Is your dog suffering from separation anxiety?

Take barking for example. Dogs bark frequently in lots of different settings, but barking becomes a separation-related problem behavior when the dog barks relentlessly or more intensely in the absence of the owner. The dog might be barking because they’re fearful or anxious, but we know it’s separation related distress because the barking intensifies when the owner isn’t there.

• Excessive barking, whining, crying, and howling.
• Chewing or destroying floors, walls, and doors, particularly around entrances.
• Frantic attempts to escape, sometimes to the point of self-harm.
• Soiling (especially when the dog is otherwise house-trained).
• Getting anxious well before owner leaves.

Dogs who develop very strong attachments to a limited number of people in their life are classes as hyper attached.
They can’t cope with alone time and are not comfortable being left with just anybody. They have to be with the owner and solely the owner (or owners). Alone time is scary because they’re separated from the owner and it cannot be made any better by just a human body.

We work with you over a 4 week period, with 4 weekly Zoom calls, email and whatsapp support during the 4 weeks and continued for the next 8 weeks. That’s 3 months of intensive support. Lifetime support is available in our owners Separation Anxiety Super Heroes group on Facebook.

You’ll have all the tools and knowledge to carry on your transformation plan and we’re here to support you over the next 2 months, after which you get life time support in our Champions Facebook Group.

We meet weekly on Zoom to discuss and amend your transformation plan. We communicate over Email and WhatsApp during the first 3 months after which we’re in touch in the Facebook Group.

During the first 3 months we’re available on Whatsapp and Email, after which you have support in the Separation Anxiety Champions Facebook Group.

As with any training, it varies. The thing with Separation Anxiety is that we’re dealing with fear. The fear is also ever present as long as the owner is away, which makes it much harder to deal with. The other thing about fear is that it’s easy to come on, but hard to get rid of.
What all that said, Separation Anxiety is highly treatable and our method has been used to treat 1000’s of dogs.
Many owners don’t need to leave their dogs for hours on end. A win and a cure is being able to nip to the shop, go see a friend, or visit the cinema.
We’re confident that you’ll be able to get your life back if you stick with the program.

There is no evidence that letting your dog sleep in your bed, living room, or bedroom has any effect on your dog’s anxiety. In fact the vast majority of dogs who enjoy a snuggle in the bedroom do not have separation anxiety.

There is no evidence to suggest that another dog will help. In fact getting another dog had no effect on the fearful dog for the vast majority of dogs that we work with. It’s also worth considering the added expense of another dog, and the reality that it might not fix things.

We wish this helped, but in fact it can make matters worse. Imagine you hate flying, or you have a uncontrollable fear of spiders. Sticking you on a plane or in a bath of spiders and just leaving you or ignoring you will not cure your fear.

These devices are in humane and cruel. Shocking or sticking an anti bark collar on your dog will only make the fear worse, not better. It saddens us to think that some people do this. Please don’t. Thankfully these devices are become illegal in more and more countries, and in our opinion there’s no place for them in dog training.

Here’s the thing – your dog is scared. Not angry. And that fear manifests itself in barking, whining, chewing and trying to escape. Dogs don’t have the concept of “getting back at you” in their mind. They’re animals who live in the moment, and the moment you leave, is the moment the panic becomes so overwhelming that they can’t think straight.

We’ve found that dogs who are put in their crate, try to escape much more than those who are in familiar environments. It can be useful to put your dog in a dog proofed room like the bathroom, but in our experience this has limited benefit. Your dog is still overcome with fear and will do anything they can to escape. Luckily with our program we’re able to leave our dogs in a room that’s familiar and comfortable for them without needing to worry that they’re going to destroy the place.

Think about the last time you had to give a public speech. How did you feel? Were you hungry right before the speech? When fear sets in, your body releases cortisol and adrenaline. The body goes in to fight or flight mode and the digestive system shuts down. That means that your dog can’t eat, even if they wanted to.

In short, yes, medication does work. Medication reduces the body’s response to fear, and when your dog isn’t in a state of fear, learning can take place. We would always advise you to speak to your vet about medication. We’ve seen it work well, but it has to be administered with the help and advice of your vet.

Unfortunately there isn’t much evidence to suggest that these remedies work. They’re also quite expensive and there’s no guarantee that they will work. We know that it’s hard to see your dog in that state, and a quick herbal remedy might just do the trick. The reality is that the only thing that works is training, and training in conjunction with medication in certain circumstances.

I will act as your coach and mentor throughout the program. With technology today, we’re able to support you through video and messaging much more than in person.Your dog is fearful when you and your family leaves, therefore it doesn’t make much sense for me to leave.

For the training to work we need to suspend our absences. That means that your dog can’t be left on their own at all. It doesn’t mean that you can’t leave your dog and arrange for someone else to be there when you’re gone. We’ll help you think creatively on how you can leave your dog. That might mean arranging for a family member to be there, a pet sitter or even a member of your community, like a friend or neighbour. Don’t worry though, this won’t be forever. Once we start seeing results, you’ll be able to leave your dog for short periods without the fear or stress that they’re suffering.

The first thing you need to do is to suspend absences. As above there are creative ways to arrange for someone to be with your dog. A friend or neighbour might be delighted to spend an afternoon with your dog. The second thing is to get in touch with us so that we can help you with a transformation training plan.

Please don’t worry, we’re able to help you with the technology.