Separation Anxiety and Your Dog

Separation anxiety is a condition that can negatively affect your pet's health. Most pet owners do not realize how important it is to catch this abnormal behavior early on and tend to make it worse. Separation anxiety is defined as an animal partaking in destructive behavior when the owner leaves. This anxiety is brought on by the thought that the owner will not return most likely. As a result, the pet attempts to claw at the door, scratch at the floor to try and dig a hole, chew a hole through a gate, etc. The most commonly affected pets are canines. The separation anxiety is usually caused early on in life when the owner provides too much attention to the dog.

There is such a thing as too much attention and as a result, separation anxiety occurs. For example, when an owner leaves to go to work the dog is home alone all day wondering where you are and stressing out that you have left. Now, when you come home, you get all excited and make a big deal about getting home and the dog gets so excited and grabs a toy and runs around like crazy. This is exactly what owners should not be doing. If you continue to feed into this behavior, the dog will become worse and worse. Now, how do you correct this behavior?

It is not always as easy as it may sound to correct such a destructive behavior. First off, when you get home, do not get excited and simply walk past your dog. This may be difficult for you to do because you are also excited to see them and want to play with them as soon as you walk through the door. Wait about 15 minutes before you decide to say anything or pet him/her. This is something you should practice as they are young, especially as a puppy. If you wait until they are an adult, it can become too prolonged to change their personality.

If that does not work, there are natural remedies to help separation anxiety. There is a product called DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) which naturally calms the dog. The pheromones are supposed to be similar to that of a mother and is supposed to calm them. Another product is called Rescue Remedy and is a tasteless liquid that causes light sedation. If your dog is a severe case, he/she may need prescribed sedatives. Benadryl works well too for sedating your dog, however, over time, their body may develop a resistance to the Benadryl and the same amount will no longer work. Talk to your veterinarian about this condition and also to animal behaviorists, they will be able to help you the most to correct or prevent this type of behavior.