How To Reduce Your Dog’s Separation Anxiety

A lot of dogs will experience separation anxiety in their lives. So how will you be able to tell if your dog has separation anxiety? Well, most dogs who have separation anxiety will chew on things while you are away. They usually don’t chew on random things though, they will specifically pick out items that belong to you or items that carry your scent. Dogs that spend a lot of time right next to their owner while they are home will tend to be the most destructive within 20 minutes of your leaving the home. Other signs that your poochie pal might have separation anxiety include peeing or pooing several times in inappropriate places around the home, dog does not appear to have guilt when shown the destroyed items, and also the dog might appear to be clingy and needy for your attention when you are home.

So, now that you have discovered the issue of your dog’s separation anxiety, what can you do to reduce it? Well for starters you can make things about you. By this I mean only play with your dog when you want to, not when the dog wants to. Try to give your dog more exercise as well. Wear them out. If you wear your dog out during exercise they will be less destructive once you leave the home. Now I know that is is hard to find time to exercise so luckily there are other options to make your dog’s time home alone less devastating.

The first thing you shouldn’t do is punish your dog. They probably won’t understand why they are being punished anyway and they will only feel worse. Your dog needs to feel loved and they need a lot of positive attention. Never punish your dog for things they do wrong while you are away from the house.Try to give your dog something to do while you are gone to make their time alone at home more productive. Give them a new chew toy or a Kong filled with peanut butter and a bone. Also take the time to teach your dog your own ‘leaving cues’. Leaving cues are things like grabbing your keys and putting on your shoes. Each time you do this only leave the house for a short period of time so that way you dog will understand that you are going to come back. Also you will need to find out what it is that triggers your dogs anxiety. If it is grabbing your coat and putting it on, then you will need to repeat this action until your dog’s anxiety levels go down again. The act of repetition helps your dog to be able to cope with the fact that you will be leaving soon.

If all of the above things don’t work for your dog you might want to consider a doggie day care or crating your dog. In some cases though dog’s anxiety levels are severe. They may be chewing through walls and even causing injury to themselves. If this the case you really need to make sure you dog is getting enough exercise both physically and mentally.

Marley Martinerin is a regular contributor to a number of sites and writes articles about such topics as kuranda dog beds, and cheap dog beds.