Tag Archives: separation anxiety

How Will Our Pets Cope as COVID-19 Quarantining Ends?

While some isolated humans may be looking forward to the time when they are leaving the home to work and socialise, there are concerns that this could see a rise in separation anxiety amongst the millions of dogs who’ve grown accustomed to their owners’ constant companionship during lockdown. 

Whist our feline friends may also suffer from separation distress, it if far less common. In fact, many kitties would welcome more time to themselves as soon as possible!

Dogs experiencing so much more quality time with their families, can become over-dependent on their humans and this can lead to separation distress when mums and dads suddenly return to work and the children go back to school.

Dogs thrive on routine. They feel calmest when life offers consistency and predictability, as we all do, so times of abrupt change can be stressful.

The sudden loss of their doting humans could result in stress-induced behaviours in an attempt to find their owners or deal with anxiety. These include:

  • Barking, howling, or whining when you leave
  • Scratching or chewing at entrances and exits (doors/windows) when alone
  • Destructive behaviour that only happens when alone
  • Over-grooming or other self-harm or obsessive behaviours
  • A change in appetite

It is worth collecting video of your pet when they are home alone and pay attention to what they are ‘telling’ you through their body language. Are they coping calmly and munching through a treat whilst resting in their comfy safe place? Or are you seeing distressed behaviours?

Beware the dogs that suffer in silence with more subtle signs of anxiety like panting, pacing, salivating, trembling when alone. Some dogs are so anxious that they don’t eat or drink until their owner returns.

Separation anxiety isn’t just psychologically damaging for the pet. Some dogs attempt to dig and chew through doors or windows, resulting in self-injury, such as broken teeth and damaged paws. Some howl continuously in distress, disturbing all those in earshot.

Separation anxiety in dogs already accounts for a high proportion of pets referred for behaviour consultations, even prior to the current upheavals in routine.  

So what can we do now to reduce the risk of our dogs suffering distress when we go back to spending more time away from home?

Allow your pet to have some alone time. You have your space and allow them to have theirs. This should not be a punishing time out. Make this a fun experience where the dog is in another part of the home on a comfortable bed, chewing on a Kong, dental chew or other slow-to-consume tasty treat. Tether the treat to the bed if necessary.

Interactive food release toys can take the place of the food bowl to provide hours of entertainment.

As yummy as they may be, we can’t recommend bones. Vets are often faced with broken teeth, blocked bowels or sad vomiting pooches following access to bones.

Practice training your dog to perform out-of-sight “stays” within the house. Begin a gradual process of using small absences that start to teach the dog that absences are safe. 

Abandoning one’s fur babies for even short periods could prove a tall order for the millions who are relying on and even purchasing dogs to keep themselves sane during lockdown. Especially when pets offer such a joyful greeting after any absence. However, it is important to help them through this upheaval and prepare them for staying at home alone in the future.

Above all, provide consistent and predictable routines that you can continue once you return to leaving them at home more. For example, think about your morning and evening routines. How can these remain constant when you go back to working away from home? To minimise change, keep the really good stuff – like exercising with your dog, playing with them and feeding them – to the same schedule that you will manage when you’re back at work. Make the middle part of the day less interactive as that will be the case when you’re not around.

Dog-appeasing pheromone (DAP) and nutraceuticals like Zylkene can help avoid separation anxiety. However, if your dog is already showing signs of separation distress, call us for a discussion and potentially a behaviour consultation to help you manage their anxiety and help them enjoy the peaceful life they deserve.

Helping Dogs with Separation Distress

‘Velcro’ dogs as they can be known, always want to be super close, even touching their owner in case you go away. This is a joy when you are with them, however some dogs can’t be left without getting upset and will bark continuously or destroy property (or themselves) in an effort to find you.

Separation distress is a condition that results from anxiety. Other common anxious behaviours in dogs include fear of noises, situations or unfamiliar people or dogs. Anxiety is a fear of perceived threats. We know they are safe at home without us, however your dog may be completely unable to cope without the company of family members. Much of the time, it’s human rather than canine company that they crave so getting another dog is rarely the answer.

Separation distress occurs in up to 15% of dogs and studies have shown that up to 80% of dogs have an increase in their stress hormones when alone. The desperate ‘nuisance’ barking or expensive destruction of property account for many pets being relinquished to shelters.

Why do some dogs suffer separation distress?

Various theories have been put forward for the dysfunctional attachment to owners or the fear of being left alone. Genetics can play a part, however the most powerful predictor is separation from an attachment figure early in life. Pups can readily transfer their attachment from their dam to their new human owner’s care, however, they need attention when young in order to grow up independent. The risk is greater in pups of single owners as they are alone more. There is an increased risk when owners are anxious when leaving the pup and make a fuss when they return. Dogs with a shelter background are more at risk as they have often lost confidence in attachment figures.

When does separation distress start?

The onset usually occurs before two years of age. It can follow the loss of a human or animal companion, moving house, a change in the owners schedule or a stay away from home in boarding or hospital. It can also occur along with other anxiety based behaviours, like noise or thunderstorm fear.

What are the signs of separation distress?

These signs only occur with separation, however some dogs cope with predictable regular departures but panic with unexpected departures. Most dogs show signs within 10 minutes of departure.

Signs include:

  • Destruction of property. This is a desperate attempt to escape the barriers to finding you. Most often the damage will be around windows, blinds or doors. Other dogs will chew anywhere in the house in an attempt to cope with anxiety.
  • Barking and whining are also attempt to communicate with you.
  • Urination with or without defecation in the house.
  • Increased grooming that causes hairless, ulcerated areas on the skin.
  • Pacing and shadowing the owner before a departure and over-exuberant greetings
  • Severe fear signs include dilated pupils, salivation, vomiting and inability to eat when alone.
How do I know this is anxiety related?

Destructive behaviour can also occur with normal puppy chewing or exploratory behaviour, particularly if the pup’s needs for mental and physical stimulation are not met. Some dogs destroy barriers when they are frustrated, for example they see a rabbit over the fence that they want to chase. Others bark at passersby or bark as social communication to attract attention. Dogs with separation distress show anxious body language that occurs when they are alone. Video footage can be helpful for diagnosis.

What can I do to help?

We recommend a thorough behaviour assessment to develop a treatment plan for your dog.

Attempts to desensitize dogs to pre-departure cues by scrambling or avoiding the usual cues eg. donning work clothing, picking up of keys, rarely works as the dog quickly learns the new cues.

Training to gradually increase the length of the departure is generally tedious and unsuccessful.

It can be helpful to initially stop fueling the fear by not leaving your pet alone all day. Consider options for day care.

This is an example of a protocol to help your pet can learn to cope alone:

Before leaving:

  • Take your dog for lots of exercise. This could be in excess of an hour in the morning for some dogs to enable them to become tired and fulfil their physical and mental needs.
  • Hold the morning meal until you leave. Use a non-performance ration.
  • Act happy as you leave rather than communicate worry.
  • Use the ‘wait’ command before feeding.
  • Present the morning meal, which is half the dog’s daily ration in multiple food release toys or puzzles eg. Kongs, treat balls, wobblers, frozen treats or hide the food as you leave.
  • Make your leaving into party time!

Image result for dog treat toys

When you are away:

  • Leave your pet with an optimal environment.
  • Appeal to your dog’s sense of taste. This will be different for every dog. Some love dried liver powder mixed with the food.
  • Appeal to their sense of smell to provide interest. The smell could be associated with a chew toy eg vanilla, anise or an animal odour.
  • Appeal to their sense of vision. For example, provide a bird feeder to watch, access to a view, dog TV, a dog door to access inside and out.
  • Appeal to their sense of hearing. Play a CD going of sounds your dog may like eg “Through a Dogs ear”.
  • Appeal to their sense of touch. Provide a comfortable resting place. Put some of your unwashed clothing in their bed. Crates that represent a safe refuge can be provided, however leave the door open.

When you return:

  • Your return must be very low key.
  • Pick up all the uneaten food and items that you left at departure. The party is over.
  • Wait an hour before feeding the evening meal.

Teach independence:

  • Ignore demanding attention seeking behaviour.
  • When you start to ignore attention seeking behaviours, the dog may increase their attempt to get your attention. Take care not to reward this heightened behaviour.
  • Remember that saying ‘No’, speaking to your dog, looking at them or pushing them down represents attention and rewards the behaviour.
  • Reward calm and independent behaviour.
  • Foster clear and consistent routines where your dog sits to receive good things in life.
  • If they sleep on your bed, teach them to sleep in their own bed near to yours. Use a tether initially if they keep jumping up with you.
  • Provide them with lots of exercise, off leash where possible.
  • Make theirs an interesting life. Are they suitable for agility? Do they enjoy training or tricks?

Can medication help?

One of the most important goals in behaviour therapy is to reduce the underlying anxiety so learning can begin. Some anxious dogs are unable to learn new strategies to cope without medication as they have a physical illness. Whilst medication usually does not work without avoidance or fear triggers and the use of behaviour modification, it is often very helpful to reduce anxiety to a level that allows a starting point for retraining. Background and situational medications can play a large part in the management of separation anxiety and the vet will discuss these during a behaviour consultation.

When Harry’s Home Alone – managing separation anxiety

One would have thought that Harry, the adolescent Cocker spaniel had all he could want to be happy with life. His loving owner, Jill walked him twice a day, a definite highlight for Harry who exuberantly greeted every person and dog he saw. He enjoyed mental enrichment through fun training for treats daily and went to puppy day care for extra play time each week. At night he slept in his bed near Jill’s and she had set up a comfy spot in the main living area for him when she went out.

However, Jill became concerned that Harry was not as happy as he could be. With the upheaval of the house renovations, it became more noticeable that Harry was not coping when she went out. He had become destructive and barked when he was left alone. He would whine when Jill went out of sight inthe next room. Harry was constantly seeking attention by nudging Jill and jumping up. Jill tried not to reinforce this behaviour by ignoring it, however he would nag her more and mouth her to gain attention. Harry paced restlessly and only relaxed when he was in close contact with Jill. It got to the point that he was so anxious when alone that he would not touch his food or water until Jill came home.

When Jill brought Harry in for a behaviour consultation, it was no surprise when he was diagnosed with separation distress, a form of anxiety disorder. Harry was not being naughty. Rather his behaviour was a sign that he was anxious and distressed when alone. His pacing, barking and destructive behaviours were his efforts to find Jill and cope with the uncomfortable feeling of anxiety. Dogs suffering from separation distress can show a range of signs. Some may injure themselves or property in a desperate attempt to escape and find their owner whilst others suffer in inconspicuous silence, trembling and salivating until the owner returns. Sadly, many that vocalise their anxiety are labelled as nuisance barkers and fitted with aversive collars that trigger with each bark and increase anxiety.

As for humans who suffer from anxiety, our canine companions can experience ‘amygdala hijack’, when the danger-brain works overtime and perceives threats that are not real. Rather than functioning in a calm and logical way, Harry’s brain reacted fearfully whenever he was alone. Anxiety is a physical disease linked with an imbalance of certain neurochemicals in the brain and tends to become worse over time. Every time Harry reacted anxiously to a perceived threat or panicked about being left alone, the neural pathways for the fear reaction become strengthened.

Like any behaviour problem, genetics, past learning and the present situation all contribute to the cause.

Treatment is aimed at:

1. Managing the imbalance in Harry’s brain with anti-anxiety medication and calming pheromones.

2. Improving resilience and fostering a calm emotional state through behaviour modification exercises that positively reward calm.

3. Managing Harry’s environment to help him to feel safe when alone.

Video footage is often helpful to assess the response to treatment by revealing the pet’s body language when they are alone.

Jill embraced the treatment plan with a strong commitment to help dear Harry become a happier dog. It’s 16 months further on now and Jill is very happy with his progress.

Some comments from Jill

Harry is not the first dog to be a large part of my life but he is the first to display behavioural problems. He was destructive, continuous barking and unable to settle down or relax.

After Harry’s anxiety diagnosis, the plan included medication to help alleviate his stress and a job for me to modify his environment and my actions. This was and still is a trial and error arrangement with initially error being the main result. Over time I have come to understand Harry’s anxiety so that now his good days (less anxiety) far outweigh his bad days (anxiety driven).

I am still learning and will continue to learn what causes his anxiety. For example, yesterday I received a phone call which resulted in me immediately leaving him alone and being absent for about 4 hours. I returned to a very anxious Harry. I had previously learnt that Harry needs more notice before being left alone at home, unfortunately I didn’t consider this yesterday.

Harry is worth the commitment to make his life as happy as I can, he is definitely a ‘keeper’ and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Calming the nerves of your anxious companion

Like people, many pets suffer from forms of anxiety. If your pet cannot settle during thunderstorms or fireworks or perhaps your pet cannot settle if you are not present, then talk with Dr Helen Purdam about some strategies to help the both of you cope.

It may be as simple as some crate training advice like setting up a safe den or fitting the pet with a thunder shirt. Having an Adaptil or Feliway diffuser near the pet’s den can also help them to settle.

For pets who need more support to become less anxious, we can provide a full behavioural consultation. Contact reception on 6230 2223 for more information.

Nuisance barkers

Unwanted barking irritates owners and neighbours alike.

Some dogs bark a lot because of:

1. Boredomthe dog that’s home alone a lot

Breeds such as Border collies, Kelpies and Cattle dogs were bred to work and are happiest when they have a job to do. Their energy, stamina and intelligence is wasted when they are left alone with little to do for extended periods and they become bored and frustrated.

All breeds want to be with their pack, usually their owners, and become bored when home alone. Bored dogs bark, try to escape or are destructive, chewing hoses and shrubs or digging in the garden.

2. Anxietythe dog that follows you everywhere

If left alone some individuals experience separation anxiety and bark for extended periods.

Other anxious dogs bark at threatening people or objects, such as the mailman or hot air balloons.

3. Disturbancesthe dog that barks for 5 minutes when visitors arrive

Postmen, birds, passers-by and meter-readers set these dogs off. They then feel rewarded when the intruder leaves, apparently as a result of their barking.

4. Discomfortthe dog who starts barking unexpectedly

Barking from a normally quiet dog may indicate pain or an inability to access food or water.

5. Excitementthe dog that barks until you throw the ball

What you can do

Try to understand the cause of the barking so that you can choose the most appropriate solution from the table below. If you’re not quite sure of the cause try some of these solutions anyway – you might find one that works!

Causes of barking problems Boredom Separation Anxiety Disturbances Discomfort Excitement
Possible solutions
1. Exercise * * * *
2. Training * * *
3. Play toys/dogs * * *
4. Hunting food * * * *
5. Change of routine * * * *
6. Veterinary care * *

 

 

Solutions

  1. Exercise (for barking caused by boredom, separation anxiety, disturbances and excitement)

Dogs need exercise, some more than others. Working breeds require more regular exercise but even a couch-potato enjoys some outdoor entertainment. They all appreciate walks at different times of day and in variety of places, from the bush to the beach.

If walking the streets doesn’t appeal to you and your dog is friendly towards other dogs visit an off leash area. There he can play with other dogs or you can throw a ball or frisbee for him to chase.

Boredom is less of a problem in well-exercised dogs. Once home they are content to snooze or find a quiet activity.

2. Training (for barking caused by boredom, disturbances and excitement)

Training occupies a dog’s body and mind. It stimulates the bored dog and calms the overexcited dog.

The key to training is to find the most motivating reward. Food treats like dried liver or cheese are the number one motivator for most dogs. A special toy or praise works for dogs who are not food motivated.

Ask your dog to sit before every privilege, whether it’s a meal, titbit or ball game.

3. Play (for barking caused by boredom, separation anxiety and disturbances)

A play with puppy pals in the local dog park provides excitement and stimulation that will keep your dog quieter when he returns home.

Avoid play dates with other dogs if your dog tries to get away or squares up for a fight instead of play.

Most dogs love a ball or frisbee game with their carers.

At home rotate the toys you put out so that they retain their novelty value.

4. Food (for barking caused by boredom, separation anxiety, disturbances and excitement)

Games and food toys stimulate dogs as well as occupying their mouths so that they cannot bark!

Create a food hunt by scattering dry food around the garden or house. The hunt occupies their noses and minds as they search out every last biscuit. This is particularly good for the dog who has separation anxiety as it distracts their attention from the leave-taking.

Food packed or frozen inside toys that release it slowly, like Kongs and Treat balls, forces dogs to chew, paw and roll the toys around to extract the morsels of food.

Note that these foods are instead of, not in addition to, normal meals.

5. Change of routine (for barking due to boredom, separation anxiety, disturbances and discomfort)

Many dogs are comforted by routines. They like to know when to expect food and walks.

However, bored dogs want something different and stimulating – a walk at a different time of day or in a new location. Building a raised platform might also break the monotony for them.

Change your departure routine if your dog suffers from separation anxiety. Give him a toy or chew to keep him occupied. Scale down your goodbyes and returns by acting more casually. If he barks on your return ignore him until he quietens down then greet him calmly.

To prevent your dog reacting to predictable disturbances like the mailman, bring him inside or confine him to a different area.

You could experiment with blocking the sight lines of over reactive guard dogs.

6. Veterinary care (for bad cases of separation anxiety and discomfort)

Barking in a normally quiet dog may signal ill health.

Some dogs with anxiety related problems require medications in conjunction with tailored behaviour modification to learn calmness.