Weekly article archive
The following questions and answers have appeared in my weekly column in the Albuquerque Journal since July, 1996. Each week a new one is added. You'll find information on the physical and behavioral maladies of dogs and cats and a few other species too. I invite you to use the search feature to find the specific answer that you and your pet need.
Dogs with separation anxiety have a serious problem. I get it. I’ve come home to the sound of my dog Hazel barking and whining. As soon as I opened the door she’d greet me with wild intensity. She was more than just happy to see me; she acted like she’d been saved.
If the pacing, panting, barking/howling, and damage of separation anxiety keeps repeating, it will continue to worsen. People get frustrated. They’ve tried everything – except the right medication. Some worry about drug safety as their dog’s suffering reaches new depths. There’s no need for that.
So what can you do if the dog who’s stolen your heart damages your house while you’re away-often? If you have a dog like this you may feel desperate. Dogs with separation anxiety can actually learn to look forward to their alone time because that will be their chance to engage their innate survival instincts.
Those videos of your sweet dog, home alone and suffering with separation anxiety, have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that it is he who has desecrated your house and not some lurking poltergeist. Step #1: lose the crate.
The anxiety and blood pressure spikes of white coat syndrome aren’t fun for us. Most pets have the same problem.
You drag yourself through the door, after a long day, and in your face is the wreckage inflicted by your desperate and repentant dog. How do you feel? Angry, sad, guilty? Why is this happening? Where did you go wrong?
If you think your dog has separation anxiety you need to know if that’s what’s really happening or only a guess.
First in a series
Question:
I am trapped in my own home because of my Shih Tzu. He is a wonderful dog, but he goes bonkers when I leave. I have him caged because of his destructive behavior. Now he is sopping wet when I come home, panting his head off, his cage is all wet and his feet are a mess. Please help me, I love him.
Helping dogs who freak-out when home alone is complicated. Improvement requires lots of changes but do you have to completely ignore as you leave and return?