episode with separation anxiety

Discussion of Victoria's TV show, It's Me or the Dog.

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gingersowner
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Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2008 5:43 pm

episode with separation anxiety

Post by gingersowner »

The other day, I saw an episode with a black dog (maybe lab mix?) that had separation anxiety. She also hated the mailman and, when the owners ate, would drool until she got food.
One of my dogs has separation anxiety, where she refuses to think about anything other than the person who left. We've tried giving her the Kongs with peanut butter stuffed inside, but she won't stop whining and barking for long enough to eat it.
Unfortunately, I had to take care of my puppy, and missed the part where Victoria fixed the separation anxiety (my sole reason for watching that episode).
Can anyone tell me what Victoria did to solve the problem?
cassiesloveableowner
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:14 pm
Location: Connecticut, USA

Post by cassiesloveableowner »

I think the dogs name was teo. Victoria helped the seperation anxiety by leaving the room and coming back in. She did this so teo realized the owners were always going to come back. (if im wrong, please correct me!) :mrgreen:


I hope this helps you out,


Cassiesloveableowner :mrgreen:
Mollysmom
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Post by Mollysmom »

this is true, separation anxiety starts when a dog notices your "about to leave" routine. so by "leaving" over and over again, for only a few seconds at a time you can desensitize your pet to your being gone.

Start by sitting calmly, watching television, folding socks, whatever, get up, grab your keys and coat, or purse or whatever, as soon as you notice your dog starting to show "stress" (he gets up, follows you around, etcetera) then put everything down and sit again. as soon as the dog calms down again get up and prepare to leave again
as soon as the dog shows stress or tension, sit again.
eventually you'll make it out the door, come immediately back in, put everything down and sit.
then do it again, coming back in within seconds.
eventually your dog will get bored and lose interest in your comings and goings.
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ckranz
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Location: San Diego CA

Post by ckranz »

Mollysmom wrote:this is true, separation anxiety starts when a dog notices your "about to leave" routine. so by "leaving" over and over again, for only a few seconds at a time you can desensitize your pet to your being gone.

Start by sitting calmly, watching television, folding socks, whatever, get up, grab your keys and coat, or purse or whatever, as soon as you notice your dog starting to show "stress" (he gets up, follows you around, etcetera) then put everything down and sit again. as soon as the dog calms down again get up and prepare to leave again
as soon as the dog shows stress or tension, sit again.
eventually you'll make it out the door, come immediately back in, put everything down and sit.
then do it again, coming back in within seconds.
eventually your dog will get bored and lose interest in your comings and goings.
Another common thing i hear with sep anxiety is many people (self included) want to say good bye to their pets. It becomes a ritual, you grab your stuff, bend down to get in that one last pet and then leave.

Make both your commings and goings as matter of fact as possible. If your dog is nervouse about seperation, that pet good bye may be triggering his nervousness about your leaving.

Likewise, that excitement of when you get back home. Many of us think about and miss our pals when we are gone or more than an hour. Of course the longer we are away, the more we want to pet and interact with our pets the second we walk in the door. This attention serves to reinforce the hyperness our dogs have about coming home, and also aggrivates the anxiety from seperation.

The hardest training you will ever do is to ignore your dogs for the first 5 minutes when coming home. Its hard because its hard on oneself. I have been through it and still do that with my trio. Its hard, I want to roll around on the carpet and get my kisses the second i walk in the door. But I know by waiting, I have a much calmer greeting, and have found much less disarray of the house when I am out.
Gershep1
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 7:06 am

Post by Gershep1 »

ckranz wrote:Another common thing i hear with sep anxiety is many people (self included) want to say good bye to their pets. It becomes a ritual, you grab your stuff, bend down to get in that one last pet and then leave.

Make both your commings and goings as matter of fact as possible. If your dog is nervouse about seperation, that pet good bye may be triggering his nervousness about your leaving.

Likewise, that excitement of when you get back home. Many of us think about and miss our pals when we are gone or more than an hour. Of course the longer we are away, the more we want to pet and interact with our pets the second we walk in the door. This attention serves to reinforce the hyperness our dogs have about coming home, and also aggrivates the anxiety from seperation.

The hardest training you will ever do is to ignore your dogs for the first 5 minutes when coming home.
This is such good advice. I managed to get through 30 years without a separation anxiety dog and then got one because the puppy needed big time socialization, so I solved one problem but created another.

I know a lot of people on this board will hate this, but I got my clue from Cesar Millan, who basically said the same thing: don't make a big deal out of leaving and don't make a big deal out of coming home. Worked like a charm.
ckranz
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Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:18 pm
Location: San Diego CA

Post by ckranz »

For those anti ceaser people, I read the advice from both Karon London and Patrcia McConnell.

Along the same lines, there was an aritcle last year in the Bark about our 4 footed friends and beginning to anticipate our arrival home from when we leave the office....and not jsut when the tires hit the drive.
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