[Dailydrool] Separation anxiety

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Our Bel has separation anxiety. We figure that before we got him he must have been in about four homes, so I don't think it's surprising that he'd end up with this problem, which I think may occur when a dog with a nervous temperament is passed around a lot then finds the people he truly cares about (we also saw this in one of our fosters). Bel lived a nerve-wracked life before he found his forever home with us. Though we fostered him for a while, it soon became clear that our first foster was also our first foster failure.

Dogs with separation anxiety can show it in a number of ways. Some, like Bel, take it out on the carpet (which is why we no longer have carpets), some bark-bark-bark, others destroy everything they can get their teeth on. It is hard for humans to put up with these practices, and such dogs often get passed around a lot, I imagine.

If you search "canine separation anxiety" online you will find the standard desensitization program on a number of sites. Unhappily, my favorite article on the topic was on a site that crashed and never seemed to come back onto the Web. But if you read all you can find, you will have the basics on the topic. You want the dog to get used to your going in and out of the house (or even the room, in some cases). You need to start small and add to the time the dog does not see you. So if your dog gets nervous when you leave the room, you go into another room, where he cannot see you, for a minute, then come back. You increase this amount slowly, based on what he can tolerate. Once he is used to your moving around your house, you do the same training on your leaving the house. At first the going will be slow, but be patient. As time goes on, your dog will become more secure and the times will expand. That minute will slowly become five minutes, then fifteen, then a half hour. After you've been training for a while, you should be able to increase the time by a quarter hour bits, but at first you will probably have to deal in minutes. If the dog becomes anxious, simply go back to the last time that was tolerated well and expand more slowly. You want the dog to become secure with the idea that you will always come back to him.

When he first came to us, Bel followed me from one room to the other. Once he became more secure in our home, even before I began training,  he didn't mind if I went into another room, but if I left the house, it was a real problem. I'd come home to find he'd pottied on the floor. When I learned about separation anxiety, I started this desensitization program so that I could leave the house and not have him become so nervous. Since he seemed OK if I left for ten minutes, I started there and increased the time slowly. From what I read, if you can get it to three or four hours, the dog should be fine for a protracted time. Bel never read the advice, so he really wasn't OK for longer than three hours, but since I work from home, that worked for us. If I had worked outside the home, I would have had to find a way to go somewhere for four hours or more at a time to continue the training.

Crates rarely are good for separation anxiety dogs. Being boxed up tends to make the dog more nervous, not less, and separation anxiety is all about nervousness. I tried crating once and discovered that cleaning up a wet dog was worse than cleaning a wet floor. Any negative methods of training probably will fail, because they tend to make the dog more nervous. Positive methods are the way to go here. With a dog that barks, I would probably try adding in a reward--give a treat when the dog does not bark for the time you have been away. Then he will get the idea that he gets treats--I'd use the really good treats like chicken or hot dogs--when you come home. But only use that treat when you are training for the separation anxiety.

When you leave the house, have a catch phrase that the dog identifies with your leaving. I use, "Take good care of the house." Before you go do not talk to the dog much. A long conversation, bewailing the fact that you must leave will just make the dog more nervous. I can't say that I have always followed the guidelines and not talked to him for half an hour, but remaining calm will help a lot, because the dog picks up on your feelings. If you take it in stride, your dog is more likely to, too.

A nervous dog will also pick up on your habit patterns of leaving. If you always pick up your purse and pull out the keys or head to the closet for a coat, that can trigger the dog into a nervous reaction. So you may also have to start picking up the purse and then not leaving, jangling your keys periodically when you're not headed towards the car, or taking your coat off the hanger and then not going out. You want the dog to get used to the idea that these triggers don't necessariily mean you are leaving.

Having another animal in the house might help some dogs, but it probably won't, solve it in most cases if my experience is anything to go on. Another dog whom Bel adores (our Jane) and a cat to whom he was indifferent did not seem to make a difference. I think this is because separation anxiety dogs usually form a strong attachment for one person in the family and will mourn that person's loss as soon as the door closes. Drew, my husband, has told me that Bel commonly lies in the front hall awaiting my return--though I have never seen it. He usually has been on a bed or the couch, by the time I come home. The one whom the dog attaches to becomes its savior, and if that person is not nearby, the dog becomes very anxious. Belvedere attached to me because I was the first one he saw when we took him as a foster. He took one look at me and adored me. Though I have never broken that adoration, I have made efforts to make him the kind of secure dog who does not stress out every time I leave the house. Since I work from home, I spend the bulk of my time around the house--life could be different for a human who is not at home as much. Many rescues wisely try to give separation anxiety dogs to people who will often be home.

All of this will work well, until the dog experiences another unnerving situation. With Bel, it was the time when I went to work outside the home for more than four hours--he was fine when I occasionally went to do freelance work for less than that, but when I went every day, for a longer time, he went back to his old bad habits. When I returned to working at home again, it took me a while to get him to settle down, but eventually he again became reliable in the pottying department. Whenever a life-changing situation disrupts the dog, you will have to go through the separation anxiety desensitization process again, at least for a short while. When the dog learns that things will be OK, the problem will probably resolve again.

Recently Bel's eye troubles have increased, and he is nearly blind now. I have noticed that he is more nervous again--he tends to want to stay close to me. It's another security issue, based on a scary change in his life. I try to do what I can to make him more confident, but I am also there for him as much as possible. This is the line that a separation anxiety dog's humans' walk. Bel probably will never be a completely secure dog, but he has made huge strides and has had a happy life with me. I'm no Cesar Millan or Victoria Stillwell, but he's still become a lot better and a lot happier.

Reinforcing the negative behavior by catering to the nervousness does not really help. Getting nervous about leaving the dog will only make him more nervous. But creating a secure environment that he can trust in will help. He has to see that you have predictable patterns and has to know that you will not desert him. A dog who can trust you will eventually settle down in your home and be more reliable about avoiding the fear-based reactions.

I agree that gating may be a short-term solution to save the couch, but as you deal with the separation anxiety, you may see your hound gain a good deal. That doesn't mean the couch will not still be tempting (bassets love resting on couches), but at least there will be a relaxed dog on your couch, not one who won't be able to live inside his skin.
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets