Avoiding Inter-Dog Separation Anxiety

When people talk about their dog having separation anxiety, they are usually referring to the fact that the dog can't cope being left by its human attachment figures, however, possibly just as common, is inter-dog separation anxiety. Inter-dog separation anxiety is when a dog becomes overly attached to another dog, and cannot cope being separated from the other dog. Whilst this most commonly occurs between litter sibling who are adopted/bought together and have grown up together, it can also occur between non-related dogs as well. It could be two non-related dogs of a similar age adopted together, it could be a new dog attaching to the already resident dog of the household, it could be a dog with special needs attaching to another dog out of necessity.

Whilst treating inter-dog separation anxiety is very much the same as treating dog-human separation anxiety (See here), today I am going to discuss how to avoid it completely.
If you already have a resident dog, when you bring your new dog into the household, here are some important steps you can take to avoid inter-dog separation anxiety. These steps also apply if you are bringing two siblings or two new dogs into the household at the same time, however this is not something I would recommend - see littermate syndrome

1. Practice separating the dogs for brief periods at a time. After the dogs have been exercised, fed and watered, let them have a nap in separate rooms so they learn to be relaxed by themselves.
2. Train them separately. This is not something you have to do every time you train, but by having fun training sessions with each individual dog while the other dog is out of the room, you are building up a positive association to being separated.
3. Take them on separate walks. Again, this is not something you have to do every time, but it is important to take each dog on a walk by themselves a couple of times a week so that you can work with them as an individual, and most importantly, get the dogs used to seeing the other dog go for a walk without them,  so that it never becomes an issue. If you are lucky enough to have a second person in your home, then taking one dog out for a walk while the other person has a fun training or play session while you are gone is a great way to build up a positive association to the other dog going out for a walk without them.
4. Allow them to eat their meals separately on occasion to build up a positive association to being separated. 
5. Be the most rewarding thing in your dog's life. Teach your dog that you are fun to be around because you play games and have treats and take them for fun interactive walks. This isn't to say that you shouldn't allow your two dogs to bond with each other, as this is an important part of having more than one dog. However you don't want your dog to think all of the good things in life are dependent on the other dog being there, e.g. games, food, meal times, walks etc. You want your dog to learn that these things happen regardless of whether or not the other dog is there.

If you want to avoid inter-dog separation anxiety, practice and maintain these easy steps as soon as you bring your new dog into the household. That way, you never have to worry about inter-dog separation anxiety.

Happy training :)