Dog Anxiety

Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety in dogs usually develops after a significant change occurs.

Symptoms of anxiety in dogs are:

• Jumping and climbing your fence to escape, but staying close to home after escaping.
• Escaping when you are leaving or shortly afterwards.
• Digging under fences.
• Displaying a strong attachment to you; following you around, reacting anxiously when you are preparing to leave and greeting you wildly when you return.

This condition can occur if:

• You have recently moved to a new house or the dog has been at a boarding kennel.
• You have experienced the death of a pet or family member.
• Your dog is left alone for long periods of time.

Treatment for Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety is best addressed by: 1/ Desensitisation, plus, 2/ Installing an electronic dog containment system.

Desensitization reduces your dog's phobic behaviour while a containment system will give you immediate relief from your dog escaping. Treatments for separation anxiety conditions your dog to rely on you less but wont affect your relationship with them.

Desensitization

Desensitisation is a behaviour therapy technique that is used to modify phobic behaviours by presenting the anxiety-producing stimuli in gradually increasing amounts until they no longer produce anxiety. The method can take many weeks and requires great dedication on the part of the trainer. Seeking help from a professional trainer might be worthwhile.

You must teach your dog to remain calm during "practice" departures and short absences. We recommend the following procedure for separation anxiety:

• Begin by engaging in your normal departure activities (getting your keys, putting on your coat), then sit back down. Repeat this step until your dog shows no distress in response to your activities.
• Next, engage in your normal departure activities and go to the door and open it, then sit back down.
• Next, step outside the door, leaving the door open, then return.
• Finally, step outside, close the door, then immediately return. Slowly get your dog accustomed to being alone with the door closed between you for several seconds.
• Proceed very gradually from step to step, repeating each step until your dog shows no signs of distress. The number of repetitions will vary depending on the severity of the problem. If at any time in this process your actions produce an anxiety response in your dog, you've proceeded too fast. Return to an earlier step in the process and practice this step until the dog shows no distress response, then proceed to the next step.
• Once your dog is tolerating your being on the other side of the door for several seconds, begin short-duration absences. This step involves giving the dog a verbal cue (for example, "I'll be back"), leaving, and then returning within a minute. Your return must be low-key: Either ignore your dog or greet him quietly and calmly. If he shows no signs of distress, repeat the exercise. If he appears anxious, wait until he relaxes to repeat the exercise. Gradually increase the length of time you're gone.
• Practice as many absences as possible that last less than ten minutes. You can do many departures within one session if your dog relaxes sufficiently between departures. You should also scatter practice departures and short-duration absences throughout the day.
• Once your dog can handle short absences (30 to 90 minutes), he'll usually be able to handle longer intervals alone and you won't have to repeat this process every time you are planning a longer absence. The hard part is at the beginning, but the job gets easier as you go along. Nevertheless, you must go slowly at first. How long it takes to condition your dog to being alone depends on the severity of his problem.

Electronic Dog Containment System

Electronic dog containment comes in two types of systems:

The radio collar dog fence, sometimes called an underground fence, hidden fence, wireless fence or invisible fence. This containment system uses a special electronic training collar. At a preselected distance from a boundary wire, the collar will audibly warn your dog that this area is "off limits". This warning sound is your dog’s cue to back off. If your dog ignores the warning then a correction is given which feels like strong static electricity. Most dogs quickly learn to back off from the boundary before the correction happens.

A second type of system, which does not use collars, has a wire that can be either attached to your existing fence or placed in front of it. This kind of electronic containment is claimed to be close to 100% effective at stopping your dog climbing. It works on the same principle as a farm electric fence. However, make sure you buy a system specifically designed for dogs. Farm electric fences are designed for large animals & can deliver far too much power for a dog & are unsuitable for domestic situations. Choose a reputable brand where the product has obviously been specifically designed & packaged for the dog containment market. eg. 1/ stop your dog climbing, 2/ stop your dog digging out.