Separation anxiety and tips how to avoid it

Written by: Anastasia Spevakina
Separation anxiety All dogs are heavily going through the separation with their owners. They are extremely attached to one person, but there are situations when the owner has to go and leave a dog for long time.

Being alone, dogs start to make puddles and piles, even though they are accustomed to the toilet. By this way, dogs try to make a challenge for their owner, showing negative attitude to your actions. They try to perform aggressive protests, scraping the door and chewing items in the house.  Punishment is clearly not the best option. It can provoke defensive aggression and make your dog suffer more.
You can ask yourself a question – what should I do in such case?

First of all, you need to teach the dog to get used to separation and being alone, starting from puppyhood.  Start with leaving the puppy for few minutes and gradually increase the time to 2-3 hours. It’s better to teach dogs such commands as “Bye” or “Be right back” and give something delicious before leaving as well.
Secondly, leave the TV or radio turned on. Appliances create cozy atmosphere in the house, and the sound of working TV or radio gives a feeling of comfort to dogs and other pets.

Any dog will understand when his owner is going to leave home. What we all usually do is trying to talk to the dog and give him more care before leaving. But the problem is that this way just gives a reason to your dog to be more excited and absolutely disappointed, when you leave.
! Specialists advise not to pay attention to dogs twenty minutes before you leave. Don’t play and try not to notice your pet before leaving or straight after you arrived home. You can greet and caress the dog only after he will completely calm down.

This approach makes dogs more independent, able to calm down and relax away from the owner. You can consider it as the first step towards a balanced animal behavior in loneliness. Dogs can get attention for peaceful and quiet demeanor, and owners must control time to start and finish games. Teach your pet to sit quietly on his rug and not to follow you without a command. If it’s possible, make short periods of separation even when you are at home. If the dog can lie down relaxed, when the owner is not around, but at home, he can do the same in your absence. It’s necessary to interact with the animal and make his actions predictable.

! Useful tip! If you have few dogs, separate them from each other periodically. Long staying together is unfavorable for their mental health. And if your dogs are getting used to short separations, they will not suffer from stress every time you need to separate them by any reason.
If the dog is still stung by separation from you and these tips don’t help, consult a vet, who will prescribe the medication to conquer separation anxiety.

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