Dogmantics Dog Training - Separation Training Tips

Leave your dog alone while you are home - This teaches the dog to enjoy being alone while it is not associated only with you leaving the house.   You can use baby gates and pens to keep your dog in one part of the house while you are in another.   You can give your dog food puzzles, chews, and hide treats for your dog to find while you are in another part of the house to make the alone time highly reinforcing.

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Teach Your Dog To Be Home Alone

Number one canine problem behavior is “home alone.” Don’t panic if someone tells you that your dog suffers from separation anxiety. It’s probably not the case. Anxiety is a serious disorder and most dogs don’t have any anxiety when left alone. They are either under-stimulated and burn their surplus energy by wrecking the furniture, they’re having fun and don’t know that it is wrong to destroy human possessions, or the owners have not taught them the desired routines when left home alone.

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Does Your Pet Show Signs of Separation Anxiety? Tips On How To Calm Your Pet

It's inevitable that you will need to leave your pup home alone. Some pets handle this well while others react with anxiety, fear and plain-old boredom when they have been left behind. What’s a loving pet owner to do? Veterinarian Katherine Miller of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) offers her advice.

Understand doggy nature
Dogs are a social species and evolve with packs. They bond very strongly with their human companions. The more strongly bonded the dog is and the less experience he or she has being left alone, the more stressful it will be.

“Leaving domestic dogs home alone all day is a really modern situation,” says Dr. Miller. “Typically, they had things to do, because they were following people around or working on farms. They aren’t evolved to deal with what to do with themselves when they’re alone.”

Teach pets to entertain themselves
Too often, people shower new pets with attention, giving the pup days on end of constant interaction. When the daily grind goes back to normal, the dog is left wondering where his playmate went.

When settling a new pet into your home, it’s essential to get the animal acclimated to being alone for increasingly longer time periods so they can to cope with the separation. Give the pet toys to play with, especially ones to chew on, so he or she is less likely to nibble your favorite slippers.

Crate-train to start
It’s important that your pet be content in a small space such as a crate, just in case you need to confine the animal for their own safety.

“You want your dog to earn house privileges and show he can be trusted,” says Dr. Miller. If you give the dog the run of the house right away, he or she is much more likely to get into things.

Wear the pet out
If the pet is going to be alone all day with little stimulation, make sure it has plenty of stimulation before you go. Go for a long walk or jog or play outside so the pet is thoroughly pooped — even if it means an early morning for you.

“If he’s not well exercised, he’ll get bored and get into stuff,” says Dr. Miller.

Stick to the routine
Dr. Miller’s dog has had the same schedule since puppy hood and they have never had a problem.

“In the mornings, we go out for a run, then she’s confined in the kitchen where she gets a toy that has a treat inside,” Dr. Miller says. “Later, the dog walker comes and she gets let out, and treated to another toy that I’ve filled with wet food and frozen.”

Bottom line: Being consistent is key.

Follow the 8-hour rule
Dr. Miller recommends not leaving your pet alone for more than eight hours. You may need someone come let the dog out in the middle of the day or figure out another way for your pup to have a break.

“It’s more humane for a dog’s well-being, not to mention their bladder and bowels,” she says.

And when you’re home for the evening, set aside some time for your pooch to exercise and socialize so they aren't pining for attention while you’re away.

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Loyal Police Dog Being Treated Inhumanely On Chief’s Orders

It’s bad enough that we are constantly bombarded with tragic stories about police killing friendly family pets for often no reason at all, and it’s just as sad to learn that police aren’t even treating their own K-9s well.  Jack is a Belgian Malinois police dog who has been forced to live in a squalid cement pen for the last two weeks.  Why?  Apparently because his partner decided to take a promotion with the sheriff’s department.

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The Dog Mom’s Brain

When people ask me if I have kids, my standard answer is, “I have a dog.” My husband and I are the first to admit that we tend to treat our pup like a “real” child. He eats organic food.

Our apartment is littered with ripped plush toys. We talk to him in stupid high-pitched voices. He spends almost all of his time with us, including sleeping and vacations. When he’s not with us he’s at a daycare center down the street — and I spend much of that time worrying about whether he’s OK. It’s probably not a full-blown separation anxiety disorder, but when we’re separate, I’m anxious.


To read more on this story, click here: The Dog Mom’s Brain

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