Published By: Urbee Sarkar

How To Ease Your Dog’s Separation Anxiety

Dogs are extremely intimate creatures and being separated from their owners could create serious anxiety in them.

Staying away from your dog is hard for you but staying away from you is harder for your dog. Dogs are not the best in dealing with separation. The reason is that they are extremely sensitive and intimate creatures. The moment they see their owner going away leaving them in the house or at the crèche, they become highly anxious. What’s worse is that unlike us humans, they cannot express their anxiety well. They might either act up tearing everything they can reach in the house out of anxiety or might even get depressed. However, there are ways you can help your dog in getting rid of the separation anxiety. Here are a few ways for you to try to ease your dog’s separation anxiety.

Don’t Make A Big Deal Out Of It

We know you might be feeling restless seeing your dog dealing with anxiety, but try not to make a big deal out of. Don’t talk to them or touch them or even make eye contact with then when you are leaving or getting back to them. Behave around them like it’s no big deal. After a few sessions of trying to get your attention on surrounding their separation anxiety, even they would start realising that it’s not a big deal. Doing this normalise the event of you leaving the house without them significantly reducing the separation anxiety in them.

Take Baby Steps

Don’t just go all in and leave your dog alone for hours the first time you leave them. This will make them go nuts. Take small steps towards getting rid of their separation anxiety. For example, start with leaving them alone for five minutes. Gradually increase the duration of your separation from them. It is a good idea to increase the time frame gradually because when you finally leave them alone for long hours, they will be trained and leave you without any separation anxiety.

Take Your Dog For A Walk Before Leaving

Take your dog out for a brisk walk before you leave them alone. Try making the walk rigorous so that they spend the maximum energy. When you get home, reward them with water or food. The idea behind this hack is to make sure that your dog is in their resting mode when you leave.