|
OVERCOMING SEPARATION
ANXIETY
- Sadie
Does your dog start pacing the moment it thinks you are
going to leave the house without it? Is its behavior less than ideal when
left alone? If so, your dog may be suffering from "Separation
Anxiety".
This is a compilation on what I have learned from by
experiences with my dog, Sadie, who was diagnosed with Separation Anxiety
(SA). While the information I have compiled is not original, I became very
interested in understanding the science behind what we were told to do to
resolve her issues. Having done this, I hope that this article will help
others find their way through their dog’s SA problem and discover the
wonderful animal just waiting to be freed from their fears.
We adopted Sadie from the local humane shelter, where she
had been ‘dumped’ outside the shelter. Therefore, I know none of her
history, but from appearances and examination by my veterinarian, she
appeared to be a healthy dog that was well cared for. She was ‘the
perfect dog’ until we left her alone. Then she jumped and scratched on
the doors and woodwork, soiled in the house, whined, howled, and paced
furiously. We know this because we video taped her after we began to see
the evidence of a problem when we left her.
Sadie is a beagle/spaniel mix and is approximately two to
three years old. She is a very loving dog and it is her general nature to
try to please.
The first step should always be a thorough examination by
your veterinarian to rule out illness or disease. Certain behaviors, such
as inappropriate soiling may be a medical implication. Also, a dog that is
not healthy may exhibit destructive behaviors simply due to stress on its
system from lack of proper nutrition or ailments. After a thorough
examination of Sadie, my veterinarian referred us to Dr. Andrew Leuscher
and Julie Shaw, RVT at Purdue University’s Animal Behavior Clinic. They
laid out our initial plan and were able to answer questions that arose
along the way. Selecting the right behaviorist is very important, as bad
advise and adverse programs still exist. A site that I feel lists good
information on how to make this selection is www.webtrail.com/petbehavior/guide.html
While, for the most part, I found their recommendations
worked for us, I did read an enormous amount of information in order to
understand why we were doing what we were doing. I read numerous articles
by searching the Internet for "separation anxiety in dogs". I
studied several excellent books. "The Culture Clash" by Jean
Donaldson explains basic obedience training and gives an excellent
explanation of dogs, their behavior and the way dogs process information.
"The Dog Who Loved Too Much" by Dr. Nicholas Dodman, deals with
behavior problems in an easy to read format. I also joined two Internet
egroups. I tried to keep an open mind while searching for answers,
ascertaining if the material seemed logical and analyzing Sadie's
behaviors to try to understand what her individual situation was so that I
could adapt accordingly.
One of the egroups, dogbehaviour, was particularly
informative and helpful. The members were able to relate their personal
experiences in a straightforward manner that was practical and beneficial.
One member suggested "talking" to Sadie, and while that may seem
a little odd, I do feel that it was a great asset to us that I didn't come
across in my other reading. I am sure that Sadie didn't understand my ‘words’,
but I feel she was able to find reassurance in my body language and voice
tone. This interaction seemed to take some of the pressure off of both of
us. Perhaps the best thing about finding a support group such as this is
knowing that you are not alone, hearing success stories, seeing the same
picture from another angle, and all of the encouragement that you receive.
Separation anxiety in its broadest terms means,
"anxiety brought on by separation from a dog’s person or
people". The behaviors include barking, whining, howling, chewing,
digging, scratching at confinements, self-mutilation, inappropriate
elimination and other destructive actions. In my opinion, in order to
determine if SA exists, two criteria must be met:
-
The dog must exhibit these behaviors only when left
alone.
-
The dog should be observed while you are gone by video
taping it so you can see exactly what it does, but more importantly,
to be able to analyze its body language to ascertain that the dog is
actually "panicked".
Most of the behaviors displayed in SA dogs are normal dog
behaviors. For example, if the dog chews on furniture when you are gone,
but by watching the tape there is no indication that the dog is panicked
because you left it, then the criteria has not been met. Instead, the dog
is chewing out of natural behavior. Puppies chew because chewing feels
good on their teeth. Adult dogs may chew out of boredom and having no
appropriate place to direct the chewing, learn that they can "get
away" with it when their owner is gone.
If you are able to establish a diagnosis of SA,
modifications need to be made in both your behavior and your dog’s
behavior. The listing includes the elements we used with Sadie. They are
based on our original plan that the behaviorist recommended and supported
by most of the information I have read. While some plans differ, this is
what we found worked for us. I feel that one thing that helped us achieve
our results so quickly was that we modified some instructions along the
way. For example, when given a reasonable time I saw that physically
inhibiting Sadie from following me did not appear to be working, I started
letting her follow. I did not encourage her to follow or reward her for
doing so, but giving her this freedom turned out to be an enormous turning
point in our journey, as I began to realize that for her, confinement made
the situation worse.
While not all dogs adopted from a shelter or rescue
exhibit SA, they are a large percentage of the dogs that are treated for
SA. Therefore, if you adopt, from the very beginning, assume that the dog
may have SA. There is nothing in the SA behavior modification that will
"ruin" the dog if SA isn’t an issue, but don’t even give the
dog one day to develop behaviors that you will have to change should the
find that SA does exist. This was the biggest mistake I could have made.
Sadie had a week of me reinforcing her dependence on me before I realized
that the SA existed. It is especially important for SA dogs to be
disciplined because it takes any pressure off of the dog to be "the
leader" and teaches them self-control.
Abandonment is not the only basis for SA to develop. Age
and health changes; changes in your home life including death, divorce, or
schedules; poor socialization; "puppy mill" dogs, and other
dramatic life events may bring about SA. There is information to suggest
that dogs, just as people, may have a pre-disposition towards the problem.
Many dogs that don’t suffer from SA are "Velcroä
Dogs", meaning they follow you everywhere, but SA dogs almost always
exhibit this behavior. That is where the SA comes from—the person that
they have over-bonded with. I believe that being in the shelter for eight
days brought on Sadie’s SA and then she over-bonded with me because I
was the one who opened the gate to give her "freedom". Feeling
sorry for her, I didn’t establish rules right from the beginning. Not
clearly establishing the dog’s place in his new family simply confuses
him. Pampering the dog is the worst thing you can do. You need to provide
structure and consistency along with your love.
Downplay departures. Ignore the dog for 15-20 minutes
before leaving and after returning home. Giving the dog attention before
leaving makes our leaving all that much more emotional for the dog. If we
make a fuss upon returning, then the dog excitedly anticipates our return.
The goal here is to even out the peaks and valleys the dog experiences
while being left alone, so that the dog is better able to cope. Initially,
Sadie started getting nervous as soon as she realized we might be leaving
and was totally out of control with joy when we returned home. As we
started practicing downplaying departures and returns, she was much more
controlled when we returned home and she is finally to the point that she
is relaxed within a minute or two of our return. She remained anxious when
she anticipated us leaving for quite some time, but is finally able to go
lie down now within a minute of our departure.
Select a toy to give only when you leave the dog. It will
become his "special" toy and since he doesn’t have access to
it any other time, will look forward to having it. A Kong stuffed with
goodies works well and will keep him entertained for quite a while. (See
article above). A Buster Cube might also capture his attention. Don’t be
discouraged if the dog ignores this toy initially. Sadie is just now
learning to play with toys and didn’t take an interest in her Kong until
later in our modification. Some sources recommend giving the dog a
"cue" that you are leaving and will return. The "special
toy" is, in some ways, a cue to your departure, but while it is a
signal, it can also become a much anticipated "reward" type of
signal.
I tried both playing a tape recording of my voice and
leaving a radio on, but did not see any change in Sadie’s behavior when
left alone with these. Some people say something to their dog on the way
out of the door such as "I’ll be back". It is my opinion,
based on my observations, that this has no meaning to a SA dog, unless the
habit was established as a puppy and before the SA.
Practice obedience in two to three short daily sessions.
The sessions need not be longer than five or ten minutes
initially. Teach sit, down, come, and stay. Everything else aside, all
dogs should be able to obey these basic commands. I used clicker training
with Sadie and we both found it to be great fun, but any type of positive obedience training will
work. Your ultimate goal is to be able to put the dog in a 30- minute stay
and leave the room. Obedience and the stay in particular, are fantastic
confidence builders for the dog.
Stays need to be developed over time. Initially, work in a
controlled environment, like your living room.
Start with one minute, then two minutes, five, ten, etc.
until you reach 30. If the dog stays reliably at five minutes,
but not at 10, you have progressed too fast, go back. When the stay is
reliable at 30 minutes, go back to one minute
and try walking out of the room. Continue to build on that. When adding
distractions or changing where you are
practicing the stay, start slowly again and build. While this sounds like
a lot of work, in just six short weeks, Sadie
was reliably doing a 30-minute stay in our front yard with me out of her sight. What this stay does for the SA dog is to help it
over-come the anxiousness it feels when wanting to break
the stay, learn that it is "OK’ when left by itself, and it is an
enormous confidence builder for the dog.
Exercise. How much exercise the dog needs depends on the
breed, age and health of the dog. This shouldn’t even be considered as
something extra you have to do for SA treatment. Healthy dogs should be
getting sufficient exercise as part of the normal routine, but it becomes
even more important with SA dogs. Include two 30-minute walks per day and
vary the places you walk the dog. This stimulates his mind with new
scents, sights, and exposure to various dogs and people. You can also
incorporate your obedience training into your walks. We practice sit/stays
and come. Fetch is good exercise if that appeals to your dog. We do
agility once a week and I have some makeshift agility equipment in the
yard that we use between sessions. A play session with other dogs is good
exercise and helps to develop confidence and social skills. Not only have
our walks and agility training helped keep Sadie’s energy level under
control, they have given her confidence in herself.
Ignore the dog for a minimum of three weeks on a casual
basis. Don’t let the dog initiate any attention.
The first day we did this I took it way too figuratively.
Sadie became physically ill because we literally pretended that she wasn’t
there. My opinion is that for a dog that can’t stand for you to be out
of its sight, you cannot go to this extreme. What I learned is that you
can have a lot of interaction with your dog including petting and praising
without it being at the dogs initiative. You can get some treats and teach
tricks, practice obedience, or take the dog for a walk. This modification
was the hardest for us to get used to, since we have always let our dogs
initiate attention, but I also feel that it was paramount in Sadie
learning she could stand on her own four legs and knowing she would be
fine even when we weren’t home.
Since we could only interact with Sadie when we were doing
training or exercise, without actually knowing what
we were doing, we had begun to practice "Nothing in Life is
Free" (NILIF). NILIF was devised by Dr.
Victoria Voith. It is a behavior modification that is sometimes used with
aggressive dogs, to teach them that you are in
charge and not them, in order to curb aggression. While we weren’t
dealing with an aggressive dog, we did feel that
Sadie needed to know that we were in charge so that all pressure would be off of her. For some dogs, anxiety at being left alone
increases because the dog feels that it must "take care of
the house". If the dog understands that you are in control, then the
safety of the family and house is not the dogs
responsibility. NILIF worked with our SA problem because it teaches the
dog restraint and self-control since the dog must "earn"
everything it wants. You simply make the dog do something, a trick or obedience command, before it gets anything. So you can
use NILIF constantly. When you feed the dog, let him
out, get ready for a walk or a play session, anything else the dog wants
it doesn’t get until it does what you ask of
it. An added benefit is that you will end up with a dog that doesn’t
bolt out of the door, since he is accustomed to
sitting until you release him before being let out.
Practice desensitization and planned departure. If locking
another house door is the "trigger" that starts the anxiety when
you get ready to leave, then lock the door relentlessly until the dog no
longer cares, then move on to the next "trigger. Go through all the
"triggers" until you get no reaction from the dog. (You can work
on some of this while doing other things. For example, keys can be picked
up and jingled while you are cooking.) Planned
departure is where you go through all the steps that you would normally do
before leaving, but don’t actually leave.
Initially you will simply step out the door then step back in. Build on
time as you see your dog being able to let this
happen without getting upset. The whole point of planned departure is to
be "back" before your dog can exhibit
anxiety signs. It is important that you use some sort of signal that this
is just "practice", such as leaving
the television on, so that the dog disassociates actual departures from
these sessions.
Anti-anxiety medication is available as both traditional
medication and homeopathic remedies. The prescription drug of choice at
present is Clomicalmä . Any responsible
behaviorist or veterinarian will require a complete physical and blood
work-up before beginning the treatment. From my reading, it appears that
European countries may tend to use Holistic treatment more than we do here
in the states and the participants in one egroup that I subscribe to seem
to achieve the desired results with alternative medicine.
Sadie was on the Clomicalmä
because that is the drug our behaviorist recommended. Be advised that you will probably not notice any significant effects of
this drug for approximately three weeks. With Sadie, it was
about three and one-half weeks when we noticed a dramatic decrease in her
anxiety. In one of the egroups that I am in,
there were numerous posts from people who had used the Clomicalmä
. Most felt that it had made a momentous
difference in their dog’s anxiety, a few noticed no improvement, but I
found no negative posts regarding health
concerns. As with any drug, I feel that it is important to closely monitor
the patient for possible side effects. It is
crucial to understand that the drug alone does not cure the SA. It simply
helps to reduce anxiety so that the dog can learn more quickly and with
less mental stress to the dog.
What typically doesn’t work is:
Crating or confinement. This may well be the biggest
issue of controversy among behaviorists. Even though my behaviorist
recommended trying to crate train Sadie, their handout states "it
is important not to confine a dog with SA when it is alone because the
more confinement, the greater the anxiety. An exception may be a very
well crate trained dog that feels safe in a roomy crate." So what
they were trying to achieve is an acceptance of the crate so that it
could be used to limit house damage. Sadie never "accepted"
being in the crate we bought for her, despite our efforts to make it a
very positive experience. She was even averse to going near it and we
never got as far as trying to leave her in it when we left! Even
gating off sections of the house troubled her and she found ways to
either jump the gates or climb out of the room at another area.
I believe that the reasoning behind this can be compared
to what we now know about humans with anxiety disorders.
The nerve ends in the area of the brain that control peoples "fight
or flight" response become, for some
reason, "over sensitive". Therefore they "over
react" to certain stimuli, causing "panic". Since we know that dogs react to situations with either
"fight or flight", I think it is reasonable to assume that basically this is what happens to them. As with
humans who have anxiety disorders, the panic may start with
only one situation, but tends to escalate to include others. So
sometimes, for the dog that fears being left
alone and is panicked, the confinement just intensifies the anxiety.
Some philosophies insist on confining the dog due to the
amount of destruction the dog is effecting. With the noted exception in
the above paragraph of a previously crate trained dog, my reading of
actual situations indicates that while the dog is limited from
destroying your house, confined in a crate he may cause injury to
himself. I read horror stories where the dog tried to dig or chew its
way from the crate, only to have the owner come home and find him
bleeding, with claws dug raw or even ripped from the paws or broken or
missing teeth. At best, you may simply come home to a dog that is
soaking wet and stinks because its anxiety was so great that it
eliminated in the crate or it slobbered all over itself from panting
continuously. For a seriously destructive dog, that won’t accept
confinement, I would try to avoid leaving him alone until the behavior
modification program has time to work. Find a "sitter" or
"doggie daycare".
Another angle on the validity of confining is that a dog
having free run of the house may "find it too much area to take
care of" and confinement limits the area the dog is
"responsible" for, thus decreasing anxiety. Maybe this is why
some dogs accept a crate as a "den". Not feeling responsible
for any area other than their immediate proximity is reassuring to them.
Sadie does not fit into this category. She despises any confinement,
which may tie directly back in to the confinement forced upon her at the
shelter.
Getting another dog. While in the overall scheme of
life, two dogs are great company and entertainment for each other; the SA exists because of the
over-attachment to the owner. Another dog does not compensate
for that attachment. When Sadie would have a "doggie friend"
here and we left them, there was no noticeable
difference in her anxiety.
Punishment. Understanding that a dog cannot make the
association of what he is being punished for unless caught in the act
goes a long way to understanding basic training. On top of this, SA
dogs lack self-confidence so punishment just reinforces this
submissiveness.
The expectation behind behavior modification is to build
the dogs’ confidence and independence. As the dog begins to gain these,
the anxiety of being left alone decreases and is replaced with positive
images. Once the dog starts exhibiting brief periods of relaxation when
left, the effect beings to "snowball". Because the negative
images are being replaced with positive images it is self-reinforcing. In
an ideal situation, the dog would never be left alone until the
modification was complete. Thus, replacing the negative images would take
less time and work.
It is important that you reinforce the behavior
modification throughout the dogs’ lifetime. While you don’t need to
continue with planned departures and desensitization, continue to downplay
the departures/returns, continue to practice basic obedience skills,
especially the stays, maintain sufficient exercise, and follow the NILIF
routine. Don’t let the dog relapse into dependence on you or losing his
newly found self-esteem.
I now realize that there are dogs with far worse SA than
Sadie had, but when you love your dog and watch it suffer, there is no
such thing as a mild case. Not only is the dog miserable, but so is the
owner because you feel trapped in your house and scared and guilty when
you leave the dog. Try to keep a positive attitude while working on the
behavior modifications. Patience is key here. Use praise plentifully.
Remember, you are trying to make the dog "feel good about
itself" and become confident of its’ ability to function without
you. The joy that you feel when you first know that the dog is going to be
‘ok’ with your being gone is one of the best feelings you will ever
experience!
EPILOG
I think it is important to keep my article on SA a work in
progress, as time always brings changes. About three weeks after writing
the original article, Sadie started showing signs of regression. It
started out as little things, such as the rug by the back door being
shoved up against it when we would come home. Coming home to a dog that
was extremely excited and jumping all over. Until finally, one day, we
recorded her again. She was jumping on the front door, leaving slobber
marks all the way up the glass, tearing through the house from one door to
the other, and unable to lie down for longer that a minute or two. The
good news was that she wasn't digging at the doors and woodwork; wasn't
howling; and wasn't eliminating in the house as she had in the beginning.
Initially I was very frustrated and felt like all we had
done was wasted, but then I became determined not to let this undermine
all the progress we had made. So I sat back and started analyzing what I
knew. She definitely wasn't as anxious as she had been before we started
the behavior modification but was not relaxed like she was while on the
Clomicalmä . Then it hit me. Since the
Clomicalmä takes about three weeks initially
to start working it was reasonable to assume that it would take about
three weeks to totally get out of her system. We had weaned her off
slowly, but it was possible I was seeing some "withdrawal". It
also seemed reasonable that since the drug suppresses the anxiety, at the
point that it was totally out of her system, she would now feel any
remaining anxiety and have to deal with it without the help of the drug.
We were still using most of the behavior modifications,
but had slacked off some on the intensity of our obedience sessions. So we
went back to work. Of course, she knows her commands well because we use
them daily in NILIF, but I had gotten pretty lax about doing any long
stays. So that was first. We went back to a 30-minute stay once a day.
Next I had to find a way to make her Kong irresistible
again, so that she would fill her most anxious moments (those within the
first 15 minutes or so after leaving) with the desire to get all the
goodies in the Kong. I put a few small pieces of lunchmeat between the
layers of kibble and other treats and that took care of that problem! She
would stand there and watch me fill it. When I was finished and getting
around to leave, she was guarding the counter where it was, lest I forget
to give it to her! So when we are ready to leave and she gets the Kong,
she has a choice--follow us or start enjoying her Kong. She has been
choosing the Kong. I believe she actually looks forward to us leaving
because she wants that Kong so much! Now she is rather impatient about
getting it once she knows that is what is going to happen, which is as it
should be!
Another thing I realized, was that if we left in staggered
schedules, she was not nearly as anxious as when we both left at the same
time. As a matter of fact, she was relaxed enough with me leaving for work
that she never even budged from the couch to follow me to the door. So
when we were going somewhere together, I would leave before my husband. I
would put the garage door up and back the car out, then shut if off and he
would come out in about five minutes. Initially, I tried just going out
into the garage and waiting, but it didn't fool her. She knew I was still
home. What her different behaviors indicated to me was that what anxiety
remained was something she could control, if experienced in moderation. We
could control that moderation by not "pulling the rug out from under
her" by both leaving together.
These minor adjustments seemed to have worked, because she
is again doing well when left alone. As a matter of fact, she is napping
back in the bedroom while we are gone and we get all the way in the house
before that little nose appears!
I should also add that her personality has
changed dramatically over the course of the five months we have had her.
Initially, she was very insecure, submissive, and showed no interest in
toys. Simultaneous to us weaning her off of the Clomicalmä , she became a
very energetic dog. For a few weeks she was literally "wild dog
Sadie"! She had more energy than she or I knew what to do with! She
also discovered her toys and how to play with them during this time.
Actually, it was almost like a dog going through adolescence…like she
was experiencing the joys of life for the first time! It would seem that
now her personality has leveled out a bit. While she still has a good
amount of energy, it is what one would reasonably expect to see, not such
an exaggerated form. She seems to have a good balance of confidence and
submissiveness--enough confidence to stand on her own four feet and enough
submissiveness to be a pleasure to train. Of course, the one thing that
has remained the same is the sweet, loving dog that she always has been!
Copyright ã 2000 by Karen Sollars. All
rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by an information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the author. |
