Destructive dogs & separation anxiety

SEPARATION ANXIETY: is a dogs' inability to cope when left alone. Typical symptoms are howling , barking and scratching or chewing at furniture and fittings. In order to stop the 'bad' behaviour the dog needs to become more confident and secure in himself, and less dependent on you.

You need to teach him this by changing the way you treat him in your home environment.

If your dog is allowed to follow you around the house, i.e. when you get up to make a cup of tea or run a bath, you must stop him from now on!

In order for your dog to become more confident about being left when you are out, he must first be able to cope with letting you out of his sight when you are in the house.

He must have a bed of his own and he must learn to stay in it when you leave the room. If you know that as soon as you leave the room he will get up, then hide around the corner and be ready for him. Put him back in his bed and start to leave the room again. Every time you return praise him for staying in his bed (but not so much he gets up or you have defeated the object!). Be prepared to do this every time you leave the room until your dog understands the wait command. If you are busy that he stays in the room without crying or barking is sufficient. Do not go back in the room of barking or whining or they will soon learn to use this to make you come on command!

Your dog will associate all the usual goings on when you are preparing to leave the house - we all go through our 'going-out procedures' i.e. putting on your coat, picking up your keys and our dogs pick up on these signals they anticipate this period alone and thus will begin to fret as you are doing so. You need to desensitise him of these stimuli, so at any time of day go repeatedly through these actions quietly and without fuss, and then sit back down. Repeat these actions until your dog looks positively bored!!

Now you need to test him a little further, so as time goes by shut him in the room while you move about the house,  for very short periods of time, and then leave him alone for short periods. When you do leave the room or go  out don't make a big deal of it.

It is a normal every day occurance and as little fuss as possible should be made of your dog. If you hug him or look lingeringly at him, he will think the pair of you can't possibly cope without each other.

 Try to ignore him/her leading up to the time when you go, you can  tell him firmly to sit in his bed upon leaving and quietly shut the door but don't expect them to stay in their bed at this point. DONT go back if he/she starts crying, whining or barking.

The only way your dog can learn to cope on his own is if you can wean him off of his dependence on you. He is addicted to his owner, and it is his owner that must make him realise that he can cope when you are not there. REMEMBER dogs are pack animals and so copong whike their 'human pack' is at work/school etc is something they need to learn sonfrom day one try not to ket tthem follow you to every room when you are home if they can cipe being separated when you are there it will help them cope beyter when you are not.

When you do want to give your dog attention feel free. BUT do not let your dog dictate what he gets and when Call him over for a cuddle by all means, but don't allow him to slouch at your feet, or paw at your lap all evening.

He needs to learn to feel confident in his bed while you are out, so he must learn also to use it when you are in. (Ocvassionally with rescue dogs I will also 'take possession' of the bed by sitting in it myself just to show that i also have a rigt to that space. If dog is on sofa I also may well sit on or near them and make them move to assert position withoit being mean or using 'old school ' techniques as we need to build trust while asserting leadership. Hence why I always eat first - most important rule to show I eat first the dogs eat after me. With some dogs food aggression is never an issue however with many food is the highest values resource of all and many issues can occur over this highvalued resource.  We will deal with feeding reward based training phasing out he lures and rewards, preventing aggression and much more in further detail later on.

It is very important to get to grips with general obedience so your dog will want to please you, and know his  place generally in the household All dogs should understand the words NO, SIT, STAY, DOWN, and COME If yours doesn't then enroll in a training class now You can find details at your vets, pet shop, flted merchant or from other dog owners and walkers.

Communal classes will improve your dogs' self confidence which will help reduce his problems.
Over several weeks this will help you meet other dogs and owners prevent dog to dog aggression developing and others fears or phobias and the training advice you are given will increase yours and tour dogs' confidence, and his anxiety will decrease in new situations around new dogs people and things, however if you suffer with separation anxiety issues whether during daytime or nightime please be aware his howling and chewing will not stop overnight.

During behavioir consultations I always explain when we are trying to retrain bad behaviours and teach new good behaviours the old bad behaviours will often get worse in the beginning before they get better! Why? Because your puppy/dog knows how to work you tontrwin you - they are pretty smart you know! So as we stop reqcting to their bad stuff they try it all the more to get the attention they got from us before! So please bear this in mind. When we start to ignore the bad and reward for the good they will start tonleqrn good behaviours get better attention and rewards!

There are some measures you can take to help in the mean  time and always remeber not to punish the dog if they have been destructive it is the outward symptoms of a dog or puppy finding it hard to cope alone. Sometimes another dog or even a cat in the home will help them overcome these issues however if this isnt an option try these tips!

*Leave an old smelly jumper from the laudry basket with them when you go out. Your smell will ease their anxiety a little.

*Don't leave valued chewable items within your dogs reach i.e Tv remote controls, shoes, and give him plenty of things to keep him occupied  his favourite toy, and long lasting chewy bones, Kongs are ideal because we can use them as toys but also by giving puppy/dog a Kong filled with tasty food will take up some of that valuable time you are not at home. Soke dogs may be so stressed they will not eat at all whioe youbare not therr but over time this should get better.

*There are also unchewable 'buster balls' now available designed to keep worried dogs occupied. These can be filled with treats which will only disperse when the dog rolls the ball around.

Sometimes the problem has become so imprinted on the dog that even when his confidence does improve he still chews out of habit. For these dogs an indoor kennel or training crate may be required These have proved to be very successful, but you will need further advice on its proper use as dogs should not be left confined like this for more than 2 to 3 hours however leaving the cage open and perhaps covered with a blanket will also ensure theybdo not see the cage as a bad thing and if they use it on a daiky basis themselves it will also offer a safe secure den for them when you are out.

Some dogs become so stressed when owners leave they actually lose control of their bowels so never punish your dog if they have had an 'accident' i huff and puff as I qm cleaning it up but at the end of the day if we come in and start bawling and shouting and ranting after theyhave been missing us all day unabke to cope its hardly fair. So we have to kearn tocunderstand their needs and why theybdo the things they do. This is just a little advixe to help you prevent problems if you are experiencing serious destruction issues thatvare not getting better then seek thebadcice of your trainer at class ir a recommended dog behaviour specialist.

REMEBER NOT ALL DOG TRAINERS CAN ADVISE ON SERIOUS ISSUES AND NOT ALL BEHAVIOURISTS RUN CLASSES SOME ARE SPECIALIST IN DEALING WITH MORE SERIOUS ISSUES SUCH AS DOG TO DOG & DOG TO HUMAN AGGRESSION, BITING AND MORE SERIOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS THAT MAY HAVE DEVELOPED THROUGH TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES OR LACK OF EXPERIENCES WHEN IN THE CRITICAL PERIOD OF SOCIALISATION BEFORE 6 MONTHS HENCE WHY CLASSES REALLY ARE SO IMPORTANT.

Past experience has proved that this advice does work, but you must put in the time and effort in the earlv stages Please contact us with any feedback that may be useful to our trainers. However take note thouglu ali young dogs chew to a certain extent - put it down to normal dog behaviour, teething just like babies and sometimes adolescent behavioir kicks in as hormones do so we must also take these things into consideration.

Running rescue we have seen many dogs that couod not cope took time to learn to trust humans again I have seen so many and believe me I  have walked in to a room to find it completely destroyed myself (one occassion sofa carpets walls shredded the whole room was in bits on the floor!) I JUST CRIED couldnt get cross with the dog she just wqs in a new place and couodnt cope when we left. SO believe me I know the frustration when it is an ongoing issue.

Getting help from a local recommended dog expert, if things do not improve is the best advice I can give you in order that you do not become so frustrated you give up on the dog.

 Rescue centres are full and overflowing with dogs through no fault of their own so perhaps the very best advice I can give if you live in a one dog household is to get a companion for your stressed dog this works well in the majority of cases once new introductions are done and they settle in togeher - it will help to ease your dogs distress and he will no longer have to cope with long lonely days in isolation.

To be honest Ive found that the more dogs often the easier it is as they take up so much of each others time & energy playing etc. A pack of dogs cope better together than one dog alone because remember they are after all pack animals & crave companionship & family just as we humans do!
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