Separation Anxiety Part `1; What is Separation Anxiety?

Separation Anxiety (SA) is an extremely common problem in pet dogs. While some behavior issues are shallow, and are easy to fix with just a small modification of your own behavior or approach, dealing with separation anxiety is more akin to dealing with a mental disorder than a training problem. Dealing with separation issues is a life-long commitment, as even a dog who seemingly has made a 100% recovery can very easily relapse. While all dogs deserve a chance at an amazing life, remember when you are adopting a dog with separation anxiety that you are adopting a dog which may have much higher needs and demands than some others. Be prepared to devote a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of heartache and sleepless nights to your pets.

 

What is Separation Anxiety?

     Separation Anxiety is a disorder; It is when a dog exhibits signs of stress or restlessness when they are not in the presence of their owner / handler. It is not so much a problem in training, in that a poorly trained dog misbehaves due to either a lack of clear understanding, or unintentional rewards for a negative behavior. Rather, separation anxiety is a state of mind for a dog. It is a dog who is panicked and scared, and who does not know how to function without the support of its human. It is extremely important to remember that you are dealing with a stressed, anxious and terrified animal; NOT an animal that resentful, vengeful, or just clueless. Quick training fixes do not help a dog who is in a state of fear and panic.

Signs of separation anxiety can range from hard to recognize to very obvious. Minor signs of separation anxiety include begging to be held, constant following, pacing, excitement when you are preparing to leave, barking or chewing on things when you are not home, having accidents in the home when you are away (in an amount of time that you know the dog could easily contain themselves,) being overly excited when you return home, or whining ad barking if you are in an area your dog can’t access.

     More severe signs can include frantic pacing or running when you are preparing to leave, serious destruction of property, frantic escape attempts, dogs injuring themselves (sometimes severely) while you are gone, constant barking or howling while you are away, or frequent urination or defecation while you are preparing to leave or gone.

     Dogs who suffer from more severe separation anxiety quickly start to gain anxiety in other areas of their life. These are dogs who generally become ‘protective,’ aggressive towards people or animals, dogs who have consistent housebreaking issues, dogs who are fearful of leaving the house, or dogs that can never seen to get comfortable and are constantly pacing or whining.

     There is a difference between a bored dog and an anxious dog. A lot of people believe they have bored dogs (or dogs who are ‘just jerks,’) when in reality they are dealing with an anxious dog. And sometimes, the opposite is true. People keep hearing these SA buzzwords and assume because their dog ate a couch, they must be anxious. For a trained eye, it’s very easy to tell the difference. A dog suffering from anxiety will show clear signs of stress (such as pacing, drooling, ears back, yawning, panting…) when one is getting ready to leave, or often when they first arrive back. They often exhibit these signs when strange things are happening in the home as well. A dog who is just bored will not normally show signs of stress, and normally will not bark or destroy things when you are only gone for a short amount of time. If you aren’t sure, try setting up a webcam or camcorder and leaving the house for a half hour. It should be clear what type of situation you are dealing with. An anxious uncrated dog will normally dart around from doors to windows, pace, bark frantically… A bored dog will probably casually sniff around, maybe look out the window for a bit, maybe chew on a toy… And then start going for the more fun alternatives like opening cabinets, getting in to trash, and chewing on furniture.

The biggest thing to remember, and I said it once and I’ll keep on saying, is that Separation Anxiety is an emotional / mental issue, NOT a training issue. Remember that you’re dealing with an insecure and scared animal as opposed to an angry, stubborn, resentful, or bored one. Dogs don’t feel resentment or anger. They’re smart, and they certainly have feelings, but they’re not as complex as we are. Your dogs emotional basket includes fear, uncertainty, curiosity, frustration, boredom, contentment, and happiness with a few others thrown in. Certainly not bitter resentment or a taste for vengeance.

 

Why is it important to address Separation Anxiety?

     This may seem like a silly question to some, but in reality, separation anxiety doesn’t affect all people involved in the same way. Sure, if you live in an apartment with a very loud husky with separation anxiety, you’re going to know black and white that this is a problem. But maybe you have a small quiet dog with separation, and you live in the country with no close neighbors. You crate your dog, you leave, you come back… No harm done. Your dog was stressed out, but you weren’t there to witness the noise and the panic, and once you are back everything is normal again. Or maybe the signs are minor, and in your situation they are endearing and useful. Your dog doesn’t do too badly in his crate and doesn’t destroy anything… He just stays glued to your side and barks and paces when you won’t pick him up. Not a big deal. Or at least, it’s not a big deal yet.

When left unaddressed, SA almost always gets worse. Even if in your situation all the symptoms are manageable, there is always a way for things to get worse. Maybe you have an outdoor kennel, and your dog can’t destroy anything and you can just hose him off if he soils himself from stress. One day though, there’s a good chance that you are going to come home to a dog with a three inch laceration across his muzzle, four missing teeth and several broken toes from his desperate attempts to chew and dig through the kennel gate. It happens. It happens all the time. Even in cases that haven’t progressed to serious levels, dogs often seriously injure themselves trying to chew out of crates or through doors.

Minor signs of SA almost always lead to other problem behaviors as well. As any human who suffers from any form of anxiety (such as myself) can tell you, you can’t drop anxiety at the door. Anxiety about work turns in to anxiety about school, anxiety about your relationship, anxiety about your future… It can eat your life away. It really is the same thing with dogs. A dog who is anxious about being away from you can soon become anxious about strangers, about cars, about anything unfamiliar… Eventually they get to a point that they are so consumed with anxiety about being alone that they can NEVER settle down, even when the whole family is just sitting in the living room watching TV.

Furthermore, even if your dogs SA issues somehow don’t impact you… Well, they certainly impact the dog. Living with anxiety is a difficult thing for any living creature to go through. A life constantly under stress and panic could hardly be considered a life worth living to some. A dog who is constantly worried is not a dog who is able to enjoy the world around them. Playing fetch, sniffing trees, a good game of tug… When you’re constantly terrified, what’s the point? It’s not fair to your dog at all to let the issues go on or get worse.

The biggest reason that you should address your dogs SA symptoms early is that behavioral issues are one of the biggest reasons animals are abandoned or relinquished to shelters. If left to escalate, SA related behavioral issues can become almost impossible for the average busy working person to deal with. Abandoning a dog with SA at a shelter is going to serve to make the matter much worse, and many of these dogs are considered unadoptable as a result. Knowing how to prevent the issues, or how to address them early on can save thousands upon thousands of lives every year.

 

Why should you listen to me about Separation Anxiety?

One answer: This jerk.

Barsky is a project dog. While I have certainly seen worse cases, Barsky had a pretty stubborn case. I tried just about every trick and tip I could come up with or find in a book or a forum, and it was one heck of a learning process. He’s an Australian Cattle Dog, a breed already somewhat known for SA issues. He was raised in in an environment where he was under-stimulated, which set him up for failure from the start. At six months old, he was abandoned at a shelter which he did not handle well at all. By the time I got him, he was a people-aggressive, dog-aggressive anxious and panicky disaster. And he has taught me a whole lot about Separation Anxiety.

 

How does Separation Anxiety start?

Many things contribute to SA in a dog. Most of these issues are caused by people, but there are some genetic reasons that a dog can have SA.

     Some breeds are predisposed to Separation Anxiety. All dogs can be raised in a way where they grow to be healthy, well-balanced dogs. However, high energy breeds that are bred specifically to work closely with a single handler can be more likely to grow an unhealthy level of attachment. Herding dogs who were bred to work side-by-side all day long with one handler and listen to commands are pretty much on top of the ‘you better work your butt off to make sure this dog doesn’t get anxiety issues’ tier. This includes Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, and Cattle Dogs. Gun dogs which work out in the field with a handler can also be predisposed to SA, which can include Vizslas, Weimaraners, and some hounds such as Plotts. Many small breeds bred (at least in more recent generations) entirely for companionship can also be prone to separation, such as Pomeranians, Toy Poodles and Yorkies. High energy dogs bred to work closely with a team of other dogs can also suffer from SA, such as Huskies and Beagles. It is important to know if your breed is prone to SA issues before bringing home a dog, so that you can address whether or not your lifestyle will allow the time to work with the dog is separation issues do crop up.

     Being removed from its litter mates too early can set up a dog for separation issues later on. While I still have some brushing up to do on the specific sciences on how being raised with a litter or without can affect a puppies development, its a fact that a puppies key social development phase is between seven and sixteen weeks. It’s important to a dogs health to have frequent interaction with other puppies and dogs during this time. Leaving a dog with its litter mates until at least twelve weeks old will go a long way to ensuring your pup doesn’t have any insecurities from the get-go. Many puppies go to their new homes as soon as they begin trying to eat adult food, sometimes even as early as five weeks. This is WAY too early for a puppy to lose the companionship of its litter. They fail to learn how to, for lack of a better term, be a dog. This sets them up for a firm reliance on their owners, and they often never figure out how to cope when left alone. Less responsible breeders may say things like “Well, it’s no longer nursing from its mother, so there’s no need for it to be with its mother.” In reality, the mother plays only a very small part of this picture. It’s all about the litter.

Furthermore, puppies generally go through a ‘fear’ phase at some point in this key development time, lasting anywhere from a week to more than a month. During the fear phase, puppies can be very easily traumatized for life by what we may consider to be a minor event. When a dog has its litter and other dogs to rely on during this part of its life, it aids the dog in moving on from the scary events. When it only has you, suddenly you become the thing that keeps the scary away. And that can set you up for a dog who believes that any time you are NOT present is a time to be feared.

     How a dog has been raised can cause Separation Anxiety. It can be a bit of a challenge to figure out where to draw the line when it comes to how close you should be to your dog. We love our dogs. In my case, my dog is pretty much my best friend in the entire world. However, dogs are not people. It’s important to remember that. Dogs see the world differently, they learn differently, they think differently, and they react differently than people do. Responding to a dog in the way you instinctually respond to a person can cause problems. One of the most important things to remember early on, not just to prevent separation issues but to prevent a myriad of other problems is this;

Dogs need time every day to be a dog. Just be a dog. And do dog things. Like play with dogs. And sniff things. And herd, or hunt, or chase, or whatever it is your dog is designed to do.

     Dogs need to be independent. That doesn’t mean that they want to be, but it’s extremely important that a dog feels comfortable with himself and on his own. A dog that lacks confidence is a dog who will start looking to you for comfort, which is the first step to a dog who RELIES on you for comfort. Make sure from an early age that your dog meets lots of new people, places and things and associates them with good things such as treats and fun. A dog that is constantly coddled and held may bond too closely with an owner and find it difficult to be on their own.

     Traumatic events can cause Separation Anxiety. While a healthy, stable and secure dog can handle almost anything you throw at it, some events are just too hard for a dog to handle. A dog who seemingly was secure can be devastated by weather disasters like tornadoes, death of a family member, or too much time in a shelter. Once a dog has lost its security, the safety net of a new family can cause a dog to quickly become overly attached.

What it really comes down to, all said in done, is this: If a dog feels confident and brave, and secure in its own skin, it is not likely to later suffer from any separation anxiety issues. A dog that has a reason to be nervous, confused, or stressed is likely to fall in to a relationship where it depends on another to feel secure. This is a dog that will likely start showing signs of separation anxiety.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2; What to do about it, how to fix it, and the many many trials and tribulations of Barsky the Dog.