SEPARATION ANXIETY

What is separation anxiety? This is a condition that causes your dog to become anxious when you leave him. There are numerous causes but thankfully there are a few easy steps you can take to curb this anxiety.

• Training Your Dog Do some obedience training to establish a good bond and pack leadership. Once your dog has these qualities they become more stable. More stable dogs tend to not have this behavior.

• Use A Crate Crate training is a very useful tool for lots of reasons, and this is one of them! Properly crate trained dogs will see the crate as a safe spot for them. If they have a safe spot to go they tend to be more relaxed while they are in it.

• Exercise This may be the most looked over part of a solution for this problem. If you exercise your dog they are less likely to turn extra energy into nervous energy. Take the dog out to exercise before you leave.

• Make Exits And Entrances Uninteresting And Often When you leave your dog do your best to just leave. If you spend lots of time cooing and telling her that you will be back home soon your dog will sense your uneasiness and body language and this will feed into her anxiety. Put her into the crate and walk away, even if she starts to whine. When you come back in, walk around the house for a few minutes and ignore the dog until she calms down. Go in and out of your house at random times frequently to desensitize her from your daily routine. Dogs are creatures of habit and your habits and schedule perpetuate separation anxiety.

• Give Her Something To Do When You Are Gone Put a Kong toy stuffed with some peanut butter in the crate before you leave. If she isn't completely concentrated on the fact that you just left she may begin to learn that this whole scenario isn't so scary.

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