Separation Anxiety In Dogs Revealed

A very common complaint amongst dog owners is that their dogs get into trouble when they are gone. They will become destructive by chewing things around them, going potty where they shouldn't, or try and escape.

If your dog starts drooling or showing signs of distress when you are about to leave your home, these are not symptoms that your dog has not been house trained, or doesn't know which toys are his for chewing. These are symptoms that your dog suffers from separation anxiety and are triggered when your dog becomes separated from their owners and gets upset.

Separation anxiety in dogs can cause them to try and escape. This means they will try and get out of the room they are in, which can cause injury and or household destruction, especially with windows and doors. If you see your dog getting agitated or anxious before you leave, or even depressed before you go, your dog suffers from separation anxiety and sometimes will try and prevent their guardians from leaving.

Another tell tale sign of this issue in dogs is that they begin barking or displaying other distress signs shortly after you leave, and when you come home it seems like it has been years since your dog last saw you. Here are some of the common symptoms of separation anxiety in dogs.

Chewing, digging or destruction is a very good sign that your dog suffers from separation anxiety, and they can hurt themselves in the process. They can chew on door frames and window sills, and dig at doorways. The damage they obtain from this behavior is broken teeth, damaged nails and scraped paws.

Barking and howling are more of these symptoms. They bark or howl when left alone and they will be persistent when doing this. Another symptom of dog anxiety is when a dog trots along a specific path in a fixed pattern when left alone. The pattern can be in a circle or a straight line. You will know that this behavior is anxiety if your dog does not do it in your presence.

There are a number of reasons why your dog may suffer from being separated from you, though there is no conclusive evidence why dogs develop this. The dogs that have been adopted from shelters seem to have separation anxiety more than dogs that have been raised by a single family since it was a puppy, which tends to make the loss of an important person or people in a dog's life can cause separation anxiety in them.

A change in their schedule, where they live or just plain boredom are causes of separation anxiety in dogs, so keep that in mind when drastically changing what they do and where they live.

You can treat mild separation anxiety in dogs by a technique called counterconditioning, which is a treatment process that changes the animal's aggressive, anxious or fearful reaction to being pleasant and relaxed. You can accomplish this by associating the sight of a disliked person or thing with something that the dog enjoys.

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