What Is Separation Anxiety?

When a dog who suffers from separation anxiety is left alone, they experience fear and panic. Much like when humans have panic attacks, this anxiety leads to symptoms such as panting, pacing, barking or whining, scratching/pawing at the door, self-harm or overgrooming, and going to the bathroom in the house (when otherwise house-trained).

When this happens, your dog is not misbehaving or acting out — they are scared! Using equipment or training techniques that might be painful or scary for your dog will only hide symptoms of anxiety and can actually increase your dog’s fear.

Dogs who are experiencing separation anxiety are in distress and will need a professional’s help to learn to overcome this anxiety. Some of these dogs may also benefit from anxiety-reducing medications under the supervision of a veterinarian.

There are many reasons a dog might experience anxiety when left alone, but the most important thing to know is that your dog’s separation anxiety isn’t your fault, and it is treatable. You can learn more about this topic on our separation-related behaviors playlist.

For New Dog Owners

Leaving Your Dog Alone

One of the best ways to set your dog up for success when you aren’t home is to arrange for them to only be left alone for short periods of time until you know they aren’t going to panic.

• Before leaving your dog for the first time, use a laptop or camera to observe how they handle being alone. Start by opening a video program on a laptop or tablet (such as Zoom, Skype or Facetime) and on your smartphone.
• Keep the initial absence short (2-5 minutes maximum). Drive around the block and watch how your dog reacts.
• If your dog appears to be comfortable and not too concerned with a 5-minute absence, you can gradually start increasing the time you are away and work up to running short errands.
• If you see that your dog is showing signs of stress, return immediately.

Using a Crate

If you plan to use a crate or confinement area, ensure your dog is happy and relaxed in this space before you leave them alone.  A stronger crate is not the answer!

• Many dogs will eventually love their crates and can be safely left alone in them, but they often need to be properly trained to do so.
• A dog who experiences stress when left alone will not be calmer just because they are in a crate. This can actually make them more uncomfortable and cause confinement anxiety.
• If you need help with crate training, contact a force-free trainer who can guide you through the process.

Treating Separation Anxiety

To help your dog feel more comfortable when left alone, it’s important to slowly build up absences. This involves gradually increasing the duration of your time apart so that the dog is not experiencing any fear. This could be five minutes, a few seconds or even when you just step outside. It’s important to start where your dog is comfortable and build up from there.

You can determine how long your dog is comfortable being left alone by setting up a laptop or camera to monitor your pet while you are away.

• Drive around the block and watch how your dog reacts. Keep note of when your dog starts to display anxious behaviors.
•  Some dogs experiencing separation-related distress may start to get anxious within seconds of being left alone, so it’s important to watch your dog in real-time and return when you observe your dog displaying stressful body language.
• Once you’ve determined when your dog starts to show signs of stress, you can start to work on gradual departures.

Remember to move at a pace that keeps your dog below the point when they are feeling fearful. Every time you push your dog too fast and go over that threshold where the dog starts to experience panic, they are no longer able to learn or understand that you’re always coming back, which can set back the entire process.

There’s no way to explain to your dog when you’re just doing training and will be coming back shortly, and when you’re going to be gone for an undetermined length of time (for them). So, while your dog is going through treatment for separation anxiety, it’s crucial that they are never left alone for longer than they can handle.

Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that your dog has to be with you all the time. If you know you’ll be gone for longer than your dog is comfortable with, hire a dog walker, drop them off at doggie day care, or ask a family member, friend or neighbor to help out.

Pre-Departure Cues

You may notice that your dog is picking up on the fact that you’re leaving and showing signs of stress before you even walk out the door. Dogs are masters at picking up on patterns and often anticipate you leaving before you even realize it.

For dogs suffering from separation anxiety, actions like picking up keys, putting on shoes or grabbing a bag or purse are triggers that the scary thing (their human leaving) is about to happen.

• To help desensitize your dog to these leaving cues, first make a list of potential triggers. This might include items you take with you, like your keys, shoes or bag, and also things your dog might associate with you leaving AFTER you step outside, like locking the deadbolt, opening the garage door and the sounds of the car door or car engine.
• If there are other things you do before leaving the house, such as turning lights on/off, closing bedroom or bathroom doors, closing the blinds, etc., try to incorporate those things at least 10-15 minutes before you start working on gradual departures.
• After you’ve built up some duration (for example, your dog is comfortable with you being out of the house for five minutes), you can start slowly incorporating some of the pre-departure cues when you leave.
• Introduce each trigger slowly and separately, so you don’t overwhelm your dog with too many things all at once. For example, you can start by grabbing your keys and stepping out, but don’t lock the door. When you see that your dog is no longer reacting to you picking up your keys and walking out, you can then start to incorporate locking the door. Once your dog starts to understand that you being gone isn’t so scary, all of those things that signal you’re leaving won’t be as much of a trigger anymore, and you’ll likely find it easier to introduce the cues into your leaving routine.

You Are Not Alone

If your dog does not seem to be tolerating the short absences that you are practicing, or you are unable to increase the time you are gone without them showing signs of stress, don’t despair! There are veterinarians, veterinary behaviorists and certified separation anxiety trainers who can help. Write down your observations to help your veterinarian and/or trainer understand what your dog is experiencing when left alone.

Dogs with separation anxiety can improve with proper treatment, and an expert can help you and your dog on this journey!

What Isn’t It Separation Anxiety?

Sometimes our dogs will display behaviors that might look like separation anxiety — barking and whining, pawing at the door, accidents in the house, chewing and destruction, attempts to escape confinement and more — but these could be symptoms of boredom, excitement or stress due to other things in the environment.

This might happen because of the sounds of dogs or people outside the home, or an unclear understanding of expectations in the home. In this case, these behaviors can often improve with training, enrichment activities and other management.

If your dog is getting enough exercise, mental stimulation, social interaction and has clear routines at home, and they still only show distress when left alone, it may be separation anxiety. If the same behaviors appear in other situations, they may be due to boredom, excitement or other stressors.

More Behavior & Training Resources

San Diego Humane Society offers training classes and resources to address a variety of needs for companion animals.

Our training philosophy is based on the behavioral science concepts of positive reinforcement. Training your pet using these concepts will not only help them learn new behaviors more quickly, but it will also strengthen the bond you share.

Please visit our website for a current schedule of training classes or call 619-279-5961.