Separation anxiety is a common canine behavioral problem and one that many dog owners are faced with. These problems can manifest in a number of ways, from barking or whining right through to property destruction and even self harm.

What Causes Separation Anxiety?

Dogs are social, and sociable, animals. They build strong bonds with members of their human “pack”, and hate being left on their own. However, a chief cause of the anxiety is based on their recognition of the actions you take before you leave.

You may not even know it but you probably have a set pattern of things you do before you leave home. You probably do the same things every day, and as your dog becomes familiar with the pattern, and realizes what it means, he begins to become anxious.

How to Reduce Your Dog’s Anxiety IssuesYou can do a number of things to reduce, or even cure, your dog’s separation anxiety problem. In many cases it will be a relatively easy job to change to behavior. In others, it may be nigh on impossible without professional help. Here are some things you can try, that are known to work.

Varying Your Routine - Start by mixing up your routine. If your dog starts acting up as soon as you prepare to leave it is likely that he has learned to associate your actions with your immanent departure. Mixing up your routine means the dog no longer sees a recognizable pattern. As a result there is no anxiety trigger.

Don’t Reinforce It - When you lavish attention on your dog every time you leave or get home, you are only reinforcing the behavior. You have to remove any connection between the dog receiving attention and you leaving are coming back home.

The simplest way to do this is to leave home quickly, without any fanfare. Then, when you come home, totally ignore your dog for about 10 minutes, or at least until he has calmed down. Many dog owners refuse to do this, believing it is cruel, but you need to ask yourself whether it is any crueler than a dog spending his days in a state of anxiety, awaiting your return.

Teaching Your Dog How to Be On His Own - An alternative, or complementary, strategy for curing separation anxiety, is to change your dog’s expectation of how long you’re going to be out, and when you’re likely to return. In effect you’re teaching your dog to be alone, by getting him accustomed to longer and longer absences.

For starters, go outside for a minute or two, then immediately come back in. Once the dog gets used to that idea, start to increase the amount of time that you leave him on his own.

It’s Not Cruel

Many people believe that the steps suggested above is in some way cruel to the dog. In fact, it is anything but. You are taking positive action to correct a problem that causes your dog considerable stress, and that can only be good for his physical, and mental well-being.

If separation anxiety is an issue with your dog it is important that you take action right away. Start with the actions suggested above and, provided the anxiety is not chronic, you’ll likely get good results.

However, if the dog is acting out in severe ways, for example injuring himself or damaging property, it is best to speak to your vet or to consult a professional dog trainer or behavioralist.

To discover more about dog training tips, dog breeds a-z, dog health and other interesting dog information drop in at www.dogsanddogtraining.com

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