for the reply & info! I really appreciate all the advice. I try my best to not leave her alone for long periods of time but sometimes I have to go to school and work and have no choice. I’ve been leaving her in a large area of the bathroom. I’m just wondering what I should do for times I really have no choice but to leave her alone. Thanks!
Do you have a family member or friend who can come over to her while you're gone?
Dog Liaison sometimes they can. But sometimes they can’t and I have no other options :/ that’s why I’m wondering what I should do for those moments that no one can be at the house or ways to work up to that. But I have been trying to diminish her being alone as much as possible. I was just unsure if that was somehow making it worse because when I do leave her she’s not used to it since it doesn’t happen often. Sorry for all my questions! I’m eager to learn more. Thank you again for taking the time to reply to me.
Hey, Melanie. I understand that sometimes life happens and you have no choice but to leave puppy alone. Unfortunately, if she is having a negative experience while alone, then that can be making things worse for her future. That's why it is sooo important that we limit how much un-managed alone time she is getting. You have to think of every time she's alone as building trust. And if she's left alone and has the opportunity to go become very emotional and erratic, then it is VERY possible that you are breaking whatever trust you've built up. You can try to do short term fixes like give her an exclusive high value toy that she ONLY gets when she's left alone. But again, that's a short term fix and it's really only meant to add that extra 20 minutes you need in order to run down to the store. So yes, you can technically leave her alone in the crate. But if she has the opportunity to have a negative experience in which she is crying because she's scare or crying because she doesn't like the isolation (increasing the probability of learned helplessness) then you totally might be making it worse.
I have an older dog, 11 years. I’m finding it more difficult to train as he has bad hearing and loss of sight. Any tips for older dogs
I have a senior dog who’s separation anxiety is another level. During the week for when I work he’s used to the morning routine so he doesn’t follow me to the door, but I do live with a roommate who leaves for work later in the day and by the time I get home I hear him barking/howling (usually about 3-4 hours alone once my roommate leaves for work and I get back from work). On the days I’m off, if I can’t take him with me he watches me get ready and will follow me to the door. I’m gone 5 minutes and he’s already barking and howling. I don’t know what to do with him. Soon I’ll be moving to another apartment where it will just be us 2 so that’ll have him completely alone for 8+ hours while I work. Unfortunately I can’t afford to take him to a daycare and I don’t have anyone to care for him. I don’t know what to do with him and I need something to help for when I move out. I can’t have him barking/howling for 8+ hours while I work.
Why dont you get a dog walker to take him out mid day.
Any advice for a foster dog? Will he just need to relearn trust and be anxious all over again when he gets adopted? Also, am I to understand that we shouldn't leave the house at all without breaking trust. Thanks for the video.
thanks so much for this video, I found what you said about randomising the time line super interesting as I'd just been adding a minute each time. I rescued a puppy from Bahrain in May and we've really bonded over the last few months that he's been with me in London. I work from home and he's happy to be in the other room/in the garden and doesn't always need to be by my side which is amazing. The issue I have, though, is that we're currently at a stage where I can go out and he'll lie down for a solid ten minutes before he jumps off the couch and begins howling. Sometimes he does this for a couple seconds and jumps back on the couch and lies down. Is this progress? Do I need to go in before this point? Or is his self soothing something I should monitor and see how long it lasts? I guess I'm just confused as to how we can get past this 10min hurdle. xxx
Hey, Jennifer! Hmmm.... I have a follow up question before I know what to recommend. How often does this 10 minute-howl-go lay down again routine occur? How many times in general has this happened so far?
@@getacalmdog sorry for the essay that I'm about to write but just giving you some context!
Reggie is a rescue dog and was on the streets in the middle east before he was saved by a charity. He was with another dog in foster care before he came to me in the UK where he is the only dog in the house. The first few times I went out in May he was not bothered at all. I put it down to him not being clingy at all but it appears since we got closer he became more anxious which I didn't realise until a neighbour said he had been howling after I left. That's when I got a camera and watched him. It was truly awful, pacing and howling for long periods. I then stopped leaving him alone for more than a few seconds, building up over the last couple months. We are currently at 10minutes (longest he has gone, ever, is 13) so now, when I watch him on the camera from outside and it hits ten minutes he jumps off and howls for a little bit and then jumps up and tries to sleep. I kind of saw this as progress as it wasn't the mad howling/pacing before but I still get worried and scared to push him for longer so I always end up returning to the house when he does that although part of me thinks I should wait it out and see if he can sleep or if the howling returns.
Thanks so much for trying to help x Jen
Hey, Jen. I saw that you followed me on Instagram. I'm going to DM you now.
Is it ok if one member of the family does this desensitizing work my dad works full time so he actually doesn't have time to do this but my dog is still anxious towards him like the main triggers are wearing clothes and getting ready once we leave the dog he just gives a bark and then dose of to sleep but it's the getting ready part
Is it possible to do this when I have to be at work in the morning for 4 hours every day? Will that training be able to correlate if I still leave at the same time for the same duration in the morning, or will her anxiety just never be treatable with our current schedules?
Hi, thanks for this video we are from Rome Italy, me and my work everyday my son goes to school and we adopted a 9 week old puppy and cries all the time whenever we leave.. I observed that he always gives me this look whenever i prepare my keys, jacket... But the strange thing is all of us can do our chores, my wife in the kitchen, my son studies in his room and he is calm at his place.. But somehow he knows the main entrance or exit of the house.. Everyone's leaving for work or school.. Any suggestions hopefully thanks
Great video! My three year old lab is struggling with separation anxiety after we recently moved to an apartment. Thankfully I work from home all day. Besides desensitizing and practicing leaving him in intervals, what else can I do while I’m home to help? Up until this point we lived in a house and I had never experienced this with him before; he would snooze for 7 hours no problem in my absence.
Interesting. Does your dog have a history of being stressed or put off by big changes in his life? Were you home with him pre-covid most of the time? Many dogs are experiencing S/A for the first time because of covid.
I'm having the same issues with my pitty lab..😭😭
We often foster rescue dogs and we just got one 2 days ago (currently we're in Cambodia). He's used to being with 70+ dogs at the rescue shelter and so he's having a hard time adjusting to being the only dog in the house. We are starting this training with him but do you think its useless as we're not in Cambodia for that long so in about 6-10months, we'll be gone and if he's not adopted then he'll go back to the shelter and possibly forget everything? (likely chance that he'll go back to the shelter as the locals don't really want street dogs as their pets and there's no expats moving here anytime soon due to Covid!)
That's a REALLY good question, and I can totally understand your unique conflict. To be 100% honest with you, I can't really tell you that because I don't know enough about your foster's individual personality. Here's what I will say, though: First, training any dog independence and self-sufficiency is useful. Even if someone has the most independent dog in the world, they can benefit from individual problem solving skills. That said, this particular exercise in this particular video is intended to be a trust-building exercise. And it will do just that in those 6 months that you have him. Having him trust you that you will return and provide his essential needs is going to be a great way to strengthen your relationship in those 6 months. However, if his long term prognosis is that he will just have to go back to the shelter and remain their by himself and/or become a street dog, then establishing that trust could backfire on you if you haven't equipped him to be self-sufficient and be a confident dog in his own right. Overall, I would recommend at least doing some trust-building, confidence-building, and independence-building exercises. But without a doubt, you're going to have a unique problem on your hands in 6 months.
Both of us work full time, some of this seems almost impossible to do without breaking trust constantly. We can work on it daily, but he still has to be left every day all day. How do you recommend people who are working actually be successful at this?
I can’t wait to start this with our dog! If I’m going to designate our master closet (with his bed) as the place he stays in when we’re not home, how do I first introduce this training to him? Put him in the closet, close the gate, and then just walk away? Or do I have him lay down on his bed before I walk away?
What was the name of the book you suggested
What suggestions do you have for someone who works. We just got a dog from the animal shelter and he has terrible separation anxiety. He has successfully ripped up our carpet, tore down our blinds and destroyed his kennel. We have been trying to work with him and we have definitely gotten some very good kept from your video. However we still have to go to work and while he is only home for a maximum of 4 hours during the day it is still wayyyy to much time for him.
Hey Reagan. I totally hear you. Having a dog with separation anxiety (especially severe S.A.) and also having to go to work is a very difficult challenge. So you totally have my sympathies. Do you have someone who can dog watch him while you're at work? How does he do playing with other dogs? Do you think taking him to a dog daycare is feasible? In order to get him through his anxiety, we need to eliminate as many of his opportunities to be left home alone unsuccessfully as possible.
Hi Jenna! Thanks for all of your videos, I really like your approach. I live with my girlfriend and we adopted a 6 years old male dog from animal shelter a month ago and we are doing our best do treat his issues. Surely we already asked professional help, but I find your scientific explanations really useful for our better understanding.
About separation anxiety topic: what do you think, what is the best way to calm down the dog when only one of us leaves the flat for an hour or two? He is showing mild stress signals in this case and he usually calms down after ~10 minutes if we just ignore him (however this "calm state" is not the same as the one when we are both here with him) .
I'm not sure if ignorance is the right approach? Or what should the one do who stays with the dog? The question is also applicable for the time when we'll need to ask my brother to stay with him when we both leave the flat.
Not sure if you can give answer here, but i would look for your opinion. :)
Thanks! Tamas from Hungary :)
Hey, Tamas! I appreciate you commenting.
If you're seeing him "calm down" after 10 minutes, then this *may* be actually learned helplessness. And in this case, you're not going to get the behavior of anxiety, but you get the emotion.
For some insight, remember that panic BEHAVIOR and panic EMOTION stems from two very different places in the brain. The emotion requires a degree of consciousness. Often, the behavior does not. In fact, it's estimated that about 60-70% of behavior requires very little to no consciousness.
So what this means to you - in theory - is that the panic behavior you're getting at the first 10 minutes is happening from an unconscious behavioral part of the brain. Whereas, the emotional distress (anxiety) you're seeing after that (even when your dog is laying down) is happening consciously. The emotions are ALWAYS harder to treat than the behavior.
For example, imagine convincing someone afraid of heights that he's safe. You can scream logic at him and tell him, "You're in a building that supported my a lot of construction material and walls and there are floors below you that are keeping you safe." But all he's thinking is, "I'm 500 feet off the ground." You're not going to be able to appeal to him LOGICALLY in order to fix his EMOTIONS.
With all that said, you definitely need to implement the procedure in this video. And it sounds like you're going to have to start with just doing this with one person leaving while the other person stays inside. Limit his exposure to moments of stress beyond his threshold.
You *may* also need to do some critical thinking games and fade yourself out of those games so that he's getting a sense of independent accomplishment. But obviously, I can't tell you if that's completely necessary without knowing more about your case.
I hope this helps you.
Never used a crate -did pre-emptive separation training so that anxiety never developed. No problems with dog having free reign of the house while I'm gone.
Excellent!!!! Great work, my friend!
heya :) could you point me to some nice resources on preventative seperation training? i'm preparing for my future dog
@@laheliaz.4172 This was 4 years or so ago so I cant remember exactly what I read, but I read lots of different articles by force free trainers and made a training plan based on everything I'd learnt. I did notice that most of the stuff online is about fixing already established SA rather than preventing it which is a shame, but if you dig around the internet you can find some good training tips.
What I did was used a camera that I could watch remotely (on a phone or ipad) to see how my puppy was doing in the early stages of training, and I started by just leaving her in one room of the house and going to a different room where she couldn't see me for a while (using babygate to keep her in one room). When she was comfortable with that I moved to leaving the house for very short periods (maybe just a minute at first), and slowly built up duration over many weeks, always returning before puppy got worried or stressed (could tell by the body language she displayed while watching her remotely). I only did one or two repetitions per day of the training so as not to stress my pup too much, and each time I left I left her with a chew or kong to distract her.
Obviously I'd made sure she had already been out to pee / poop before I left and that she had been exercised a while prior and was in a calm relaxed state for the training.
This is a pretty good article on preventative separation training: www.pdsa.org.uk/taking-care-of-your-pet/looking-after-your-pet/puppies-dogs/home-alone-preventing-separation-anxiety
Wow I have a puppy though
What can you do if you can’t walk out the door for even 1 second without your dog going into barking distress. Is there anything else to start with if they can’t even handle that? It’s bad enough that going to bathroom and closing the door sets the dog off as well. Watched the video but not really sure where to start when it’s that severe.
New 5mth old, he's fine until night, bedtime, I have 2 cats & their safe room is the bedroom. I spent the 1st 2 nights on the couch now. He just wants to lay next to me, is it just gonna take time.
any recommendation when trazadone doesn't work? or Cbd. I'm talking a very severe case
First thing I would do is talk to your vet (or ideally a veterinary behaviorist if you're able) about potentially switching medication and/or aide. Then I would start the desensitization process described in this video. You can use Malena Demartini Price's treating Separation Anxiety book for reference. The first edition of this book is (a very little) outdated. But the second edition is more geared for dog trainers. So I find the first edition more dog pawrents intuitive.
Hello! About how frequently would you practice this a day in order to get the most successful build up?
Hi Emily, unfortunately I don't know your individual dog's personality and case, so it's difficult for me to answer that. Depending on many factors, it could be once every three days, or all the way up to 5 times per day. It just depends. I'm sorry that I can't be more help. I know it's frustrating. 🥺
Dog Liaison are there any indicators I should look for that would tell me it’s too much for her?
Hi there! You're looking for frequency of over threshold and the stress signals that indicate your respective dog is approaching threshold. You're also looking for patterns. So at what point does she offer a lip lick for example. Or at what point does she yawn. These patterns are going to tell you where on your dog's threshold tolerance she is. And then this can tell you how frequently you can train.
My pup barks and fuse when I walk out the door for a few secs....I don't her to get use to me coming back everytime she barks.
I have adopted a 6 month old chihuahua, he follows me everywhere I crate trained him by positive reinforcement with treats, toys. I try to play games with him at times during the day, I throw treats in for him to find etc But he still bangs the door and whines. He's started to settle but I wanted the crate to be a really fun, positive place for him. I'm only crating him while he learns to do pees and poos outside but I'm sad its a place where he whines before he settles. He does sleep in the crate but takes a while to settle. He only goes in to eat and if I throw treats in. Should I just use baby gate and give him the run of the whole front room without supervision when I have to do emails, washing up, tidying, that wont help potty training! Plus he follows me everywhere. I feel so guilty when he whines but I dont give him attention!
:O(
What if the dog is perfectly fine left alone in the crate for up to 6 hours but when I leave him out of the crate and go out the door from a minute he starts freaking out and obsessively whining and scratching the door. I want to be able to take the trash out across the hall without having to put him in the crate.
Do you repeat the going in- and outside many times a day directly one after the other or do you let him alone (say 5 seconds) once and then come back in and do the same exercise the next day?
Hi Sarah, that is an excellent question! Thank you so much for asking! And the truth is it depends on the dog. Ideally, you're not doing it one right after the other because then this can inadvertently cause and "on/off switch." We're training, now we're not training sort of thing. But I have found that more neurotic dogs that are HIGHLY, HIGHLY sensitive, benefit from continuous repetitions AT FIRST. You would not do constant repetitions like this forever. That's not practical. But sometimes, just to get the ball rolling, I find that doing 4 to 6 repetitions one right after another sometimes gets the dogs to go, "huh. strange. but not uncomfortable. let me know more." So overall, it's worth experimenting by doing a couple repetitions close together and seeing what the outcome is. But make sure you do not get stuck in this loop for too long. It's not a very realistic, sustainable solution.
When we leave, are we coming back at any sign of anxiety? For example, I walk out the door, 2 seconds pass, my dog starts barking and scratching, is that my cue to come back in, or are we trying to come in before the signs of panic? If the latter, what if the panic is instant?
We have 3 dogs but the only male, 10 month old shihtzu mostly follows me around. Even stays outside the bathroom and waits till I get out. But he is not destructive at all🙏
How the hell is this going to work when I have to go to work for 8 hrs
If your dog has Anxiety, but you're not able to treat it and recover his/her mental health, the finding a home that is more equipped to treat her anxiety disorder is the ethical choice.
We put our rescue dog in the crate downstairs overnight. He usually settles down after a couple of cries. However. He has been getting us up by barking earlier and earlier. Not sure what to do?
In the day, we can’t leave the house at all yet. He just cries instantly. Even when we close the baby gate and he can see us he gets upset that he isn’t next to us.
Is your impression that he's getting up earlier out of loneliness, or is there some other need he has? Like peeing? Water? Etc. Does his waking up schedule seem to occur around the same time each night? Is it predictable?
I just picked up my first foster dog a week ago and discovered that he barks and whines when I am gone. I’m not sure if he ever settles down but I did just download a pet monitor app so I will know tomorrow when I go to work. I don’t know anyone who can stay with him all day. Also he’s not neutered yet and he tested positive for whip worm so I’m guessing no day care will take him. Not sure what to do…!?
How did the dog end up?
@@benfreedman7901 Actually, he did very well! The way I was able to get him through his anxiety was to gradually (over several weeks, I think) get him used to my leaving. First I just SAT next to the door. Then I STOOD by the door. Then I stood in the open doorway. Then stepped outside… then stepped out for a few minutes with the door closed. Etc, etc. I did it slowly and didn’t move to the next step until he was okay with the current step. Eventually I was able to leave him alone and he was fine. He was adopted by retirees so I stressed the importance of leaving him alone sometimes so he doesn’t get used to constant company again. 😊 Thanks for asking!
I work part time, my husband works full time. On the days I work, how do we leave and not break our trust? 8 1/2 hours is way too long. We are barely at an hour. Dog daycare? Babysitters?
Yes!!! You will want to make sure your dog has a babysitter or daycare to go to.
Neeed help my 3 year old Doberman is always anxious and always in anxious state of mind never sits
Hey Nacho! Thanks for reaching out regarding your doberman's anxiety. I highly recommend you work to recover his mental health. Just so you know, my recovering rover program - separation anxiety edition will be opening up very soon. If you're interested in learning more, please email me (dogliaison@gmail.com) or DM on social media. Links in description.
@@getacalmdog will it be on TH-cam ?
My recovering rover program is my coaching service that I offer to clients. All my TH-cam videos are of course free though. And my entire channel is dedicated to treating anxiety disorders in dogs. So there's lots of good stuff to help your dog's anxiety. Have you gone scrolling through my videos?
After the death of my older dog, my younger dog will not stay in the house alone. He tears the door frame off tears up the rugs and vomits on the floor. I can leave him outside and he’s OK. I don’t want to have to leave him out in the heat and the rain or whatever might happen. Do I treat this the same as other severe, separation anxiety?
My dog won't eat while we leave. Is there a way to extend our leave without the 'prized treat'?
It sounds like you're saying your dog won't take the Kong full of peanut butter method because his anxiety is too bad. That is EXACTLY why I do not recommend that method for dogs with real S/A. The technique taught in this video does not rely on a prized reward of any kind.
My brother lives with me. His dog has become extremely attached to me. A family friend just adores this dog. She likes to take the dog home with her for several days at the time. The dog likes her very much, but apparently he tries to run away. She is a very restless lady, full of anxiety and micromanaged the dog-worries herself and the dog half to death looking for symptoms, following him about, micromanaging. Today whenever she visited he acted so out of character. He kept hiding and isolating himself. The lady assumed he was unwell because of that. After she left his behavior returned to normal. Is it possible that the dog is afraid she will take him home again? She treats him really well, but does hover over him constantly. He has even hidden from her as she is calling him, come up to me and done the begging stance.
Hey, Nancy. I think it might be POSSIBLE that your dog is having a negative reaction to your friend. But, to be fair, one instance of this isn't really enough data to know for certain. There could be a lot of possible variables here. So in order to know your dog's true judgment of your friend, I think you'll have no choice but to run the "experiment" at least one or more times.
Dog Liaison it won’t be difficult. This friend visits nearly every day. She is 81 years old and quite a bundle of nerves! Charlie likes our friend a lot, but I think maybe our friend makes him nervous, also. We’ll see!
Well, that's good to hear that you'll be able to test this rather easily. Let me know how it goes and if there's any way I can help. You can DM me on Instagram or Facebook. 🤗
What happens when the dog needs to be left alone for longer than the amount of time we've been working on? If my dog is still working on 6 minutes of being alone (which could take days). How am I supposed leave the dog while I do things that might take a few hours, without breaking that trust?
We recommend getting a sitter or day boarding as much as possible. If you have an emergency, and you need to leave your dog to the point at which she'll go over threshold, you just have to recognize this may take you a couple steps backwards in recovery and account for that in the length of time of Recovery.
@@getacalmdog man if only my mom would listen to this. She just goes by the "let him cry it out method" :(
If you live in certain climates leaving them in the backyard would not be safe. I mean entire seasons of the year.
Going through all of this bullshit day after day month after month was a bigger toll stress wise for me than almost ANYTHING ive ever gone through before.
I would come home to destroyed carpet, piss in my bed, chewed up game controller, sometimes all at once. I couldnt count on both hands how many times i screamed at my dog during the last year and a half i had her. All of this info would be great, if not for the fact i have to work 12 hours a day, 4 times a week.
Also, before anyone decides to comment, the first thing i asked the previous owner before taking her in was, "Is she ok with being alone for an entire work day "
"Oh yeah," he said "i do it all the time and she never had a problem with it"
Guess that was a fucking lie.
None of the videos/training programs for sepeeation anxiety take into account people in the real world who HAVE to work outside the home, and cant afford daycare or their work hours dont align with doggy daycare. I feel like im going to have to surrender my rescue because she is getting way too stressed when i leave, howling for 9 hours straight. Theres no porgrams that work with ppl who have to be outside the home.
If a dog has a genuine anxiety disorder and a guardian does not have the capacity to support that dog's recovery, the *sometimes* rehoming is the kindest gift one can give to a dog with an anxiety disorder.
No human with a job has time for this.
You're mistaken. 🤗🤗 I work with compassionate guardians every day who make this work. I will not say it's easy. But I will say that people who prioritize their dog's mental health are everywhere around us.
@@getacalmdog this is why there are dog walkers & doggie day care . Everyone has to work these days so hire a petsitter :)
@@staceypaladino5555I know. And I’ve done daycare for over a year but it is getting so expensive I can no longer afford 50 dollars per day. Not only that is so difficult to get a reservation. I have to go back to the office next week 3 days per week and she can only stay 1 hr alone. I feel defeated.
'I tried CBD oil didn't work for my Dog,
Why does the dog have to be a "he"
Where are videos of you actually training dogs with all these issues you’re a so called expert with science backing you up? Let’s see this positive reinforcement in action all talk blah blah blah all your videos is you just talking and criticizing rather than showing us how to do it
Hope you get a chance to watch this exact video where you'll see me quite literally training my own dog in this exact video that you're commenting on.
Lol you’re showing you train your own dog cmon that’s child play let’s see you work with reactive dogs and see how your positive reinforcement will not work
Hey there, in another comment I sent you some links to a ton of videos reviewing scientific evidence in canine cognition. I hope you enjoy watching as much I enjoyed studying up on the topics and digging into the empirical data.
@@getacalmdog now you’re just trying to use big words to belittle me but you’re totally avoiding actually showing videos of you training dogs(not your own) in real life I will pray for your suffering and all the people who believe your nonsense
@@wakethefakeupnow hey pal, go fuck yourself
I am from the Netherlands and we don't use crates!. No F..cking way. Why for Godsakes would you crate a dog .? You only admit you are a horrible incapable dog owner who does not want to spend and train probably his/her dog. Crates are only for very NOT-LOVING owners. There are "no-Time -got--to -go, it's-my- time" Owners!! Do you want to be crated by your "loving mom or dad"?, Who never really have time for you ???? That's called cruelty Take that and think about it!.