You return home from a drawn-out day at work to a turning, hopping hurricane of energy. Your dog follows you into your lounge, where you see that he has bitten on your cherished pair of shoes. Dogs are sensitive animals and different breeds have different personalities and traits. Separation anxiety in dogs is common which often happens due to the sudden change.
Your neighbor drops by to let you know that, indeed, your pet dog has been making the locals insane by yelling and woofing while you were away. Is this situation recognizable? This might be the separation anxiety dogs symptoms. Your pet dog might be experiencing canine fear of abandonment.
In nature, dogs are never away from their pack. We must assist them to become social as well as stay alone when required. Too much love and affection also causes this problems in dogs.
In this article, we have mentioned some essential points that will help you to ease your pet dog’s separation anxiety. Read the full article to understand the factors that are responsible for your dog’s anxiety.
Reasons and Symptoms of dog separation anxiety
Before jumping on the cure, we first need to understand the cause and the symptoms of the anxiety.
Cause: The reasons behind the anxiety are normally the sudden change in the owner’s behaviour or environment. The factors include the death of the owner, long vacation, lack of training, neglect, boredom, change in environment, and heredity behavior.
Symptoms: The dogs anxiety symptoms include barking, excess whining, and howling. Sometimes they chew a toy or any stuff constantly even when they are exhausted. Scratching windows, panting, drooling or digging holes are few other anxiety symptoms. To avoid anxiety they often indulge in repetitive patterns which can be dangerous physically and mentally.
1. Take your dog on a walk before leaving the house
The long walk helps the dog relieve the tension which is why a morning walk is the best method to prevent your dog’s anxiety. If you want to make the walk more rigorous, you can use a heavy dog backpack. This will make them put extra effort and tire them fast. You must indulge your pet dog in a challenging activity and award them a treat when completed successfully. This tires them but makes them happy. The idea is simple, to leave your pet quiet and resting mode while you are away from home.
Read More: Why do Irish Wolfhounds make such wonderful pets?
2. Change the pattern of your ‘Going Away’
Alright, the second preventive method simply means do not let your dog know in advance that you are leaving. Change the pattern constantly to avoid the trigger of separation anxiety in your dog. Change the place of your shoes, keys, purse, and other such things to break the pattern. Before leaving give your dog some treat or toy to distract them. Or you can avoid eye contact or do not touch them or talk to them to convey the message that parting away is not a big deal. This cannot happen at once you need to follow this regularly to make it a habit. Take some time out like half an hour or an hour to practice this ritual.
3. Say goodbye long before leaving the house
If you are having trouble following no eye contact, no tough, and no contact, there is one more pattern that you can follow. You can say goodbye to your pet dog long before leaving. Show them affection and tell your dog you will miss him long before actually leaving. Also, tell him that you will come back soon. This will make your dog understand your feeling and will ease them instantly. Repeat the same thing again and again and you will see the results.
4. Avoid being too emotional before leaving
Avoid getting too emotional while leaving the dog and excited when you come back home. The emotional reaction of the dog depends on its owner so make sure that you do not overexpress your emotions while leaving the house. Treat it like a daily routine so that it does not affect your dog emotionally or mentally. Just calmly say goodbye or whatever you say before leaving the house. This will slowly and gradually make your pet dog calm down and eliminate separation anxiety in dogs.
Read more: Dog Hair Fall Treatment Medicine and Home Solution
5. Train your pet dog to be alone
Train your dog to stay alone while you go out at different places. Tell your pet to stay in one room while you go to another. If your dog is having severe separation anxiety then start from 5 to 10 seconds of training. After practicing same for few days increase the time to 5 to 10 minutes. Slowly your dog will adopt the habit of staying at one place alone without howling or growling constantly. Repeat this practice once in a week to create a habit in your dog.
6. Give your dog some personal space
Give your some personal so that he could feel comfort at his own space when you are out. Avoid sleeping together with your pet in one bed to prevent too much dependent. Take him out more often and socialize them so that they could easily play with people or other animals. This will also help them to ease the anxiety and feel relaxed when you are not with them.
They must know how play alone which is why indulge them in different activities or bring toys. You can play mental indoor games with them to tire them so that they could rest peacefully.
In this article, we have included 6 easy separation anxiety preventive methods that you can practice your pet. Being a social and sensitive animal, dogs crave for the love and affection. Separation anxiety generally occur when your dog feel uncomfortable being alone or sudden change in environment. Be vigilant to the cause and symptoms of your dogs anxiety, it will help you understand the major problem.
