Effective Ways to Help Dogs with Separation Anxiety

Being a dog owner can bring much fulfillment to your life. The relationship between human and dog is not to be taken lightly. Not only can dogs perform amazing task like helping blind people or assisting the police with duties, dogs can also perform simpler miracles like providing us with great company.

Dogs love our company more than we could ever love them. Going by tradition, dogs are pack animals and their need for company is still prevalent today.

Unfortunately some dogs need us “too much” and can form an unhealthy attachment to its owner; this condition is called dog separation anxiety.

Some of the behaviors of a dog that suffers from dog separation anxiety are:

• Your dog follows you everywhere.
• Your dog is over the top when it comes to greeting you.
• Your dog takes part in unusually bad behavior only when you and the dog are separated.
• Your dog becomes anxious when you pick up your car keys or anything else which relates to you leaving the house.

Now some of the above behaviors may not necessarily mean your dog has dog separation anxiety, it may just be due to boredom.

It’s not exactly known why dogs suffer from separation anxiety but cases can relate to a specific event, which disrupted the dog’s life.

Thankfully there is a process, which you can do to make your dogs life more pleasant and ultimately treat its separation anxiety.

11 Tips to Help Ease your Dog’s Angst

1. Your first step should be to set up a consultation with your vet so you can gain a better insight into your dog’s case of separation anxiety. There are treatments available but provided the case isn’t too extreme, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to help the dog using natural methods.
2. Practice leaving your dog on hiss own for short amounts of time. Pick up your car keys (or other “going out” item), leave for a minute and then return to your dog. Repeat this and each time increase the amount of time you’re away. Doing this will help your dog in understanding that no matter how often or how long you are away, you will always come back.
3. When saying hello or goodbye to your dog, avoid making it a big deal—be as nonchalant as you can. A simple hello/goodbye with a gentle stroke on the head is enough.
4. Plenty of exercise is healthy for both you and your dog. Exercise will make your dog feel more comfortable in other locations and will tire him/her out too, meaning it’s more likely to sleep when arriving home, rather than worrying about where you are.
5. Find your dog a friend or getting another dog might able to ease his angst. Having a cat =| can also helps reduce your dog’s anxiety and make him feel comfortable.
6. If you do leave your dog alone at night, don’t turn the lights out. Leave one or two lights on so that the house won’t look so gloomy to him.
7. Leaving radio on is a good idea, that’s if you often listen to it while you’re home. I would much prefer my dogs listen to classical music while I’m away. It is more soothing than listening to Pop music. BBC News channel (radio) is another great choice—boring but extremely effective. =D
8. Build up your dog’s confidence by continuously praising it when appropriate.
9. If your dog hasn’t been trained, you should really look into it. Teaching your dog even the basic tricks like sit and stay will stimulate his mental skills and can only help the situation.
10. Look into dog crate training, it’s highly recommended if your dog has separation anxiety problems.
11. When leaving your dog alone, give it something to do until you come back. Leave a toy with it or scatter some food so your dog can go on a treasure hunt!

Good luck with treating your dog’s case of separation anxiety. Remember not to get mad with your dog, as it will only diminish any confidence it has. It generally is a slow process and can take a while to see major results but in the end it’s worth helping your dog, wouldn’t you do the same if he/she were a person.