Search the web and you'll find a range of different solutions for dog separation anxiety, but what number of them work? Here are several that are constantly mentioned.
Give Your Dog More To Do
Some websites suggest that separation anxiety in dogs can be managed or perhaps cured by giving a dog more to do and that boredom lurks behind a nervous dogs behaviour.
Nevertheless there is no real proof that dogs experience boredom in the way that humans do. Watch a dog in natural habitats and you will not see them spending all day entertaining themselves, you are more likely to find them sleeping.
Naturally, they're pack animals so they do have to interact and play, but generally they save their energy for the important task of survival. Domestic dogs are little different from their wild cousins they just get fed more constantly.
But you can see where this view comes from, because if everytime you go out, you come back to find something chewed up, you may presume that your dog did it because they were bored. Nonetheless it will not be the absence of entertainment that drives them to chewing, rather the anxiousness they experience at being separated from you and the proven fact that the process of chewing helps release a natural enzyme in the body that helps diminish stress.
Meaning that leaving your dog with the newest wonder toy isn't really the solution..
Stricter Training Programme For Your Badly Behaved Dog
If your neighbors moan about your dog barking non-stop while you are out, or you return home to find your dog's pooped or peed on your carpet or scratched up the paintwork, its quite possible to believe that you've got a badly behaved dog, and the solution is more training.
But getting cross with your dog, roaring at them, rubbing their nose in it or disciplining them more won't stop them from feeling anxious while you're out, and all of the behaviours mentioned are a result of fretting about where you are.
Now training is the most practical answer to dog separation anxiety, but it has to be focused on the root problem of anxiety rather than the symptoms they show and it's got to be done in the correct way.
Walk Your Dog More
Since the Dog Whisperer started talking about the need to exercise dogs for hours every day, it's often advised as an answer to dog anxiety. And while exercising is good for us all, and does help us to feel calm later, it doesn't necessarily follow that a beat dog will stop feeling anxious when left home on their own.
Follow this bit of guidance and you might put a lot of hours into walking your dog only to find that you've got an extremely fit and energetic dog that is still worried and has still got behaviour problems.
If Your Dog Has Separation Anxiety Find Out More
To cope with your dogs anxiety problems, do not rely on toys and exercise, because while your dog will enjoy them, they won't be a cure. Instead find out more about the reason behind your dog's separation anxiety and look for a training regime that will provide a long-term answer.
Give Your Dog More To Do
Some websites suggest that separation anxiety in dogs can be managed or perhaps cured by giving a dog more to do and that boredom lurks behind a nervous dogs behaviour.
Nevertheless there is no real proof that dogs experience boredom in the way that humans do. Watch a dog in natural habitats and you will not see them spending all day entertaining themselves, you are more likely to find them sleeping.
Naturally, they're pack animals so they do have to interact and play, but generally they save their energy for the important task of survival. Domestic dogs are little different from their wild cousins they just get fed more constantly.
But you can see where this view comes from, because if everytime you go out, you come back to find something chewed up, you may presume that your dog did it because they were bored. Nonetheless it will not be the absence of entertainment that drives them to chewing, rather the anxiousness they experience at being separated from you and the proven fact that the process of chewing helps release a natural enzyme in the body that helps diminish stress.
Meaning that leaving your dog with the newest wonder toy isn't really the solution..
Stricter Training Programme For Your Badly Behaved Dog
If your neighbors moan about your dog barking non-stop while you are out, or you return home to find your dog's pooped or peed on your carpet or scratched up the paintwork, its quite possible to believe that you've got a badly behaved dog, and the solution is more training.
But getting cross with your dog, roaring at them, rubbing their nose in it or disciplining them more won't stop them from feeling anxious while you're out, and all of the behaviours mentioned are a result of fretting about where you are.
Now training is the most practical answer to dog separation anxiety, but it has to be focused on the root problem of anxiety rather than the symptoms they show and it's got to be done in the correct way.
Walk Your Dog More
Since the Dog Whisperer started talking about the need to exercise dogs for hours every day, it's often advised as an answer to dog anxiety. And while exercising is good for us all, and does help us to feel calm later, it doesn't necessarily follow that a beat dog will stop feeling anxious when left home on their own.
Follow this bit of guidance and you might put a lot of hours into walking your dog only to find that you've got an extremely fit and energetic dog that is still worried and has still got behaviour problems.
If Your Dog Has Separation Anxiety Find Out More
To cope with your dogs anxiety problems, do not rely on toys and exercise, because while your dog will enjoy them, they won't be a cure. Instead find out more about the reason behind your dog's separation anxiety and look for a training regime that will provide a long-term answer.
About the Author:
Author Venice Marriott learnt how to deal with dog anxiety with her own rescue dog and has been looking into the most useful dog separation anxiety solutions for the last 2 years. She's built a website to help other dog owners trying to deal with dog anxiety problems, visit it to find out more.