Blog post by Emily Jacobs, Summit Admin
My first childhood companions were a gray cat named Fiona and an orange bowling ball named Charlotte. Charlotte was also a cat, but it feels right to describe her in the most honest terms: bowling ball. They were my buddies and they were good company, to be sure. They did their very best, but they couldn’t fill the very specifically- shaped hole in my posse. They were not dogs.
I’m sure I was always interested in having a dog, but I have a distinct memory of the day when my lack-of-dog became too painful to bear. I had just returned to school for the fall, fresh from a sleepaway camp where a Golden Retriever named Sunny had stolen my 10-year-old heart. He was the camp dog, and he was, in my opinion, perfect. My dad pulled up to deliver me to academia again when a Golden Retriever stuck her head out of the window in the car before us in the carpool line. I dissolved into tears. Thinking I was upset to be returning to class after the break, my dad tried to console me and usher me on my way to homeroom. I explained to him that I was not at all reluctant to go to homeroom. I was reluctant to continue life on this earth for one more agonizing second without a dog. I needed a dog. Now.
Being the responsible and calculated man that he is, and having never owned a dog before, my dad did not rush straight out to set a dog into my quivering arms. It actually took him a few more years to put together the money for a down payment on the house my dad was sure our future dog needed and deserved. During that time, he did research on crate and potty training. He looked into the costs of veterinary care. He narrowed down the list of shelters where we would look for our new family member. He prepared himself for introducing the dog to Charlotte, the bowling ball. He covered a lot of bases, but he didn’t cover separation anxiety.
We moved from our one-bedroom apartment into our house, then went out to select a dog to make it a home. At the shelter, there were what seemed like stacks and stacks of puppies. Rolling over each other, smashing into the plexiglass, peeing and whining and eating kibble with reckless abandon. In contrast to her kennelmates, a puppy walked up to the plexiglass with earnest eyes. When we visited with her, the shelter staff assured us time and again that she was quieter than usual. She had just been spayed and was still coming out of sedation. She doesn’t always fall asleep in your lap, they urged. We adopted her enthusiastically and (quite accidentally) ignored their honest assessments of her behavior. She had fallen asleep in our laps, after all.
You might already be guessing what happened next. We named her Coco Puff, and she woke up the next day with enough energy to plow us over. She chased her tail so vigorously that she broke end tables apart. She pulled on-leash like she meant to participate in the Iditarod. She inhaled her meals. She ran so fast on the wood floor that her brakes became useless and she collided with walls. We were surprised by her gusto, but we were prepared for all of those puppy behaviors and felt like we had the tools we needed to manage them. What we weren’t prepared for was the noise. Oh, the noises Coco made during her first months with us. The eardrum rupturing, neighborhood waking, mournful wails she would let out when we left the house were unexpected. We had a puppy with separation anxiety, and we had no idea what to do about it.
In his typical fashion, Dad hit the books. He discovered that we were not alone, and that separation anxiety affects about 17% of the dogs in the United States (DeMartini-Price, 135). He found that there were resources available to help us. There are even more of those resources available now. If you find yourself with a case of separation anxiety on your hands, I encourage you to implement management strategies while seeking help in a trainer and in literature. Primarily, I encourage you to be patient and to remain optimistic. Three quarters of separation anxiety cases are resolved completely (ibid, 135). The quarter that never resolve are attributed mostly to the propensity of owners to become discouraged and to give up training after a few weeks – which turns out to be the most pivotal learning period for dogs working through the disorder (ibid, 135). Behavior modification can be slow, but don’t give up! While you are training, reach out to your village to help. Ask a friend to walk your dog while you go the store. Consider the option of dropping your dog off at a reputable doggy daycare on days when you need to leave for extended periods. With Coco, we made almost no progress at first, but succeeded in modifying her behavior in the long run, which is normal!
It’s worth mentioning a few things about separation anxiety, and about learning theory in general. Your dog is not shredding your couch out of spite. They cannot “snap out of it” automatically. They are not using logic to determine their behaviors. They are reacting to fear and panic. You don’t learn much math if your teacher is yelling formulas at you, and its equally difficult for dogs to learn if your training methods contribute to their distress. For this reason, we couldn’t hold a grudge against Coco when she ate her way through our brand-new rope hammock before it was even hung up in the yard. It wouldn’t have been fair to attribute feelings of malice, or menace, or really any intent to her actions. She was afraid, and we wanted to help her.
We didn’t help Coco alone, and if you’re dealing with a case of separation anxiety, you probably can’t help your dog without support either. See your vet to rule out a medical condition, while seeking professional training that is backed by science and uses no aversive methods. Melena DeMartini-Price’s Treating Separation Anxiety in Dogs is a great resource for information and aid in your search for an appropriate trainer. If the trainer you’ve hired uses methods that are out of alignment with the philosophies in her book, don’t feel guilty moving on and continuing your search. A positive reinforcement professional can diagnose, asses the severity of, and set up a training plan to lessen your dog’s separation anxiety. They will never suggest scolding your dog, making a scary noise the quiet them, or collaring them with something painful or surprising like electricity or citronella. They won’t whisper an incantation that will change your dog’s behavior right away. They can’t do that type of magic. However, the right trainer will do another kind all together. They will help you through the process emotionally, and make sure that you feel supported in supporting your dog.
Practical Separation Anxiety Tips from Summit Head Trainer Amber:
Create a safe place for your dog to be left. That could be a crate, a “dog-proofed’ room, or a section of the house separated by baby gates. Remove things your dog could easily chew or harm himself with.
Have your dog spend time in this safe space regularly when you are at home, first with you in the room with him but then with you stepping in and out of the area briefly to do routine household tasks.
If you can commit to a few weeks of not leaving your dog home alone to practice their anxious behavior, this really helps to catalyze their separation anxiety behavior modification. If your dog is rehearsing anxious behavior several times a day when you leave it, it’s going to be harder for him to learn relaxed behavior patterns to replace that anxiety. If you have to leave the house without your dog, utilize a combination of pet sitters, dog walkers, dog daycare, neighbors and friends to give your dog a support network during this critical learning period. This isn’t forever, but it is an important part of helping your dog work through separation anxiety.
Start adding in absences in small doses. Think in increments of seconds and minutes at first, not hours. Utilize video technology to evaluate your dog’s body language when you leave the room. If you notice your dog exhibiting the early signs of stress (panting, lip licking, pacing, whining, etc.), come back into the room immediately. Work at shorter durations and stretch your time gradually as your dog is exhibiting relaxed behavior.
For a complete behavior modification plan for separation anxiety, I highly recommend Malena’s Treating Separation Anxiety book or setting up a consult with a professional trainer!