Separation Anxiety

Let’s talk about separation anxiety for a moment!
A label I hate, and a condition I personally find frustrating.
It’s often misused as a blanket term without understanding the actual cause.
Some dogs are just bored when they are left alone, some not trained to be alone, others left in a state of arousal.
Ask yourself does your dog stress because:
(Separation anxiety)- there are no humans with them?
(Separation frustration) (fomo! More frustration than anxiety.) – something is going on that they are not included in.
(Barrier frustration) – when there is a gate or blockage between you?
(Isolation distress) – They are alone completely isolated?
(Hyper- attachment) – they cannot cope without their primary care giver.

This list is not entire but for now I’ll expand on the last.
Hyper dependancy or hyper attachment can be common with rescue dogs. It is easy to understand why, they have lost everything, sometimes more than once. Now they have everything, food, warm bed, toys, treats, someone to look after their every need, they will never be hungry or cold again. It is easy for them to attach to their new owners a little too much and you almost become an enabler for the anxiety!
In the firsts fees weeks/ months it’s a fine balance with emotionally scared dogs, they need to feel safe and grow confidence. This will only happen with a bond and knowing they are supporting. But a hyper attachment will hinder this growth as they will use you as a shield, and ultimately may even begin to guard you as a prized procession they will not be able to cope for a second without you. They may even begin to look for signs that you may leave, (picking keys up ect) Their lives will be full of stress even if it’s subtle it can still lead to massive problems.

Sign of stress
Barking / howling / whining
Only eating with you.
Following you everywhere
Escaping
Drooling
Panting
Yawning
Licking
Wide eyes
Nervous
Soiling
Scratching (themselves or objects)
Lip licking
Shadow chasing
Pacing
Staying at the last place you were
Watching doors window
Chewing your things

Again this list goes on…

Most things you’ll read about solving this will not be aimed at rescue dogs with emotional baggage. Tread carefully you could make matters worse.

My rescue street dog ‘Goose’ came to me from Cyprus aged six and half months old, for 3 days I allowed him to bond and get used to his new home. I let him follow me everywhere and spent every minute with him.
From day 4, I closed the gate to the kitchen whilst cooking, making lunch or a brew. To begin with he sat with his nose pushed through the gap watching my every move. If I went out of sight he whimpered. If he had been quiet for a few seconds I would go back to the gate and give hime a treat. We built the time between treats, as he began to relax and lay by the gate whithout making a sound when I was out of sight. We extended this to me leaving the kitchen (through the other door) just out and back in, to start with.
For the next 11 days this is all I did, tiny little steps of time or in new area. Goose now lays in his bed on the landing when I shower. Stays in the lounge when I use the loo. Even stays in the lounge when I make a cuppa.
Today I left him in the house without a human for the first time.
I prepped by leaving the tv on, put my boots on, picked up my keys, all low key, no big fuss, dropped some treats on the floor and walked out.
I left the doors open so he could come to the hall gate and see I wasn’t there, he walked back and forth a few times and gave a little whimper or two. But that was it. I was out for 8 minutes, and at this point that’s fine, I will now build this up in tiny steps.
He needs to be happy on his own. Taking the time to get this right now will make things so much easier later on. He is an amazing little dog and deserves everything I can give him to ensure his further happy and stress free.