When you go out, your dog will not let you go? When you get home, your dog will pounce and lick as if he hasn’t seen you in years. You think they are just clingy? If they also always love to break up the house, then they are probably suffering from separation anxiety.
Don’t think it’s just a minor problem, severe separation anxiety, but also dogs may appear self-harm, endocrine disorders and other behaviors.
What Is Separation Anxiety in Dogs?
Separation anxiety in dogs is when a dog is separated from their owner, which can cause extreme stress to the dog. This stress may cause the dog to show physical symptoms such as drooling or shaking.
When they are home alone, the anxiety may cause them to develop behavioral problems, such as destroying things or barking incessantly.
According to organizations, about 34.2% of all dogs kept indoors currently suffer from separation anxiety. Unfortunately, this number is also increasing year by year.
Symptoms of Separation Anxiety in Dogs
Separation anxiety in dogs is classified as mild, moderate and severe, and most dogs suffering from separation anxiety are mild. However, if the pooper scooper fails to detect and give the right guidance in time, it is easy to aggravate the dog’s anxiety condition.
Dogs with mild separation anxiety generally show up as pooping, depression and housebreaking when they are alone at home, and some dogs even show fecal-eating behavior.
In addition to mild separation anxiety, dogs with moderate separation anxiety can be emotionally unstable, barking loudly, incontinent when they see their owners too excited, and even stereotypical behavior.
Stereotypic behavior is generally a result of the animal’s great psychological stress, prompting them to repeat a cycle of meaningless actions in a certain area, as many animals in zoos who are kept in small cages do.
A dog’s stereotypic response is to wander repeatedly in a fixed straight line or circle path in a certain area of the room, whereas a pooper scooper at home would not.
Severe separation anxiety will show behaviors such as self-harm and endocrine disorders in addition to the above symptoms.
Dogs may repeatedly lick and chew certain parts of their bodies, such as paws, hind legs and tails, even to the point of hair loss or blood. If the owner finds that the dog has such behavior, he must take it to the hospital in time.
Dogs Can Produce Separation Anxiety Reasons
In fact, it is not only dogs that are separated from their owners for too long that can cause separation anxiety in dogs. There may also be no good interaction with people or other animals during the early years, lack of companionship by the owner, moving to a new home or a change in the family’s routine, etc., all of which may cause separation anxiety in dogs.
In addition, sometimes the owner is too spoiled dog, so that it is very dependent on humans since childhood, once separated from them will produce a great sense of contrast, which is also very easy to appear separation anxiety.
Simply put, it is actually a lack of independence. Even a member of the family suddenly moved away or passed away, can cause separation anxiety in dogs.
However, some symptoms that are suspected to be separation anxiety disorder may be caused by medications and diseases. That’s why it’s important for owners to first troubleshoot the effects of medications.
Some diseases including urinary tract infections, sphincter weakness due to old age, hormone-related problems after urethral surgery, bladder stones, diabetes, kidney disease, Cushing’s disease, neurological problems and genital abnormalities can cause urinary incontinence in dogs. In addition, failure to house train may also cause a dog to urinate and defecate anywhere.
Solutions to Separation Anxiety in Dogs
Most of the reasons for separation anxiety in dogs are caused by their owners. Therefore, some dog owners may think that since I have less time to spend with my dog, it would be good to spend more time with him when I have time.
In fact, the sudden increase in the time and frequency of playing with the dog will make the dog feel more disconnected when he is alone at home. Therefore, the pooper scooper can alleviate separation anxiety by cultivating the dog’s independence and increasing its sense of well-being at home.
1. Calmly Say Goodbye
If you show that you can’t say goodbye before and after you go out, it will make your dog feel sad to be separated. Therefore, the owner should remain calm before leaving the house, even if he is reluctant to leave, to make the dog think that it is normal for the pooper scooper to go out or come home.
2. Regular Exercise
Giving your dog plenty of exercise will burn off energy as well as give it mental satisfaction. If possible, the owner can take the dog for a walk before going out, then when it is alone at home it will be well rested.
3. Separation Training
Owners can slowly train their dog’s patience, starting with five minutes away from home, ten minutes, half an hour, slowly increasing the length of time to get used to it and understand that the master will come home, and can be used with a pet camera to observe the dog’s situation at home alone. When you find him barking uneasily, you can also calm him down in the video.
4. Distraction
When you go out, you can prepare some toys for your dog, and your dog’s favorite snacks, teething bones, or you can put old clothes with your scent in the kennel to distract your dog’s attention. In addition, you can also use a smart pet camera to interact with your dog so that he won’t be too bored at home.
If you find that your dog is suffering from separation anxiety and has behavioral problems such as housebreaking and urinating and defecating everywhere, you should not think that scolding your dog roughly will be the end of the story, but it will only make your dog’s anxiety more serious.
Because they will worry that the master will come back to scold and punish it, which is not the solution to the problem. The owner needs to be patient to find out the reason for the dog’s anxiety, in order to better prescribe the right medicine.