This is from the website wagntrain.com. I thought these tips might help!
Here are some things you can do to
help.
Try to make your arrivals and departures very boring
and low-key. Don't make a big fuss over saying hello and goodbye. Be very casual
and up-beat.
Try to make interactions with your dog on your terms,
not his. You pet him, treat him, or play with him when you want, and not when
he asks for it.
Get your dog used to your getting-ready-to-leave
cues, like picking up keys and jacket. Go through these actions repeatedly during
the time when you're staying home, without actually leaving. If your dog has
already learned to associate his fears with your departure cues, it will take
a lot of repetitions before the dog will get it.
Give your dog more exercise. A tired dog is a good
dog! A dog can sleep most of the day if he's tired enough. Most young dogs could
use 20-100 minutes of full-speed running per day. Increase your dog's
exercise. Don't forget mental exercise, like training, exploring new places,
encountering new smells, and social interaction with other dogs. Taking your
dog to a park where he can run and play with others may be crucial.
Give your dog something to do while you're gone!
What does your dog do all day- wait around for you to come home? Give your dog
a hobby. Jean Donaldson calls the solution to a lot of dog problems "work-to-eat"
programs. Stuff a Kong or a hollow prepared bone, fill up a Buster Cube or Roll-A-Treat,
scatter the dog's food in the grass or hide several chew treats around the house. A dog that is working for goodies is not barking or chewing,
and a dog that is eating is not as stressed!
Don't draw attention to forbidden objects just before
leaving - in other words, don't straighten up or point out the items that you
don't want the dog to chew. Your dog might misinterpret your attention and give
those objects his attention just because of it. In a similar way, punishing
your dog afterwards for destruction he's done will probably not help - it will
not reduce your dog's anxiety, show him a better way to deal with it, or give
him an alternative behavior. He might not even connect the punishment with the
action he did to cause the destruction. (Don't confuse a dog's "appeasement
display", developed to stop threats of aggression, with a "guilty
look" that implies a promise that your dog won't do it again.)
Consider crating your dog. Some dogs are more comfortable
when confined to a small "den". Make sure your dog can "hold
it" for as long as you need him to, and provide plenty of exercise so that
his main activity in the crate is sleeping. You might just want to consider
leaving your dog in one room (rather than giving him the run of the house),
and maybe leaving a radio on and an article of clothing that smells like you
in the next room. Warning: Some dogs are a lot less comfortable confined
to a crate when alone. Make sure your dog is comfortable and secure.
Consider taking your dog to doggie daycare or to
a friend's house (or to work or on errands with you), so that he is not actually
alone, while you train your dog to deal with being alone. Remember, dogs are
pack animals that want to be with others; being a "lone wolf" can
be dangerous in the wild, as well as lonely. Note that for many dogs who have
bonded strongly with people, having another dog (or other pet) around will not
be sufficient.
Practice What You Want
Get your dog used to being confined to a pen or
room where you will eventually leave him, even when you're home. Give him chew
toys or some other interactive toy to occupy himself with while you quietly
remain near by and ignore him. If your dog abandons the toy to try to demand
your attention, quietly get him interested in the toy again, and quietly praise
him for playing with it. Go back to ignoring him for a very brief period, and
then intermittently, quietly praise or reward him for it. Practice this quiet
confinement for a little while, then quietly open the door or gate and go about
your business, allowing the dog to leave that area as well. This will be your
dog's "safety zone". Do NOT leave your dog in this area when you must
actually leave - for now.
Throughout your time together, do not give in to
your dog's demands for your attention. If he comes to you whining, pawing, barking,
jumping, jumping into your lap, or rubbing up against your hand, quietly turn
away from him (you can stand up a little slowly to softly dump a small dog out
of your lap). Wait until your dog is doing something else that is acceptable
(not demanding your attention), and then call him over for some attention. Remember,
if your dog can get your attention on demand any time you are home, it will
be an even sharper contrast when you are gone.
Some research has suggested that this process of
no longer allowing your dog on your lap or your furniture, no longer allowing
him to sleep in your room, no longer giving treats"for free", and
no longer allowing your dog to follow you throughout the house (using doors,
baby gates, "stay" commands, etc.) may be vital for some separation
anxiety cases. You may want to try a "Nothing In Life is Free" program.
Next, pick a day (or two) when you can practice
desensitization without having to actually leave - a weekend is a pretty good
time to start.
Desensitize Your Dog To Your Getting-Ready-To-Go
Cues
Figure out what begins your dog's anxiety. Is it
when you put on your work shoes? Brush your hair? Pick up your keys? Find the
earliest item in your getting-ready-to-go sequence that makes your dog anxious.
Then practice doing that action, over and over again, until your dog is no
longer anxious about it. For example, put on your work shoes, then take
them off, then put them on again, over and over. You don't need to talk to your
dog or do anything else special. Act just like you do every morning when you
put on those shoes. When your dog is no longer anxious when you put on your
shoes, move to the next step in your normal morning sequence; perhaps brushing
your hair. (Note that if your dog's anxiety does not decrease after several
repetitions, you are probably not working on the first item in your getting-ready-to-go
sequence, and you'll need to back up).
Repeat this exercise several times a day (5-10 times
if possible), starting each sequence at a time when the dog is relaxed. Do NOT
repeat the exercise if your dog seems MORE anxious when you start, or if he
can't settle down in between repetitions, or if he follows and watches you MORE
between exercises.
You will have to spend a LOT of time with the early
items in your getting-ready-to-go sequence, but as your dog learns to deal with
this sort of thing, it will get easier. Opening up the front door (presumably
the last item in your getting-ready-to-go sequence) will take fewer repetitions
than the first item (putting on work shoes, in this example)
Practice Short-Enough Absences
When you've worked through your whole getting-ready-to-go
sequence and your dog is no longer anxious, you're ready for your first absence
session. Up to now, your dog with separation anxiety has associated absences
with intense anxiety. The dog has to now learn to associate absences with a
lack of anxiety, or calmness. You and the dog will practice being apart
from each other for very short lengths of time - the time that your dog can
handle - and you will gradually practice longer and longer lengths.
So you've gone through your whole getting-ready-to-go
sequence, and your dog is not yet anxious (if your dog is anxious, you
are not ready to do any absences. Go over repeating the sequence items until
your dog is calm about them). Now you're ready for your first very short absence.
First you're going to want to give your dog some signal that this is just a
"practice session". This could involve asking the dog to stay in a
different area (such as the pen or room you practiced in), leaving a radio on,
even spraying a certain scent in the air. This becomes a "practice cue"
or a "safety cue".
Walk out the door, shut it behind you, lock it,
and then turn around, unlock it, and come back in. Don't make a fuss over the
dog. Repeat. When your dog is not anxious, lengthen your absence to 2 seconds.
Repeat until your dog is not anxious. Lengthen your absences to 3 seconds, with
occasional 1-second absences. Repeat until your dog is not anxious. Continue
with this process, gradually increasing the length of time you are gone. Every
once in a while practice a shorter session - you don't want the dog to learn
that each absence will be longer, as this might make him more anxious. Gradually
increase the average length of time of your absence until the dog is alone for
longer than your normal absence. (although some researchers write that two hours
is a benchmark, after which the dog may be able to handle significantly longer
time.) Yes, that means you will NOT be able to really leave the dog alone in
the "safety zone" for longer than you've successfully practiced. Keep
your dog in the old place where you had him wait, and/or hire a dog sitter,
etc.
It might help to set up some cues that the dog will
not be alone for longer than he can handle, in other words, that this is just
a practice session. Do you normally leave the radio or TV on when you're home?
If you do, the silence when you're gone is a good indicator that the dog is
alone. During this training, set up a cue that says "this is just a practice",
such as the sound of the radio or a Mozart CD that you leave on "repeat"
on the CD player. When you really do leave, you will continue to play this same
cue - the dog will always believe that this is just a practice session.
Note: Some medications, such as the tricyclic antidepressants,
buspirone and benzodiazepines (possibly clomipramine hydrochloride, "Clomicalm"
or amitryptalline), may help your dog get over his anxiety. These MUST be prescribed
by a knowledgeable veterinarian. However, some of these may take a few weeks
to take effect, so you will need to make sure the medications are in effect
before you try to use them in combination with the desensitization. The medications
will not work in the long-term without the desensitization/counter-conditioning
work - the process of teaching the dog how to deal with being left alone.
Another thing you might want to consider is a product
which is a sort of doggy "plug-in" called "Comfort Zone with
DAP", which releases a chemical which is supposed to be a dog comforting
hormone. It often helps to calm stressed or exited dogs down. See petcomfortzone.com
for more information. For some "anxious dogs" it seems to really help take
the edge off of their anxiety or intensity. Some researchers suggest that it
may be as effective as clomipramine.
This is an outline of the steps that you must go
through to help your dog deal with separation anxiety. The process takes a long
time - weeks or months - and you may find that an experienced dog trainer or
behaviorist can help the process go more smoothly and more quickly. To find
a trainer near you, check www.clickerteachers.net.
Good Luck!