dog behavior

You can find everything from doggy psychiatrists to aroma therapy for treating separation anxiety in dogs. And, as per our pill-popping culture, there are of course medications you can ask your vet about. But this option is not advisable, at least not before a concerted effort has been made to address the behavior through training.

Training involves a combination of methods, including: 1) desensitizing your departure cues, 2) toning down your departures and arrivals, and 3) staging a series of absences that gradually increase the duration they are left alone.

Crate training also plays an important part in addressing your dog’s separation anxiety, and helps to keep your house safe in the meantime. However, what it might not do is keep your dog safe from itself, since severely anxious animals can rub their nose raw or tear up their paws on the crate door. You’ll have to follow a gradual training regime to introduce this method without making things worse.

1) Rehearse Departure Cues:

Your anxious dog will sense any act or routine you initiate as you prepare to leave. Putting on shoes and picking up keys are the most common examples. These actions are like triggers for your dog’s uneasiness.

It has been shown to help your dog adjust to absences when these cues are “desensitized” – that is, you can break the association with these actions with you disappearing for a while. This is easy. Simply go through the motions of putting on your shoes, picking up keys (or whatever it is that clues in your dog to your departure) without actually leaving. The repetitive act, newly coupled with the outcome of ‘owner not leaving,’ will calm your dog and eventually allow them to pay less attention to these routines when they do mean you have to leave for real.

2) Tone down arrivals:

Obviously, everyone loves a wildly enthusiastic welcoming committee every time you walk in the door. But with a dog with separation issues, your ecstatically happy reunion repeatedly sends the message that, yes, this is a HUGE deal, huge enough to feel like it’s been years since you saw each other last, and could be years until you see each other next!

Extra happy returns will not cure separation anxiety; rather, they will make it worse. You need to resist the urge, and it is even advisable to ignore overexcited pets for a few minutes until they regain some degree of composure.

I trained one dog with a jumping problem and a mild case of separation anxiety. After we let him blow off a bit of steam and do a few cartwheels, he had to sit down before being rewarded with a greeting. Also, the owner would always kneel down to greet his friend, which not only helped with the jumping, but also allowed the exchange to take place in a more controlled and civil manner, and ‘on the dog’s level.’

3) Stage Exits:

Conditioning your dog to be alone, and to be comfortable without you, is the goal. It is necessary to budget time to undertake this training process. You will have to stage exits. That is, practice leaving him first, confined to another room in your house for a few minutes with you at home; next, getting used to very short exits and entrances – as short as a minute or two at first; then finally for incrementally longer absences.

You will NOT be able to leave your dog alone for longer than you have successfully “staged” with practice. Try crate training or arrange for a dog sitter in the meantime to make sure you are not taking two steps back with every step forward.

TIP: I’ve had success in some cases standing just outside the door after I’ve departed, then, upon hearing the anxious behavior – whining, crying, or scratching the door itself – I gently talk to the dog and let them know that what they’re doing is inappropriate. It not only corrects the behavior on the spot, but helps them understand that you don’t vanish when you walk out the door.

Finally, in the long run, time IS on your side. Dogs will learn that you’re always coming back, whether you’re leaving them in the car or a few minutes while running an errand, or in the house for an afternoon. They will grow in confidence as they grow in maturity.

In the meantime, some things to do and keep doing:

• Exercise – it’s my answer for everything I’m told, but it sure helps most everything
• Personal activities – remember, they’re dogs. They enjoy chewing on things. Give them something to chew on. If they’re left inside, switch on the radio.
• Visits – try to arrange short visits from friends if you work long hours. (The great thing about having a very sweet and very obedient dog is that everyone WANTS to see them)

I wish you and your dog the happiness of many (un-anxious) departures and (low-key) returns in the future!   read more      

How to Stop Your Cat Peeing Outside the Litter Box

Excessive Barking: What It Means and How To Cope

There are guaranteed to be some occasions when your dog's barking is going to be inconvenient, but this doesn't mean that you have to view your dog's vocalization as an intolerable irritation. You could choose to look at it more constructively: your dog is trying to communicate with you. In order to cope with and control excessive barking, you need to understand what the reason is – and 

then take steps to remove the stimulus.

Different Barks & Their Circumstances

If you can spend some time watching your dog, you'll find there's a fair bit to be learned about the different barks he uses and why he's using them. If you can learn to recognize these and then pair them with the circumstances in which they typically occur, so much the better.

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• Boredom. This is a major problem for a lot of dogs. Some can handle being by themselves for long periods of time (for example, the average working day), but the truth is that it's really hard on most dogs. Barking is something your dog can do to relieve the boredom, and to give himself something to do. A dog barking out of boredom or loneliness will usually do so repetitively and with little alteration in frequency, tone, or volume.
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• Toilet-call. Most dogs will show their need to go outside by pacing, circling, sniffing the ground, and whining; a lot will sit by the door or pace restlessly back and forth. The type of bark that accompanies this behavior is usually a single short, sharp imperative (repeated if you don't take action the first time round).
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• Dinner-time: this is similar to the toilet-call bark (the motive is similar: your dog thinks that you need to be made aware of something). He will probably be racing around energetically, interspersing the barks with little pleading whines and jumps.Excited barking is an expression of joy: your dog's happy about something and needs to let the world know. You should be able to tell by the circumstances and his body language (tail waving, mouth open and panting, front elbows touching the ground, rear end up in the air), but happy-barking is also higher-pitched than usual.
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• Warning barking is almost always a husky baying noise – your dog is trying to make himself sound bigger and meaner than he actually might be. Even the smaller breeds, which are physically incapable of producing anything more menacing than shrill yapping, will lower their tone as much as possible. This is usually accompanied with raised hackles, and a tense “I-dare-you” posture: leaning forward, tail stiff and twitching, ears pointing forward or back.

Coping With Excessive Barking

Sufficient exercise and companionship take care of about 95% of irritating-barking cases. If your dog's still barking after you've ruled out the obvious, you'll need to employ some tried-and-true tactics for controlling this habit.

Tips for Curbing Barking:

• Never reward barking. You need to teach him that barking is no longer an effective communication tool. If you dog is barking, he must get no attention – period – until he stops. Don't touch him, talk to him, feed him, or look at him.
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• Teach the “enough” command. When your dog starts to bark, break his attention quickly: call him to you, and say firmly “Quiet”. The moment he stops barking, treat him profusely.
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• Remember to allow him to vent: you can't expect your dog to stop barking altogether. You need to be realistic and allow him the chance to get a few good barks out before you quiet him.
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• You need to redirect his energy into a different channel. Tell him to “quiet”, and then get him to sit or lie down. It's important that you give him something else to do. Treat him when he obeys you.read more here    

                           

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