Treating Canine Separation Anxiety
A Poodle Puppy, Lido, with MobilityDog
Now that summer is almost over, kids are heading back to school, vacationers are returning home, people are starting new jobs and the comings and goings of summer are coming to an end. For your dog, the new patterns and schedules may cause separation anxiety as people who have been around all summer begin to leave and less familiar faces come into the home. Dogs who experience separation anxiety may display behaviors that disrupt domestic tranquility and make them a nuisance to manage.
What is Separation Anxiety?
We want to have an emotional attachment with our dogs. After all, we love them and appreciate our bonds of affection. However, when that attachment becomes inflexible and even pathological, it can become a source of disturbance in the household. An anxious dog left alone may whine, bark, urinate, or defecate at inappropriate times and places, over-groom (for example, by excessive licking), try to escape, or even destroy property. Perhaps 20 percent of the canine population suffers from separation anxiety, according to one estimate.* Although any dog could exhibit the problem, male dogs, those living with adults only (as opposed to both adults and children), dogs with limited exposure to people outside the home, and animals separated from the litter sooner than 60 days seem particularly prone to the problem.
Service Dog, Sir Baldwin
Medical Treatments
Pharmacological treatment is one way to respond to separation anxiety. Clomipramine and fluoxetine (brand name Prozac) have been approved in the United States for treating canine anxiety. Results from the administration of these drugs, however, are mixed. On the one hand, drug administration may be called for if the dog’s behavior is serious enough that the owner is considering relinquishing or euthanizing the animal. On the other hand, many owners are reluctant to medicate their pets. Moreover, one researcher commented, “While pharmacological interventions may be useful when used in conjunction with behavior modification, they are unlikely to eliminate a dog’s separation-related problem behaviors in isolation, and some behavioral therapy will still be needed.”**
Behavior Modification
Behavioral responses to separation problems can incorporate:
Avoiding punishment for separation-related behaviors.
Providing activities for the dog to engage in when left alone.
Giving exercise opportunities before the owner’s departure.
Also, giving the dog a wide range of experiences and human interaction outside the home between five and 10 months of age reduces the likelihood of separation issues later on.
Systematic desensitization can also be a helpful technique. Systematic desensitization involves exposing the animal to a mild version of the feared stimulus below a level that elicits anxiety and then gradually increasing the intensity of the stimulus. For example, the owner might initially leave the dog alone for a few minutes and then return and reward the dog for not acting out. The period of absence would be increased in small increments, such that the owner’s return becomes expected and the dog gains confidence that she is not really being abandoned.
Systematic desensitization can be combined with a technique called counterconditioning, whereby the negative stimulus is combined with a pleasurable experience (for instance, a food-stuffed toy), so the dog begins to associate the owner’s absence with an enjoyable circumstance. When presented with a situation that usually causes anxiety, the availability of food should help inhibit the dog’s anxiety.
Combining systematic desensitization with counterconditioning has been found to be highly effective, in one study improving the behavior of 100 percent of the dogs treated.***
Patience Required
Conscientious owners will want to modify their own schedules to avoid long absences in the early stages of using systematic desensitization and counterconditioning. This can, of course, be inconvenient. Moreover, employing behavior modification techniques and other situational approaches takes patience, time and effort. Nevertheless, owners who are sensitive to their dogs’ fear and discomfort and want to relieve their suffering will find the effort worthwhile. What else would we do for the pets whose healthy attachment to us means so much to us and to them?
June and Monty, a Service Dog Team
All references from: Sargisson, R.J., “Canine separation anxiety: strategies for treatment and management,” Veterinary Medicine: Research and Reports, Oct. 30, 2014, https://doi.org/10.2147/VMRR.S60424.
All Images Courtesy: MobilityDog.org