puppy separation anxiety
what to do? my puppy has separation anxiety but not from its mother but from us. every time one us leaves the?
room or takes the trash out he kinda flips. he wines and goes from the one left in the room to the door or wherever back and forth ect ect. help!!!!
I did a study of 30 dogs that successfully worked through sep anx and found there several key components to solving it. If you can answer these questions, they will help you to work through it successfully.
The clicker or a marker or treats can be used but are not necessary. You then must add the phasing out of both clicker, then treat to all training. Personally, I think it’s better to avoid using one as being alone should be a default behavior just like a loose leash. Your presence becomes the reward for him being calm.
1. Is the dog getting enough daily heart-raising exercise? For medium-sized active breeds, 2×40 min sessions a day. Smaller dogs may need less but still need to raise their heart rates.
2. Is the dog being fed too high a protein or fat diet that gives him more energy than he needs and so he puts it into sep anx?
3. Do you use the 20:20 rule? That is, ignoring the dog for 20 minutes before you leave and for 20 minutes after you come back. That means no eye contact, talking or touching. If you need to put him out of or into the house or crate, do it with no talking, touching or eye contact if you can help it. Only when he is calm and forgotten that you have come home can you cuddle on the couch etc. What you are trying to do is flatten the emotional hills and valleys that usually occur with arrivals and departures. This helps your arrivals and departures to become less exciting.
4. Have you trained him to do graduated departures?
That is, teaching him that you can leave in small steps.
Walk to door and put your hand on door and then turn back around and walk in and sit on couch (or ingore him and do the dishes etc). Next you put hand on door and open it a foot, then close it and go back to what you were doing. Next open it 2 feet, close it, go back to what you were doing. Yada yada until you can open door, walk out and come right back in with no reaction whatsoever. For some dogs, you may need to proceed in smaller intervals of one inch.
Next you start using the 300 Peck method for time. Leave, take a step out, close the door and count one one thousand, then come back in. Next take a step out, stay out to the count of one one thousand, two one thousand and step back in. Next count to three one thousand. If he starts a fuss, a little whine, scratch- anything, start back at one second again and build back up. Each repetition shows him that he can be alone for those few seconds. And hours are made up of seconds!
You may need to start training your dog to allow you to leave a room first, as some dogs can’t tolerate their person being out of sight, never might out of the house.
For extreme cases, you may also want to teach the dog to do down stays starting close in, then using 300 peck to training further out, then out of the room with a door or baby gate between. These are huge steps for some dogs so take it slow!
How small the time increments you train depends on your dog. You may have to start with 1 second, or maybe a minute, another dog maybe 10 minutes. Once he get past 5 minutes, you can increase your time outside the door by 15 second intervals. Once past 30 minutes, 2 minutes. Once past 45 min, 5 minute intervals. Of course if these don’t work for your dog, you make the increments smaller. Better to err on the smaller side and take longer as he will then build his duration more slowly and be more confident that you will be returning and he can spend time alone!
5. Have you figured out what his triggers are?
Your getting your keys and purse, putting on your coat, your shoes etc. Take each of these items one at a time, then together and practice grabbing them, or putting them on and leaving but coming right back in. If he reacts at just taking them, put them back and sit back down again. Do this many times and for many sessions so he learns that just because you take them, doesn’t mean you are leaving. This process desensitizes him to the triggers.
6. Next, when these no longer trigger behavior, add them together with the graduated departures above, starting at the beginning and progressing.
7. Does he have treats/toys available to him while you are gone? It is always a good idea to have stuffed Kongs and toys strewn around while you are gone to give him something to redirect any anxiety he has. There are only available to him while you are gone so it becomes something he looks forward to. Keep in mind, he will only use these if he is not too stressed. Most dogs will be able to use these as you progress in the being alone training.
8. Does your dog like being confined or not? Being confined in a crate or pen or room helps for some dogs, and makes it worse for others. Some dogs are happiest if they can see what is going on around them (see out a window). Leaving a piece of old clothing with your smell on it may help too. Keep in mind it may be in tatters when you come home, or it may become a cherished item!
9. Will another pet help?
Gett