Separation Anxiety is a common problem with our dogs and needs to be taken very seriously. I hear of the problem a lot in the RV world.
Symptoms of Separation Anxiety or Separation Distress, can be any of the following:
barking, howling, whining, defacating, urinating, being destructive, trying to escape.
It’s important to understand, that the dog is having a panic attack. It’s real anxiety, the dog feels the panic and acts out in different ways. So it’s not about the barking or tearing up the trash. It’s about the anxiety the dog feels when you leave.
Here’s a great article that is easy to read:
So what to do, we’ll I’m not going to tell you that’s it’s an easy remedy, because it’s not.
First of all, I would order the book written by Malena DeMartini. She is the nation’s foremost educated trainer on the subject. She offers training through Skype and has trained other dog trainers around the country.
If your dog has mild SA, you might be able to work through it yourself with the book and I have one more suggestion.
Terry Sides of Walking Heart Animal Communication is an amazing intuitive who can help you with your dog’s SA.
We have a separarion anxiety dog.. 3 year old mini dachshund.. . but that is only one problem.. she is very anxious when other people are in the house.. she will bark and growl when they walk around and get up from sitting.. this is the worst behavior and she will often mumble when she hears any noise outside even without raising her head from napping.
She is also anxious when I put the harness on her. I have worked with her for a couple of years as she was a rescue. She will deal with the harness, but occasionally stops and will not walk and looks at the leash will fright. She will stay right with me without the harness or leash, it I know it is necessary sometimes.
We arranged you talk at Saguaro Coop last year and was so I,pressed at your insight.