Working with Separation Anxiety
Separation Anxiety is a panic disorder in dogs. And with no shortage of misinformation out there on working with it, it can be tricky for owners to help their dogs. Fortunately, there is a solution for separation anxiety that is rooted in science that has been proven to result in good outcomes.
Many people are familiar with the term desensitization. In psychology, Desensitization is a treatment or process that diminishes emotional responsiveness to a negative, aversive, or positive stimulus after repeated exposure. Practitioners have been using this method with humans to treat various anxieties and phobias since the 1950’s. There is a lot of overlap in how humans and animals learn which is why dog trainers have been successfully implementing desensitization with dogs for decades as well. We use a desensitization plan to treat separation anxiety.
This looks like exposing the dog to alone time (the fear inducing trigger) in small approximations that do not produce panic. It’s extremely important for the dog to remain under threshold during separation anxiety training to avoid unwanted outcomes. The opposite of desensitization is sensitization which can occur when exposure to the trigger is too intense and happens repeatedly. To avoid this, we conduct regular assessments where we “ask the dog” how long they can handle being alone. Sometimes this is only a few seconds, but as their tolerance grows, the duration becomes longer. Through body language the dog is able to tell us when they feel relaxed, when the become a little uncomfortable and when it starts to become scary and too much to handle. We’re then able to target the right intensity for optimum desensitization training.
Separation Anxiety training that is too easy won’t “kick the ball forward” because the dog ends up in what we call “managementland”. Management, by definition, avoids exposing the dog to the trigger to avoid making the behavior worse. But management is not training and doesn’t necessarily help to improve the behavior over time. It just safeguards to make sure the unwanted behavior isn’t rehearsed. In the case of separation anxiety, panicking when alone.
On the flip side, separation anxiety training that is “too hard” or too intense can actually make the dog worse. Remember, repeated exposure to a trigger that is too intense can lead to sensitization. Which is why we never want to expose the separation anxiety dog to alone times that they aren’t ready to handle. It can lead to a more sensitive dog or a regression in the training plan.
So, like Golilocks, we have to get the training plan just right. This is why working with a skilled trainer is so important. Certified Separation Anxiety Trainers are specially trained in assessing and identifying thresholds and creating tailored training plans for Separation Anxiety dogs. We have a passion and expertise in helping these special cases. With the right guidance, a positive outcome and resolution for your separation anxiety dog is totally possible!