subject: How To Train A Dog With Separation Anxiety [print this page] How To Train A Dog With Separation Anxiety
Are you having trouble getting your dog to survive alone in the house while you're at work or going on an outing? Because you know the situation when you get back is going to get really messy. Your house will probably end up in a haphazard fashion, your flower pots and plants in the garden all ruined, and sometimes you get cracks on your windows.
So, how to train a dog with separation anxiety? The roles for you, as the dog owner to play would be these few:
1. Act Stoical: Exclude the drama like "HELLO SWEETY, MAMA's HOME!!" during departure or arrivals at home. Having these gestures only increase the anxiety in your dog.
2. Tire your dog: Provide your dog a regular hobby in your absence like "Hide-and-seek-treats" or even better, have an agreement with your neighbor to "borrow" his/her dog over at your place to keep your dog company while you're gone.
3. Ignore your dog's lack of attention: Instead of heeding your dog's whines each moment, give it chew toys. The point is to divert its attention to something more emotionally detachable. Only give it the attention it deserves when it shows signs of independence.
4. Detect the object that sets the alarm: Your dog might get nervous when you put on your shoes or jingle the keys. Practice doing these spontaneously even if you aren't going out to teach your dog to be immune to these objects.
5. Lastly is to practice lengthening your absence. Click here to know more about this last step!
These basic tips are mainly for dogs with mild symptoms of separation anxiety. Serious cases of dogs anxiety can cause a dog to injure itself by chewing its own body parts or knocking itself against glass facing the main entrance of the house.
If you find the level of separation anxiety in your dog tantamount to that, then you are strongly advice to seek professional help from: http://www.squidoo.com/dog-problem-understanding-solution
