Minimising Contrast for your Separation Anxiety Dog

It can be one of the greatest feelings in the world; coming home to your dog, jumping into your arms, giving you wet kisses, tail wagging a million miles a second. It makes us feel like we're loved. It makes us feel important. So we fuss our dogs right back so they know we're happy to see them too. So what's the issue? For a separation anxiety dog, this massive contrast between when you were gone, and when you are home only serves to increase their anxiety. Instead, we want our dogs to feel like us being gone is no big deal. To achieve this, it means creating a window of calmness on either side of your absence.

If you want to say a big goodbye to your dog, do it before you even start getting ready, at least half an hour before you leave. Don't make a big fuss of him just as you are walking out the door! Again, this just creates a huge contrast for him between you being home and you being gone. If you want to spend a bit of time with your dog before you go, have a calm session of gentle massage or Tellington TTouch This will actually help to lower your dog's blood pressure and heart rate which will lower his anxiety and increase calmness.

When you get home after an absence, you don't have to flat out ignore your dog, but don't engage with him either. Just go about your business, and if you want to, talk to him in a calm, soft manner. Don't create or encourage excitement around your arrival home. It might make you feel great, but it won't help your dog in the long run. Wait 20 minutes or so before fully engaging with your dog so that you have effectively minimised the contrast between your absence and your arrival home.

Happy Training :)

Splitting Hairs - Separation Anxiety in Dogs

So often when owners come to me with dogs suffering from separation anxiety, they will say things like,

"My dog is fine if I get up and leave the room, but I can't close the door,"

Or,

"My dog will be happy in his crate, but not if I leave the room."

On the surface, these seem like real road blocks. In reality, they highlight the incredible importance of splitting criteria when working with separation anxiety. What splitting criteria means, is that instead of expecting the dog to go from being comfortable with the door fully open, to being comfortable with the door fully closed in one big step, we add in little steps along the way to make the transition easier for the dog. In this particular scenario, it might look like this;

1. walking out of the room and returning
2. walking out of the room and touching the door handle and then returning
3. walking out of the room and moving the door an inch, and then returning
4. walking out of the room and moving the door 3 inches and then returning
5. walking out of the room and closing the door half way, opening it again and then returning
6. walking out of the room and closing the door 3/4 of the way, making sure you stay in full view of your dog, opening it again and then returning
7. walking out of the room and closing the door 3/4 of the way so that only half of you is visible to the dog, opening the door and then returning
8. walking out of the room and closing the door almost all the way with your leg sticking into the room so the dog can see it, opening the door and then returning
9. walking out of the room and closing the door almost all the way leaving just your foot sticking into the room so the dog can see it, opening the door and then returning
10. walking out of the room and closing the door almost all the way leaving just your big toe sticking into the room so the dog can see it, opening the door and then returning.
11. walking out of the room, closing the door almost all the way and being completely out of view from your dog, opening the door and then returning
12. walking out of the room, closing the door almost all the way, twist the handle as though you were going to completely shut the door but then open it again and return to your dog
13. walking out of the room and shut the door completely, open it immediately and return to your dog.

So as you can see, what humans would naturally see as one step, is actually made up of over 10 steps, and it could be easily split into more steps if the dog needed. It is natural for humans to lump things together, but in order to build our dogs confidence and allow them to transition smoothly to the next level, we must provide them with an unlimited amount of steps. Splitting criteria doesn't only apply to the door scenario, but to every aspect of treating separation anxiety. If your dog can handle a 5 second absence but not a 6 second absence, then split the criteria and aim for 5 and a half seconds, or even 5.25 seconds.

Criteria can always be split. To you, the difference between 6 seconds and 5 and a half seconds might very well seem like splitting hairs, but to your dog, it may be the difference between total calm and major panic! So if you feel like you've hit a wall, and you can't seem to make any progress, then take a step back and think about how you can split criteria for your dog. Once you provide him with enough little steps, he will eventually reach the big picture.

The Adolescent Dog

The Adolescent Dog

Adolescence is a developmental stage that all dogs go through, and actually consists of different stages, including juvenile, flight period, second fear impact stage and adolescence. Generally, an adolescent dog will start to push boundaries and may turn a deaf ear. Some dogs will be suddenly fearful or reactive towards things they weren't before. It is important to understand that these are all natural stages in a dog's development and they are nothing to be worried about. Male dogs may also start to exhibit mounting behaviours both on other dogs and potentially people as well. If this does happen, it is important not to punish your dog for something he cannot help. Just redirect his attention with a toy or game. 

The most important thing about living with an adolescent dog is to be consistent. Continue with training and socialisation to ensure your dog matures into a well balanced and well mannered companion. Never punish your dog for what you may perceive as misbehaviour. Dogs don’t do anything maliciously. They are simply responding to triggers and particularly during this time in their life, responding to hormones in their body. It is very important to ensure your dog is receiving appropriate physical exercise and mental stimulation, and that you are continuing in your relationship building by playing games and positive reinforcement training. 

As much as possible, don’t set your dog up to fail. Don’t leave items you don’t want chewed up within your dog’s reach. Don’t leave food on the bench where he might steal it, unless you are doing specific training exercises for ‘leave it.’ Ensure your dog has plenty to do and that you are catering to all of his needs. For example, if you have a terrier, you might consider getting a sandpit and teaching him to dig in the sandpit only. If you have a herding dog, make sure you give them a chasing outlet, like playing fetch or playing with a flirt pole. If you have a scent hound, make sure you are playing scent work games with your dog. Giving your dog appropriate outlets for their natural behaviour will help to prevent them doing these behaviours at times you might deem inappropriate.

Don’t let your dog off lead where he has the opportunity to ignore you when you call him. 

Socialisation is key during adolescence, not just with other dogs but with every day things such as people, skateboards, trucks etc. Ensure that they are all positive experiences through the use of treats and toys, and this will help to prevent fearful behaviours around these things in the future. 

Make sure your walks with your dog are interactive, using treats, and toys, as well as the environment. By interacting with your dog in a fun way on his walks, he is learning that you are the most interesting thing in the world, and will help prevent unwanted behaviours such as barking and lunging on leash and pulling on the lead. It will also help to tire your dog out much better.

Remember that adolescence is a stage in your dog’s life and with continued positive reinforcement training, socialisation and relation building, your dog will mature into a well balanced dog. 

Happy Training

Letting our dogs decide!

Often people feel as though they are in competition with their dog. For example, the human must always win a game of tug of war, or if a dog wants to go in a certain direction on the walk, the human must go another way to make sure the dog doesn't feel like it is in charge. It seems as though in many people's minds, allowing a dog to make its own decisions one day, will surely lead to world domination the next. But if we take a look at the dynamic between most dogs and their owners, we start to see a pattern emerging.

When it comes to food (the most valuable resource for most dogs), it is in fact the owner who decides when, where, what and how much the dog will eat.
In most cases, unless the dog lives outside all the time, the owner decides when and where the dog is allowed to go to the toilet.
Again, in most cases, the owner decides where the dog will sleep. In most cases, the owner decides where the dog walks, what the dog is allowed to do and not allowed to do, when the dog has to go outside, when it is allowed inside, when the dog has to go into its crate, when it is allowed out! If you are a breeder, who decides when, where and with whom the dog will mate with? In most cases the owner decides when the dog will get attention and when they won't, when they are allowed to go the park and when they are not.
The list goes on but in summary, every single resource that matters to your dog is controlled by you - the owner. Could you imagine living in a world where you had very little free choice? A world in which all of your basic needs being met, was completely dependent on someone else? A world in which any requests made by you to have your needs fulfilled were either ignored or denied?

How often have you heard your dog scratching at the back door to go to the toilet, but because you were busy, you ignored them, knowing they could hold it for ten minutes.
How often have you been on a walk and your dog was insisting on smelling a particular bush, but because you were in a rush, or even just because you were impatient, you hurried on past?
Could you imagine if you were really hungry, and your partner told you, you weren't allowed to eat anything because your allotted meal time was still 2 hours away. Or if you were walking down the street and you passed a store that you really wanted to pop into, just to look around, and your friend grabbed your hand and dragged you in the opposite direction and made you go into a different store instead. Or maybe you're watching a movie on t.v. with your partner, and you suddenly need the bathroom, but when you get up to go, your partner forces you to wait until the end of the movie.

So maybe if these scenarios occurred in jest, they might be acceptable, but not if they occurred on a regular basis. If you had to deal with this on a daily basis, imagine how downtrodden, how oppressed you would start to feel. Relationships are about balance, and this is no different when it comes to the relationship between you and your dog. I'm not saying we should allow our dogs to make all of the decisions, because we would probably end up with a dog that behaved inappropriately. However, allowing our dogs to make their own decisions, and respecting and allowing for their choices when it is safe and appropriate to do so, will dramatically improve your dog's confidence, make for a happier, more stimulated dog, and strengthen your relationship with your dog.

So next time Fido wants to stop and sniff the bushes for ten minutes, for goodness sake just let him!