Home Alone
For many humans, the only bright spot in the pandemic was adopting a puppy, or the adult model, for companionship.
Unfortunately, the downside of having a constant companion, is what many pet-parents are learning, now that they are resuming their social life and or going back to work outside of the house, because without any coping skills, some of these dogs go into panic mode when left alone, triggering pet-parents to take drastic measures, which can result in sending Fido back to the shelter!
Many years ago I came across an article, actually the obituary of a self proclaimed expert who was a Hollywood dog trainer, back in the day. He prided himself on “saving” dogs by scaring the @#$%^ out of the poor dog whenever the dog barked or tried to escape the house, looking for his person.
Back in those days, trainers did not go to school or need any qualifications to work with dogs, other than boast of their military experience as credentials. The point being that there wasn’t any research on dogs, so professionals used their instincts to resolve problem dog-behaviors, but instincts are not science.
Needless to say, this did not go well for dogs who were suffering with separation anxiety. Those types of trainers scoffed at the idea that the dog’s emotions were a factor in the behavior, and it wasn’t difficult to convince the average dog owner that Fido was being a “brat”, since the “expert” gave the behavior a familiar label and he had a swift “cure” that would be easy for the owner to imitate. In the article, the trainer was quoted as saying, “Take the dog who barks and barks relentlessly. The desperate renter will have to get rid of the dog if the problem isn’t fixed. Here’s what I do. I wait with the owner in the hallway. Sure enough, the dog starts barking and I explode into the house and scare the living daylights out of the dog. And after one session with me if the owner follows up the dog lives. Period. End of story.”
Unfortunately for our dogs, that attitude did not die with this “expert” because it’s so much easier to hurt a dog, which usually appears to stop the behavior promptly. However the fallout that it causes is insidious. Believe me, no dogs were saved [from being sent to a shelter or euthanasia] as he bragged. And today, there are only too many self proclaimed experts who are flourishing on TV and the internet because, let’s face it, it doesn’t take a lot of skill to hurt a dog, and show, what appears to be, results!
For the rest of us educated professionals, we climb a steep hill trying to convince pet-parents not to mimic the clown techniques they watch on Netflix and National Geographic, or other questionable dog-training sources. One of the biggest issues is that most people cannot recognize the root cause of the behavior. When a behavior develops from an emotional state, such as anxiety, you need more tools in the toolbox. To paraphrase Maslow, if your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail!
But as usual, I digress …
Many, many years ago, before I became a trainer, I adopted an amazing English Setter with the most soulful face and adorable personality. But he had one of the worst cases of separation anxiety I’ve ever witnessed. This poor dog would make himself physically ill if left alone and he was clever enough to figure out how to open the door, so it was out of necessity that I had to find him a babysitter, which, as it turns out, is the first step when working with separation anxiety!
When we leave Fido with someone such as a relative, trusted friend or doggie daycare, we stop the anxiety. Once he’s no longer in panic mode, we can then take the necessary steps that will desensitize him to the length of time he’ll be left alone, and condition him to perceive that being alone predicts his favorite things. Additionally, we make sure his needs are met with plenty of physical and mental stimulation, plus a daily reliable routine, which is much more soothing than the uncertainty of not knowing when his human will be returning. It’s worth mentioning that some cases are so severe, that Fido may also need the help of a veterinarian who can prescribe appropriate medication to augment the behavior modification program.
Personally, I think that all dogs can benefit from a reliable routine in their lives, but if you have a dog with separation anxiety, you’ll need the help of an educated professional who understands the behavior and will show you how to reduce it without the use of a “hammer”. Period. End of story.
HAPPY TRAINING & ENRICHMENT!
