Is it really Separation Anxiety?
I wanted to share some information from a webinar that I have listened to a few times called Separation-Related Distress by veterinary behaviourist Dr. Lore Haug.
Many of us believe that our dog is suffering from separation anxiety but there are other separation issues to consider. For example:
- Play/exploratory behaviour; some owners believe that their dog has anxiety while they are gone but the dog is bored and has the opportunity to destroy things.
- Outside stimuli; a dog can be stressed or become anxious due to something they hear or see outside for example a cat or the mailman.
- Frustration induced/confinement distress is experienced while in a kennel or bedroom and the dog will have anxiety being locked in this place.
- Isolation distress; this occurs when our dog cannot be with us (they may be outside or behind a gate). This may occur when we are home or not home.
- Storm/noise phobia this occurs when the dog is reacting to different sounds while being home alone.
- Finally true Separation Anxiety where the dog may harm themselves, lose control of their bladder/bowels, and feel intense panic when separated from a particular individual.
So the question is how do we know which one our dog has? The ability to video tape our dog gives us a lot of information as we can see their behaviour when we are not at home. You can also ask yourself a few questions that may help you figure it out:
- Is your dog ok in the kennel while you are home? Or do they whine?
- Have you trained them to be comfortable in the kennel?
- Does your dog follow you around when you are home?
- Is your dog bonded to one individual in the household?
- Does your dog destroy things when you are gone, as well as when you are home?
- Is your dog able to eat treats or a kong while you are gone?
With any type of separation issues I recommend that you have a good relationship with your Veterinarian, and rule out a medical condition before diagnosing separation anxiety.
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