Understanding Separation Anxiety

Working with rescue dogs, this issue has come up.  This issue comes up for people who gets dogs from all sorts of places.. rescues, breeders, etc.  It can be a frustrating thing to understand and deal with, especially since it tends to be accompanied by destruction in the home.  We get frustrated, and it just gets worse.  We met a dog at an adoption event, and they were amazing and had no history of destruction.  We get them home, and we come home to poop and destruction.  Perhaps some new owners wonder if the rescue was lying about the dog's behavioral history.  I can almost promise you they weren't.  Pets need consistency and routine, period.  Any change in that, depending on the pet, may result in separation anxiety.  (As a cat owner, I can say that I find cats even that much more sensitive to change, and they manifest their "destruction" by unwanted urination.)

Separation anxiety can be described as a dog's over dependence on it's owner to feel safe and content.  This can be because you've rescued a shelter or rescue dog, they were separated too early from their dog mom, general fear of isolation, and sudden home changes.  Home changes may fly under the radar for us, but not for our dogs.  A new baby, new work schedule, new emotional state, missing a deceased family member, or other changes to the environment.  By definition, this unwanted behavior occurs when the animal is left alone, and doesn't happen in your presence.

Often I hear people say, "I only left him alone for a minute!"  The reality is, the general school of thought suggests their anxiety peaks at 30 minutes.  So the destruction isn't necessarily because you left them alone an hour longer than usual.  At this peak, that is when the damage occurs.  Scratching at doors, pulling down drapes, etc.  They may also go potty inside, and it is then not related to house training at all; not if when you are home, they ask to go outside as they should.  They may also whine/bark/talk a lot when you are gone, not eat or drink, and perhaps take excessively long to greet you when you get home.  "You're home?  Really?  Are you sure?  You're not leaving again are you?"..   ten minutes later..  "So, you're really home, right?"

As in my previous article about desensitizing your dog, this is often the suggested method to remedy separation anxiety.  Leave for a short period of time, and then come back.  Short may be even just 5 minutes.  Gradually increase your time out until they can be left for 30 minutes.  Then increase it to 1.5 hours.  I have read at this point, you should be okay.  Your dog may take longer, you'll have to see.  We can also employ counter conditioning; getting your dog to associate you leaving with a good thing.  "OOh!  Every time before she leaves she plays with me for 5 minutes with my favorite toy!  Then, she leaves me a peanut butter Kong.. yay!"

My literature suggests that crate training to address separation anxiety may not be effective at truly reducing the anxiety.  It may spare your couch from being eaten, but the problem isn't being addressed and the anxiety will persist.  Punishment is not effective; I doubt I need to go into why.  Lastly, people may try to add another pet.  "Oh, he just is bored and needs a play mate".  Likely not true.  You, and your absence are the issue, and he may just transfer than anxiety to the new pet also.  "Why are you so freaked out?  Should I be freaked out too?"  Remember that there is a difference between boredom and/or not enough exercise versus anxiety behavior.

Sadly, I've seen too many instances where separation anxiety has been cause for an owner to surrender.  I think they may have lied to themselves when they said they'd have the time to really train and work with their dog.  It's hard to find the time.  It may mean you have to get up a little earlier or do a little more after you get home from work.  But spend the time.  No one has ever suggested this modification process needs to take years.  Chances are, you did a great thing by adopting a rescue dog who came home and found cause to be a little insecure about you and your home.  Can you blame him?  Walk him the rest of the way down that road of his "forever home".  Patience, love, and understanding.  Shoes are replaceable, they aren't!

Dog Behavioral Modification 101

The field of dog training and dog behavior is an ever-growing field, with more new information emerging all the time.  It's also a controversial field, with many experts disagreeing with certain approaches to behavior modification.  I'm going to review some basic pieces of information regarding approaching your dog's unwanted behavior.

Before reviewing this, it's always important that owners distinguish between "unnatural" behavior and "unwanted" behavior.  With behavior that is natural for a dog, it becomes important to approach them with patience and understanding that we are truly trying to alter that which is essentially natural for them.  And it being natural, we shouldn't feel disappointed, frustrated, or that something is wrong with our dog.  Natural dog behavior includes digging, barking, sniffing our delicates, and potentially chewing on something before they know any better.  These things aren't wrong, they are unwanted.  Unnatural behavior can be any natural behavior taken to excess, ie. barking that is persistent without relent all day long.  This is a tough determination for an owner to make, as we are not as sensitive as they, and often times there are real reasons they are overstimulated which are still natural.  Unnatural behavior may also be obsessive behaviors, ie. a dog I once knew who'd fixate on the last place he saw his ball, and not leave until physically forced.  He's stare for hours.  This may be more natural for a terrier breed (their job is to find the vermin in the hole), but it wasn't natural for his breed.


1. Positive Reinforcement.  This is often considered the most effective method.  Versus constantly reprimanding them for unwanted behavior, focus must be to reward them for desirable behavior.  Often times the challenge here, is that we pay less attention to our dogs when they are being perfect.  If your dog is just calmly by your side, being mellow and sweet,  he needs to be praised.  He can make a reward correlation between going potty in the right place, being mellow, not barking, any time he is great or does an appropriate thing.  The reward can be treats, play, affection; whatever is your dog's motivator.  I cannot stress enough how easy it is to miss acknowledging good behavior when it isn't related to potty training. 


2.Negative Reinforcement.  This includes presenting a negative stimulus following an undesired behavior.  For example, shock collars or choke collars, as well as invisible fences.  They don't learn what is "right", but they learn what is wrong because they receive a negative response when they perform it.  This is considered less effective than positive reinforcement because it punishes them, yet doesn't show them truly how to behave. 

3. Punishment.  I take away something you like when you do something I don't like.  I personally feel there is a fine line between this and negative reinforcement, because like negative reinforcement, it shows the dog what you don't like, but it doesn't necessarily show him what you really want him to do .  Some argue another example of punishment is turning your back when  your dog jumps.  He associates a negative result.. you turn away.. but he may not learn it's because he didn't sit.  He just understands it's because he jumped.  He may stop jumping, but don't expect he will make the assumption to sit.  He may just walk away.  A personal exception, I think, to this is removing a snack if they become aggressive over it.  But, I feel this can be a mixture of positive reinforcement also.  If he's being naughty, he loses the snack.  When I give it back and he allows me to take it again without complaint, I pour the praise and allow him to keep it.

4. Classical Conditioning.  This is where you teach your dog to associate things together.  I ring the bell by the door, I go outside.  I go outside, I pee and my owner is happy!  Clicker training falls under this category.  I hear the click, I know to do something as per I was trained.

5. Counter Conditioning.  This is using something incompatible with the undesired behavior.  Using play to bring your dog to a different emotional state.   For a dog who is fearful, we try to create a different emotional state by countering their current one with other stimulus, ie. throwing the ball/frisbee.


6. Desensitization.  This is tantamount to when we see people overcome their fear of snakes by slowly increasing their exposure, until before you know it, they're holding the snake.  This could work with an item which scares the dog unreasonably, like a specific house item that is natural.  This is also the approach many take with separation anxiety.  You leave for 5 minutes.  Then 10.  Then 20.  Slowly you desensitize your dog to the anxiety caused by your departure.

They key thing to remember about all behavior modification, whether cats or dogs, is that we need to acknowledge the behavior immediately.  It's not fair to try and correct your dog for something they did 5 hours ago that you missed.  Yanking him by the collar to drag him to a pile of poop will probably not resonate with him; we will never fully understand how long their short term memories are.  In all fairness, when I come home to destruction I don't punish my dogs, but I definitely vocalize unhappiness towards the pile of debris without directing it towards the dog.  Catching them in the act is a whole other issue.  Consistency is everything, and everyone in the house must utilize the same modification methods.  If not, the dog will not understand.  There is a difference between using a louder, dominant voice and freaking out and yelling at your dog.  The later will cause your dog to be fearful, and it's intensity is not proportionate to the offense.  I hesitate to write about dog behavior and training, as this issue stirs a lot of passion in people.  It's the biggest area of argument.  Case in point, at Petsmart adoption events, the employees use water bottles and spray the dogs who won't stop barking.  This would fall under negative reinforcement.  People walk by and make snide comments about it being cruel, but many others find this an effective method, so long as you are not spraying their faces directly.  I concur with not spraying faces; it's less about being cruel and more about not wanting your dog to accidentally inhale the water.  That would be bad.  If any readers have used methods to train which they found super effective, I encourage you to jump on our forum section and share with the other readers!

Dealing with Anxiety and Destructive Behavior

Some triggers of anxiety:

• Moving to a new home
• The addition of a pet, baby, or spouse into the household
• Loud noises, such as thunder or fireworks
• Going on car rides
• Being left alone (separation anxiety)
• Being in a crowd

Dogs may react to anxiety by chewing, pacing, barking, excessive licking, shaking, urinating or defecating inside, or trying to escape.

For anxious or nervous dogs, remember to think about what you are praising.  One of the most misunderstood things people do with their dogs is to praise or console them when the dog is nervous, timid, scared, or uncertain.  This is because we are thinking like humans and trying to comfort the dog, which is completely logical in our human minds.  However dogs do not think the same way we do.  Therefore when you think you are consoling, the dog receives this message to mean that you like dog in this week state of mind.  So do not praise if the dog is feeling uncertain.

Suggestions that have worked for previous adopters:

• Thunder Shirt or Anxiety Wrap [same basic concept different manufacturers] - This shirt/wrap's gentle, constant pressure has a dramatic calming effect for most dogs if they are anxious, fearful, or over-excited.  You can read more about it on either website as well as see videos of how to use it.  It is relatively cheap too--$36!
• Off-Leash Dog Training has a couple of locations here in Colorado where you can buy them or you can purchase them off of the manufacturer's website!
• Natural Remedies [herbs & supplements]
  (always consult your veterinarian prior to the use of any natural remedies, especially if your dog is on other medications)
• Thiamin (a water-soluble vitamin of the B Complex).  It has been shown to affect the central nervous system, in particular, it helps to calm and soothe anxious animals.  A deficiency of thiamin has been found to cause irritability in animals.  Because thiamin is not stored in the body, increased activity, stress, illness, or increase metabolism depletes its levels in the body.
• Put in dog's food or water (it is water-soluble)
• Chamomile reduces anxiety and can encourage a dog to sleep.  Chamomile can also help if your dog has stress-induced diarrhea or loose stools.
• Make your dog a cup of chamomile tea (allow it to cool completely before giving it to your dog)

Keep in mind that not all destructive behavior is a consequence of anxiety.

Often times dogs can become destructive when they are bored (if they are left home alone for long periods of time).  Here are some tips for keeping your dog occupied with good, productive behavior while you are away:

• Filling a Kong with Peanut butter and then freezing it!  Freezing it will make it last a little longer than usual, and it's like a popsicle during the summer time!
• Kong also has a Wobbler Treat Dispenser that you can fill with regular dog food to keep them entertained.  There are a bunch of variations of this by other companies as well...just pa ruse the toy aisle :)