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The term
“Separation Anxiety” is a pretty mild label for a devastating and
destructive behavior that can result in human frustration, anger,
sometimes even the euthanasia of an offending dog when a despairing
owner reaches her wits’ end. If you’ve ever had the misfortune of
walking into your house to find overturned furniture, inches-deep
claw gouges on door frames, blood-stained tooth marks on window
sills, and countless messages on your answering machine from
neighbors complaining about your dog barking and howling for hours
on end in your absence, you’re probably familiar with the term.
Thirty years ago the phrase was uncommon in dog training circles.
Today it’s a rare dog owner who hasn’t heard of separation anxiety,
experienced it with a personal dog, or at least had a dog-owning
friend whose canine companion reportedly suffered from this
difficult disorder.
In her
excellent book Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals,
Dr. Karen Overall defines separation anxiety as, “A condition in
which animals exhibit symptoms of anxiety or excessive distress when
they are left alone.” Common signs of the condition include:
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destructive behavior,
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house soiling, and
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excessive vocalization.
Many dogs with this
challenging behavior also:
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refuse to
eat or drink when left alone,
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don’t
tolerate crating,
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pant and
salivate excessively when distressed, and
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will go
to great lengths to try to escape from confinement, with apparent
total disregard for injury to themselves or damage to their
surroundings.
It’s natural for young mammals to
experience anxiety when separated from their mothers and siblings;
it’s an adaptive survival mechanism. A pup who gets separated from
his family cries in distress, enabling Mom to easily find him and
rescue him. In the wild, even an adult canine who is left alone is
more likely to die - either from starvation, since he has no pack to
hunt with, or from attack, since he has no pack mates for mutual
protection. Given the vital importance of a dog’s canine companions,
it speaks volumes about their adaptability as a species that we can
condition them to accept being left alone at all! We’re lucky we
don’t have far more problems than we do, especially in today’s
world, where few household have someone at home regularly during the
day to keep the dog company.
There was a time in our society when
fewer dogs were left home alone – Mom stayed home while Dad went off
to work every day – so dogs had less exposure to the kind of daily
isolation that contributes to separation anxiety behavior. Some
behavior scientists theorize that experiencing a fear-causing event
when a young dog is already mildly stressed about being alone can
trigger more intense “home alone” anxiety behaviors. In today’s
world there are a significant number of dogs who are afflicted with
some degree of separation distress. Fortunately, many dog owners
these days are willing to seek solutions to behavior problems rather
than just “getting rid of” the dog. As a result, behavior
professionals are likely to see canine clients with separation
distress disorders.
Differential
Diagnoses
Another
reason separation anxiety seems so prevalent these days
compared to a few decades ago is that it is misdiagnosed with some
frequency by laypersons. With an increased awareness of the
condition has come an increase in misidentification of behaviors
that resemble separation distress behaviors, but really aren’t.
For example, house soiling can be
related to anxiety, but the cause could also be incomplete
housetraining, lack of access to appropriate elimination areas with
unreasonable owner expectations (expecting the dog to “hold it” for
10 hours or more); fear, excitement, marking, submissive
elimination, or physical incontinence. Destructive behavior may a
result of separation anxiety, or it could be normal puppy behavior,
play, reaction to outside stimuli, and/or an outlet for excess
energy. Separation distress could be the cause of excessive barking
and howling, or the dog could be stimulated to bark by street sounds
(traffic, people talking), trespassers (i.e.: mail carrier,
intruder, Girls Scouts selling cookies), social facilitation (other
dogs barking), play, aggression, or fear.
It’s critically important that a problem
behavior be correctly identified prior to the implementation of a
behavior modification program. It does no good to try to modify
separation anxiety if that’s not really the problem. (See Sidebar:
Case Study #1)
If elimination accidents occur when the
owner is home as well as when the dog is left alone, it’s more
likely a housetraining problem than a separation issue.
Separation-related destruction is usually directed toward escape
efforts – chewing or clawing at or through doorframes, windowsills
and walls. If the destruction is more generalized throughout the
house, it points toward one or more of the other possible causes,
rather than an isolation issue. A strategically located video camera
or sound-activated tape recorder can help identify possible outside
stimuli, such as visitors to the home or unusual noises, that might
trigger what otherwise may appear to be separation-related
behaviors.
A Continuum
Distress over being left alone is not always a full-blown separation
anxiety problem. A dog may suffer from mild to severe isolation
distress or anxiety or mild to severe separation distress or
anxiety.
The
difference between distress and anxiety is a matter of degree on a
continuum. “Distress” indicates a lower intensity of stress
behaviors when the dog is alone, while “anxiety” is an extreme panic
attack. This distinction between “isolation” and “separation” is
equally important. Isolation distress means the dog doesn’t want to
be left alone – any ol’ human will do for company, and sometimes
even another dog will fill the bill. True separation distress or
anxiety means the dog is hyper bonded to one specific person, and
continues to show stress behaviors if that person is absent, even if
other humans are present.
Our Cardigan Corgi, Lucy, suffers from
moderate isolation distress – she doesn’t like to be left alone
outdoors. Before we realized the significance of her behavior, she
managed to injure herself badly, falling off a stone wall onto
cement steps eight feet below in her persistent attempts to reach us
through a window. Indoors, her isolation distress is milder. She may
bark briefly if we leave her alone downstairs, but quickly calms and
settles.
Missy, on the other hand, demonstrates
true separation distress. The eight-year-old Australian Shepherd had
been in at least four different homes prior to joining our family
last Fall. As is sometimes the case with dogs who have been rehomed
numerous times, she attached herself to one of her new humans (me)
completely and almost instantly. If we are out cleaning the barn, it
matters not to Missy that my husband is still there – if I go back
to the house for some reason she becomes hyper vigilant, watching
anxiously for me to return, ignoring Paul’s attempts to reassure her
or engage in other activities. Fortunately for us, her stress level
is mild – other than some scratches inflicted to our kitchen door on
Day Two of her arrival to our home, she’s done nothing destructive –
her level of stress over my absence is low, and tolerable, and
consists primarily of pacing and whining. But it may explain why
we’re at least her fifth (and final!) home.
Behavior
Modification
There are a number of steps you can take to resolve your dog’s
isolation or separation anxiety behavior. The program spelled out in
the accompanying sidebar, “Preventing Separation Anxiety” can also
be used to modify an existing isolation/separation condition.
However, you will progress much more slowly through the steps of the
program with a dog who suffers from separation-related behaviors;
your dog’s strong emotional response to being left alone will make
this a much more challenging proposition.
Here are some other
avenues to explore, to complement your modification work:
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Exercise your dog well
before you leave. A tired dog has less energy with which to be
anxious and destructive. Be sure to end your exercise session 20 to
30 minutes before you go, so he has time to settle down.
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Five minutes before you
leave, give him a well-stuffed Kong to take his mind off your
imminent departure (See “King Kongs”, WDJ October 2000).
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Make your departures and
returns completely calm and emotionless. No huggy/kissy “Mummy loves
you” scenes. If he gets excited and jumps all over you when you
return, ignore him. Turn your back and walk away. When he finally
settles down, say hello and greet him very calmly.
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Defuse the pieces of your
departure routine by also doing them when you are not
leaving. Pick up your car keys and sit down on the sofa to watch TV.
Dress in your business suit and then cook dinner. Set your alarm for
5:00 a.m. on a Saturday, then roll over and go back to sleep.
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Mix up the pieces of your
departure routine when you are leaving, so his anxiety
doesn’t build to a fever pitch as he recognizes your departure cues.
We are creatures of habit too, so this is hard to do, but can pay
off in big dividends. Eat breakfast before you shower instead of
after. Pick up your keys and put them in your pocket before you take
your dog out for his final potty break. Put your briefcase in the
car while you are still in your bathrobe. Make the morning ritual as
unpredictable as possible.
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Use a “safe” cue such as
“I’ll be back,” only when you know you’ll return within the
time period your dog can tolerate. As suggested in Patricia
McConnell’s wonderful booklet on separation anxiety titled “I’ll Be
Home Soon,” this helps your dog relax, knowing he can trust you to
return.
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Explore alternative
dog-keeping situations to minimize the occasions when you do have to
leave him alone – doggie daycare may be suitable for some dogs, but
not for others. You may be able to find a neighbor or relative who
is house-bound and might appreciate some canine companionship.
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If you are considering
adoption of a second dog, try borrowing a calm, stable, compatible
dog from a friend, to see if that helps to relieve your dog’s
distress.
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Use Comfort Zone (DAP)
plug-ins and sprays in his environment to help ease his anxiety.
(See WDJ January 2004, “Please Appease Me”)
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Remove as many other
stressors from your dog’s world as possible to help him maintain his
equilibrium in your absence. No choke chains, shock collars,
physical or harsh verbal punishment (especially in connection to his
anxiety behaviors).
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Consider working with a
behavior professional to be sure you’re on the right path. A good
behavior professional can also help you explore the possibilities of
using anti-anxiety medications to maximize the effectiveness of your
modification efforts.
Fixing
separation anxiety is hard work. It’s all too easy to get frustrated
with your dog’s destructive behavior. Remember that he’s not
choosing to do it out of spite or malice – he is panicked about his
own survival without you, his pack, there to protect him. It’s not
fun for him either – he lives in the moment, and the moments that
you are gone are long and terrifying. If you make the commitment to
modify his behavior and succeed in helping him be brave about being
alone, you’ll not only save your home from destruction, you will
enhance the quality of your dog’s life immensely – as well as your
own, and perhaps save him from destruction too.
SIDEBAR: PREVENTING SEPARATION ANXIETY*
The most important ingredient in a successful Separation Anxiety
Prevention Program is to set your dog up for success. When you bring
a new dog or puppy home, implement a program to help him be
comfortable with being alone for gradually increasing periods. This
will help to assure him that it’s not necessary to panic – you
haven’t abandoned him; you always come back. Be sure to exercise him
well before you practice – a tired dog is a much-better candidate
for relaxation than one who’s “full of it.”
Here are the 10
steps of a two-day program to create a dog who is comfortable being
left alone:
1.
Bring your dog home at a
time when someone can spend a few days with him to ease the stress
of the transition.
2.
Prepare a quiet, safe
space in advance such as a playpen or puppy pen, or a dog-proofed
room such as a laundry room. (See “Getting Off to the Best Start”,
WDJ January 1999).
3.
When you bring your
dog home, give him a chance to relieve himself outdoors, and spend
10-15 minutes with him in the house under close supervision. Then
put him in his pen and stay in the room with him.
4.
Stay close at first. Read
a book. If he fusses, ignore him. When he’s quiet, greet him calmly,
take one step away, and then return before he has a chance to get
upset. Speak to him calmly, then go back to reading. You’re teaching
him that if you leave, you will return. Other family members should
make themselves scarce during this time – your dog needs to learn to
be alone.
5.
Continue to occasionally
step away, gradually increasing the distance and varying the length
of time that you stay away, so that eventually you can wander around
the room without upsetting your dog. Each time you return, greet him
calmly. Every once in a while say “Yes!” in a calm but
cheerful voice before you return to him, then walk back to the pen
and feed him a treat.
6.
After an hour or so, give
him a break. Take him outside to potty and play. Hang out for a
while. Then go back inside and resume his pen exercises.
7.
Begin again, staying near
the pen until he settles. More quickly this time, move along steps 4
and 5 until you can wander around the room without generating alarm.
Now step into another room very briefly, and return before your dog
has time to get upset. Gradually increase the length of time you
stay out of the room, interspersing it with wandering around the
room, sitting near him reading a book, and sitting across the room,
reading a book. If he starts to fuss, wait until he stops fussing to
move back toward him. Teach him that calm behavior makes you return,
fussing keeps you away.
8.
Occasionally, step
outside of the house. Your goal for day one is to get Buddy
comfortable with you being away from him for 15 to 20 minutes. (It’s
usually the first 20 minutes of separation that are most difficult)
Vary the times, so he doesn’t start getting antsy in anticipation of
your return. Remember to give him plenty of potty and play breaks:
every hour for a young pup, every one to two hours for an older dog.
9.
On Day 2, quickly go
through the warm-up steps again, until you can step outside for
15-20 minutes at a time, interspersed with shorter separations. On
one of your outdoor excursions, hop into your car and drive around
the block. Return in 5-10 minutes, and calmly re-enter the house
just as you have been during the rest of the exercises. Hang out for
a while, then go outside and drive away again, for a half-hour this
time.
10.
Now it’s time for Sunday
brunch. Be sure your dog gets a thorough potty break and play time,
then give him fifteen minutes to relax after the stimulation of
play. Put his favorite stuffed Kong into his pen, round up the
family, and calmly exit the house for an outing of a couple of
hours’ duration. When you arrive home to a calm and happy dog, drink
an orange juice toast to your graduation from Separation Anxiety
Prevention School.
*Note – If you are modifying an
already existing distress or anxiety condition you will need to work
through the steps of the program much more slowly.
Graduate
School
It’s unfair to ask a young dog to stay
home alone for eight to ten hours – he needs to get out to relieve
himself midway through the day. If you force him to soil the house,
at worst you can cause stress-related behaviors, at best you may
create housetraining problems. Options may include taking him to
work with you, having family members come home on their lunch hour,
arranging for stay-at-home neighbors to take him out, hiring a pet
walker to walk him and play with him, or sending him to a well-run
doggie daycare environment. (Note – the daycare option is not
appropriate for a very young pup.)
If you set up a routine to help your dog
succeed, he’ll someday earn his Master’s Degree in Home Alone, and
be trusted with full house freedom. It may be too late for some dog
owners to say they’ve never had had a dog with Separation Anxiety,
but it’s never too late to say “never again.”
SIDEBAR – CASE STUDY: MISDIAGNOSIS
Lexi was a five-year-old spayed female
Husky/Greyhound mix in rescue, presented by the foster mom as having
separation anxiety that manifested as destructive behavior. Lexi had
been in several prior foster homes, none of which reported
destructive behavior.
As we discussed Lexi’s behavior during
her behavior consultation, the dog paced almost constantly, and
displayed numerous other signs of general stress, including whining,
attention-seeking and exploring doorways, even though her current
human was sitting quietly in a chair in the center of the room. Her
behavior did not change significantly when her human left the room.
The foster parent mentioned that she had
noted a heightened anxiety when Lexi heard “mystery electronic
beeping” in the house – probably from a watch hidden in a drawer
that the owners were unable to locate. She also reportedly reacted
badly to the beeps of other watches, cameras, and other electronic
devices.
I concluded that while Lexi did, indeed,
have anxiety problems, they were not separation-related but rather a
more generalized anxiety. While we have no way of knowing for sure,
I surmised that at some point she may have been contained in an
underground shock fence, and the beeping sounds that caused her
heightened anxiety were similar to the warning beep of the fence.
For a dog who has been trained to such a fence, the sound of the
beep, through association with the shock, can be every bit as
aversive and stress-causing at the shock itself.
We implemented a behavior modification
program for generalized anxiety that included partnering with a
veterinarian for the administration of anti-anxiety medication, and
the foster parent made sure not to leave Lexi alone with access to
the room where the mystery beeping occurred (the kitchen). Lexi was
eventually adopted and is doing well in her new home, where her
owners are continuing her behavior modification program.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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Take
steps to prevent separation anxiety in your new dog by
conditioning him to accept being left alone.
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Carefully
assess separation anxiety type behaviors (destructive behavior,
vocalization, and inappropriate elimination) to determine if the
behaviors might have a cause other than separation anxiety,
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Understand that your dog’s difficult behavior is not deliberate,
and that punishment is ineffective, inappropriate and will only
exacerbate the behavior.
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Read
Patricia McConnell’s booklet, “I’ll Be Home Soon,” for more
information on separation anxiety.
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