Separation Anxiety

I first became aware of the term “separation anxiety” with our Weimaraner Dancer.  We would be at a competition event and I would need to hand the leash over to another so I could leave for a few moments and Dancer would get noticeably upset and begin to bark as I walked away.  That’s when I heard it the first time, “Boy!  Looks like he has a little separation anxiety!”

That got me thinking; he is certainly a clingy dog.  Following me from room to room throughout the house.  I have even made a game of it by ducking in a closet to hide from him and sure enough, after a few minutes he would notice that I was gone and would start making an almost frantic jaunt through the house to find me. 

Dancer does good in his kennel alone during the day as long as we stick to our schedule.   Any crate time not in line with his normal routine, perhaps a couple of hours on the weekend and he gets a little anxious, barking excessively when we leave.

Could all of this be separation anxiety?  I hit the books and this is what I learned.  Separation anxiety appears to be the equivalent of a panic attack in humans.  Your dog becomes so upset at the thought of either you leaving or being left alone that panic sets in.  Why?  No on really knows why.  A bad experience as a puppy?  Genetics?  A fear of being helpless?  The answer isn’t known.  Dogs going through this can drool excessively, soil the house, redecorate your furniture with their teeth, or worse yet, actually injure themselves trying to dig out from their crate, under your door or crash through a window.

It is important not to confuse those types of reactions with a completely different problem.  For instance, your pup soiling the house probably isn’t separation anxiety; maybe he is not fully house trained yet or maybe the all day access to the food bowl isn’t the right thing.  What about the new hole in the couch or the missing corner on the coffee table?  Hey! Dogs love to chew. He may be just waiting for you to leave so he can go visit the kitchen garbage can.  You may just need to revisit training your dog to chew on the appropriate item or perhaps some more exercise to release some of that pent up energy of his.

Another thing I found interesting was outside influences.  The squirrels may visit the bird feeder at noon, the postman rings the bell or opens the mailbox at 11am or maybe there is a 2pm low flying airplane over the house.  All of these things have the potential to upset your dog.  The house soiling and destructive chewing may all appear to be an upset dog suffering from anxiety, but probably is not.  True separation anxiety is fairly rare.

As for Dancer, I’ve learned to keep my comings and goings low key.  I loved the hysterical welcoming when I come home, but also realized that wasn’t helping matters.  Now it is a few pets, a “Good boy!” and I try my best to leave him be until he calms down.  No more dramatic good-byes either.  A kong toy with some treats inside, a “Be good, I’ll be back soon.” is all.  Another thing that has helped is the fact that he gets fed in a different room where no one is around, it helped him to get used to being alone, if not just a bit.  We also start leaving him alone out of the crate in the house a bit more often for short periods of time – whether it is a short run out to the mailbox or an hour cutting the grass.  We also trade the leash more often whether we are at a show or out for a walk.

If your dog is showing the signs of true separation anxiety, try to remember disciplining will make it worse.  Work with him in small steps; perhaps practice the stay command while gradually leaving the room a little more each time.  Practice leaving if not only for small trips, perhaps to just grab the newspaper.  Talk to your vet, check out doggy day care or see a specialist.  Good luck!