Separation Anxiety

Dogs - separation anxiety - home alone

Separation Anxiety can seem almost insurmountable for pawrents of dogs with SA. You can feel isolated and chained to your dog as they cannot be left home alone which means that you cannot go anywhere unless they can go with you. It is draining and frustrating having to plan everything like a military operation as sponteneity is impossible. Other people just don't get it when you try to explain. It can take all your patience, empathy and energy to support your panicking pooch. Hats off to you, you have my utmost respect and understanding, it is a really hard role to fulfil.

From the doggy's end, SA is terrifying. Always observing, unable to relax as they are always on the lookout for those micro signs that you may be about to leave the room / house without them and this will send them into a full blown panic.

Dogs suffering with SA basically enter an extreme panic attack every time they are left alone. Dogs are social creatures and for thousands of years we have deliberately bred them into being our constant companions, out working with / for us and home with us the rest of the time. Unfortunately this is incompatible with the contemporary world where most of us need to work - without our dogs.

Once the dog enters the panic attack they lose all control of their emotional and physical response, they are driven to reunite with us by any means necessary as their brain has invoked an emergency response which overrides any opportunity for conscious and logical responses.

This is when you will find that dogs may constantly vocalise as they try to bring us back, they may damage floors, walls, door frames, furniture etc as they try to dig or chew their way out to be able to find us, they may toilet inside as through terror they lose control of their bladder / bowels, they may pace non-stop, they may vomit, they may be destructive as they attempt to distract from the sheer panic, they may over groom themselves to the point of obsessive self-mutilation... Each dog responds differently but each dog will also stop when their owner comes home as this ends the panic attack.

No dog is responsible for their actions in a state of blind panic any more than we would be so it is crucial not to add a further layer of anxiety by telling them off (however hard this may be to hold back) when you return and see the fall-out.

Separation Anxiety relaxed dog

SA cannot get better by itself. Every time the dog is left alone, this reinforces how terrifying the situation is and the cycle continues. These dogs are in a state of chronic stress and anxiety, constantly on edge and monitoring for the tiny indicators that they are about to be left alone again.

But we can start to resolve this together. SA training is complex but there is hope. It can be a long road to regaining your freedom but it is so worth it. Being able to go out to the shop when you have forgotten something, out to see family, out for a coffee with friends, cinema, meals.....and to not have to be worrying about how your dog is coping at home.

At the end of the day, no matter how frustrating and exhausting the situation currently is, you love your dog and don't want to think of them in a blind terror every time you need to go out. By teaching them coping skills, they learn to relax and you regain your freedom.

We can do this through a 1:1 plan of support together. It is done through online remote monitoring of the dog so it doesn't matter where in the world that you live as long as you have internet and a camera! Give me a shout if you would like to learn more about coping with SA and the road to freedom!