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Author: Dennis Hampton
There are quite a few things that can create anxiety in you animals at home but there are some things that you can do to minimize your dog's anxiety tendencies.
Here are a few do things.
Do:
Exercise the heck out of her. Really wear her out: the longer you expect to be away, the more exercise she should get before you leave.
For example, if you are leaving for work in the morning, she will probably be by herself for at least four hours; and, if you have got a dog-walker to take her out mid-day instead of coming back yourself, she will not see you as the person she really cares about - for at least nine hours.
So she needs a good, vigorous walk (fifteen to twenty minutes is the absolute minimum here!) before you walk out that door. More is even better.
Distract her from her boredom, loneliness, and anxiety by giving her an attractive alternative to pining, pacing, and whining. All dogs love to chew and why not play on this predisposition?
Get a couple of marrowbones from the butcher, bake them in the oven for 20 minutes (so they go nice and hard and crunchy and so she can not smear marrow all over your furniture), slice them up into chunks of a few inches long, and give her one about 15 minutes before you leave.
It will keep her happy and occupied, and will act as a smokescreen for your departure.
When you leave, put the radio on to a soothing station: classical music is ideal, but any station featuring lots of talk shows is also ideal. Keep the volume quite low, and it will calm her down a bit and give her the feeling that she has got company.
If at all possible, supply her with a view: if she can see the world going by, that's the next best thing to being out and about in it.
Acclimatize her to your leaving. Taking things nice and slowly, practice getting ready to go jingle your keys about, put on your coat, and open the door. Then without leaving sit back down and do not go anywhere.
Do this until she is not reacting any more. When there is no reaction, give her a treat and lavish praise for being so brave. Next, practice actually walking out the door (and returning immediately), again doing this until there is no reaction.
Gradually work up and gradually being the operative word here until you are able to leave the house with no signs of stress from her.
Do not:
Act overtly sympathetic when she is crying. Although it sounds very cold-hearted, trying to soothe and comfort your dog by patting her and cooing over her is actually one of the worst things you can do: that is essentially validating her concern.
Make sure she can not tell that you feel sorry for her: do not ever say, it is OK, good girl when she is upset!
If you are interested in getting a more detailed look at how to deal with your dogs separation anxiety, you might like to check out a recommended book which might help you with your dog's problems.
This book is a great learning tool for anyone who wants to learn how to deal constructively with their dogs problem behaviors.
As a mater of fact, all of the common behavioral problems are dealt with in detail in this book, and there is a great section on obedience commands and tricks too.
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