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.