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This article is a follow-up to an existing how-to on separation anxiety training, called How to Fix Separation Anxiety For Good. I recommend you read that article first if you are currently dealing with separation anxiety.
However, this article is posed to be especially helpful to dog owners who have either made progress in separation anxiety, or perhaps are one of our clients who are now looking to maintain the training we’ve done with their dog.
Maintaining Separation Anxiety Training
Even after separation anxiety training, keeping our dogs capable of having some level of independence is a lifelong endeavor. Separation anxiety loves to creep back in when we aren’t diligent in maintaining our dogs’ ability to deal with alone time, and it’s easy for dog owners to let structure slide when their dog comes home with their destructive and anxious patterns seemingly behind them.
I talk about how to help a dog with separation anxiety on a behavior modification level in my article, How to Fix Separation Anxiety For Good.
The thing is, fixing separation anxiety is only the beginning.
Coping with (and enjoying) alone time is a learned behavior for many dogs. And learned behaviors need to be exercised in order to stick around.
When we let structure slack because our dog has been good, or when we ease up on practicing alone time, it’s easy for separation anxiety to come back. This article is about how to prevent that, and how to maintain separation anxiety training long-term.
Why Separation Anxiety Comes Back
When a dog goes through effective separation anxiety training, like they might get from one of our Board and Train programs here at Lugaru K9 Training, what they have been doing is practicing the skill of independence.
When they go home and their owners slowly slip into allowing them to become “attached at the hip,” so to speak, they start losing out on opportunities to continue practicing, and therefore maintaining that skillset long-term.
Many owners are so delighted to see their dogs again after a three-week board-and-train that they immediately fall in to behaviors that cause their dog to re-learn the addiction to attention they had prior to going through training. Things like never leaving the house without your dog, keeping your dog with you throughout the entire day without a break for some alone time, and having your dog sleep in the bed with you every single night are all ways that dogs can lose touch with their learned skill of being alone for a period of time.
Then, when you do need to leave your dog alone, it shocks them. What gives, they think, and then they respond to the stress with all of the unwanted behaviors that come with separation anxiety: nervous poops, nonstop barking, destruction and damage to themselves and their environment, and escape attempts, to name a few.
How to Maintain Separation Anxiety Training
Having your dog continue to practice alone time during the day is the key to maintaining separation anxiety training. As mentioned above, it’s really easy for us as humans to want our dogs with us at all times, but this is the seed of the chaos that comes with over-attachment.
I don’t mean to say not to love on your dog, or that you shouldn’t ever have them sleep in your bed, or that they can’t come with you to work sometimes. But finding time to practice the learned skill of downtime is critical to maintaining your dog’s ability to do so.
Even if you’ve been particularly diligent about having your dog practice a little crate time while you’re home, there’s another aspect to maintaining separation anxiety training that a lot of dog owners don’t consider until they find themselves in the middle of it. That aspect is actually leaving the house without your dog.
It might seem like something that should continue to go fine as long as your dog knows how to be in the crate for a little while during the day. But this can add a layer of stress for your dog that, if not practiced, can turn back into separation anxiety over time.
We really can’t downplay how keen our pets really are. A lot of times we assume our dog will be fine with or without practice, because we see them doing just fine in their crate when we are still home. But in reality, our dogs are very perceptive, and they know the sound of shoes being put on, keys getting picked up, and doors shutting behind you. Most likely, your dog knows when you are leaving them home alone, and it does make a difference to their alone time.
Has your dog been practicing being truly left home alone for any period of time recently? And, if you’ve been working from home or someone is usually home to stay with the dog, have they really maintained their ability to be alone at all?
Maintaining separation anxiety training ultimately comes down to using the skillset your dog learns during their initial training period. If you don’t use it, you lose it.
How to Leave Your Dog Home Alone
Preparing your dog to be left home alone while you or the family walks out is a process if you want to ensure success while you’re away. There’s a number of things to make sure you take care of before finally walking out the door.
Make Sure Your Dog is Taken Care Of
Has your dog had a decent amount of exercise in the day and ready for a nap? Have they eaten appropriately throughout the day? Have they gone outside and eliminated recently?
If not, it’s a good idea to take a little while to make sure your dog’s basic needs are met before asking them to settle in the crate by themselves for a little while.
You don’t want them making a potty mess in their crate, or getting hit with hunger or thirst in the middle of your outing. And, of course, a tuckered-out dog will sleep easier when left home alone.
Set up Early
Put your dog in their crate fifteen to twenty minutes before you leave. Treat this like a regular at-home practice session. Crate your dog calmly, and give them some quiet before getting ready to leave.
Dogs will pick up on these cues, so make sure you give your dog a little time to settle down before you start putting on shoes and jingling keys.
If your dog has been living with you for any amount of time, they probably are already aware of all the indicators of leaving the house. Purses, coats, eager children, car keys, and more. Especially if your dog is used to leaving with you, these can trigger an excitement response in them. If they hear all the signs from inside their kennel, it can cause stress as well, as of course they would prefer to go out with you.
You can start to desensitize your dog to these cues by adding them in throughout the day without added meaning. Put on your coat while reorganizing the pantry, then put it away. Grab your purse to take your dog to the yard for a potty break. Jingle your keys while putting on makeup or before taking a shower. Doing these kinds of odd behaviors will help dull the link between them and you leaving directly afterwards.
When you do find yourself ready to leave the house, do so quietly and without making a fuss. No kissing, saying goodbye, or unnecessary departure announcements. Just grab what you need, and head out. No big deal for you, no big deal for them.
Come Home Simple
When you come back from your outing, reverse the process of leaving. Unless you have been gone long enough to merit an immediate potty break, give your dog at least fifteen minutes to settle back down before you come and take them out of the crate.
Most likely, your dog will know you’re home the moment the tires hit the driveway or your footsteps are on the doormat. This will be exciting for them, so give them a decent chance to find their composure before letting them out. Remember that in this situation your dog is so motivated to come see you; it’s a reward. Don’t reward them for frantic or overly-excited behavior. When they can be calmer in the crate, let them out, but remember to have them wait for the release word instead of darting out.
Set the Scene
Crate placement can have an impact on maintaining separation anxiety training. Having your dog’s crate out of the way is going to help with stress-building around your departure. When your dog can clearly hear and see you leave, that can worsen the stress and trigger separation anxiety and the unwanted behaviors that come with it.
Consider placing your dog’s crate in a spare room or bedroom. Anywhere works, really, as long as the environment is suitable for your dog to stay for a few hours at a time. The point in placement is more about getting out of the environment where people are getting ready to leave.
Having some background noise also helps with this. Music, a fan, an audiobook, or some other soft noise in the background can help dull some of the sounds of the home and of you getting ready to leave.
For background noise made specifically for dogs, we personally like DogTV. Some of my clients have used it for their dogs that need to stay home for longer periods and enjoyed it immensely. You can get a 3-day free trial of DogTV here, so you can test it out for yourself.
If your dog likes chews, giving them something to occupy them in their crate when you leave them alone can help them settle. Just be sure that the toy or chew you leave your dog with is safe to do so, and that your dog is not at risk of destroying or choking on it.
I like to provide my personal dogs with a bully stick or a stuffable chew (like a Kong toy) filled with peanut butter and chilled treats that I make from home.
Bully sticks are great because they are fully digestible, and unlike a lot of other chews they do not pose the same risk of gum bleeding, tooth breaking, or digestive issues. For bully sticks, we always recommend Bully Sticks Central and Best Bully Sticks for their customer experience and good prices.
Lastly, if your dog is particularly prone to stress, CBD or other natural stress-relief treats can sometimes help. While they won’t do the same thing as a prescription medication for dogs, natural remedies like CBD products can definitely help ease stress in some dogs. Just remember that no supplement is going to replace long-term training. If you’re interested in trying pet CBD products, try Pet Releaf or Canna-Pet.
Start Slow
If you haven’t practiced leaving the house for a while, start slow at first. Set up the process detailed above, and then step out for just a minute to get the mail or take the bins to the curb. From there, start scaling up based on the small successes your dog makes early on.
Maybe that means a walk around the block without your dog to kill ten minutes. It might look like doing lawn care for half an hour, scooping the yard poops, or playing for a while with the kids.
You don’t have to start with longer outings of an hour or more, and actually it is better to start small so your dog can process and build the skillset.
Better yet, mixing these smaller outings in to your pet care routine will help with naturalizing your dog to the process of you going away without creating a pattern. By that, I mean that your dog will realize that you going away is normal, and sometimes is just for a couple minutes. This means you leaving will feel less awful in your dog’s head, become less stressful, and lead to less separation anxiety.
