Separation anxiety may be diagnosed if your pet shows excessive inappetance, drooling, destruction of objects, howling, barking, or “accidents” of urine or stool within 15-30 minutes of your leaving your home or otherwise leaving them alone (or for some poor pets just your leaving the room) and that they do not show these behaviors while you are in their presence. Please note; contrary to popular opinion, pets are not acting out of spite when they have accidents during such panic attacks, they are exhibiting signs of great inner stress and should never be punished for such behavior! Doing so would only likely make your pet even more anxious and more likely to repeat the behavior! A physical exam, +/- lab tests and history can be helpful in finding other underlying problems as well as serving as a baseline if anti-anxiety medications are to be used. Behavior modification exercises will need to be done to help achieve a safe, predictable, and more independent life for these pets.

All pets, especially anxious dogs, must learn that they must sit and wait calmly for anything they want, whether it is love, food, walks, treats, petting, or just going outside. There must be no exceptions to this rule!

GENERAL RULES ARE:
1) Never try to “calm” or “reassure” a pet right before leaving it alone since this will reinforce its’ anxious behavior! In fact, “calming” an anxious pet is actually rewarding its’ nervousness in its’ mind!
2) Even more importantly, when you return home avoid eye contact and avoid “fussing over” your pet until it is acting very calm and quiet. Then at a later time you may “fuss over it” when it has calmed down and thereby you are rewarding “calmness”. Remember to be soothing; a quiet voice and slow petting or rubbing is better than fast “pats”.
3) Try to figure what your pet is cueing in on that tells it you are leaving, such as picking up car/house keys, brief case, turning off computer/tv/stereo, etc. These actions can “tell” a pet that you are about to leave. Try doing these tasks way ahead of the time when you must leave so your pet cannot predict as well when you are about to leave (and thereby getting its’ insides worked up)! If you notice signs of impending anxiety (panting inappropriately, heart rate increased, pacing or constantly watching your every move, or excessively self-grooming) leave as soon as possible (do not try to calm) so as not to prolong the anxiousness.

4) Give your pet something to distract that it has learned is fun and comforting (such as a rawhide or “booda bone”) before it ever has a chance to become anxious before your departure.

Teaching your pet to sit patiently and calmly for everything they want will be of great help! Of course, this should be practiced during calm periods. We may also prescribe anti-anxiety or anti-panic medicines as help for tough cases but these are done on a case-by-case basis. Please call for a consultation appointment to discuss any specific problems your pet may be encountering.