Terrier Separation Anxiety
Terrier Separation Anxiety
Do you ever face this situation: You're about to leave the door for work, keys in hand and your terrier starts to bark loudly and incessantly? Or you come home from a long day at the office only to find furniture pillows chewed up with a mess to clean up on the floor? These are classic symptoms of terrier separation anxiety. While minor symptoms of separation anxiety include barking whenever you leave the house, more severe symptoms include making messes in your home, destruction of furniture and bothering the neighbors for hours when you're away.
Where Dog Separation Anxiety Comes From
By nature, dogs are used to being around packs or at the very least, one other person. Whenever you leave the house for the day, they feel it directly and start to grow anxious. The prime source of much of the anxiety they have is a direct consequence of the actions they don't get when you're not around such as petting, praise and playing. While leaving the house does upset your dog, there really is no logical reason for them to get so worked up. I'm going to show you in just a bit how to help your dog cope.
Dogs, and terriers especially due to their highly energetic nature, can develop anxiety if you give them lots of attention immediately before and right after you step out of the house during the same basic times every day in your routine. As the weeks progress, their anxiety can get worse and the cycle of being anxious every day reinforces this undesired behaviour. It eventually progresses to the point where your dog cannot control the feelings of anxiety when you leave.
How To Reduce Terrier Separation Anxiety
I'm going to give you a few tips to help your terrier reduce the anxiety they feel every time you leave the house. You'll find many of these tips are easy to follow.
1) Break The Cycle
The simplest way of reducing dog separation anxiety is to break away the association between you leaving/entering the house and the attention they receive. Every time you lavish your terrier with petting and attention before you leave the house, you're actually reinforcing the cycle and the connection of being anxious with when you leave the house. I will advise you to not pet your dog when you're about to leave, ignore your dog for 10 to 15 minutes upon your arrival at the house and don't give in when they start whining and sad noises. I know this may sound mean but it's not and I'll explain at the very bottom why. For now, know that you can practice these tips by using crate training or simply putting them in a different room or area of your house such as the back yard if you have a suitable fence available, and leave and come back at different intervals.
2) Mix Up Your Routine
Let's face it, we all fall into some sort of routine during our normal week. The easist routine you can start mixing up your morning routine. You may be an owner who's dog notices when your morning alarm goes off and starts to act a little strange. This is your terrier learning to associate the sound of the alarm with the lack of your presence. Get dressed just a bit earlier or wake up at slightly different times (perhaps 10 minutes earlier or later), don't grab your keys right before you walk out the door, grab them some time before you actually step out of the house so they know not to associate the key jingle with you leaving immediately. Small variations such as these will reduce the amount of anxiety your dog faces before you leave.
3) Gradually Ramp Up To Longer Times
Let's say your terrier starts to get anxious the minute you walk out of the house. I'd recommend you begin leaving and returning for smaller amounts of time when possible. You might have to set aside some time during the weekend to do this part or some part during your morning. For example, walk outside for a minute or two and then return. What you're accomplishing is training your dog to see you leaving the house as a very temporary thing. Once they begin calming down, stretch out the intervals and leave the house for longer periods.
But Isn't All This Being Mean?
Many dog owners, especially new ones, think that these solutions of treating the anxiety is cruel. What you're actually doing if you follow my tips is helping your dog relax. You're also showing them that you're the alpha leader of the house and in reality, there's no good reason for them to feel anxious and all worked up. Helping your dog with their anxiety will improve your relationship with your dog and boost their own mental and physical health. This is a happier way to live with your terrier and they'll learn to calm down and hold their own when you're gone.
The Take-Away
It's important to treat your pet's anxiety problems right away, all the more if the symptoms are severe enough. If you can teach them to reduce their anxiety with the tips above, your dog will being to understand the pack order of the house is not being upset nor are they being abandoned for good. Doing this will prevent your doggie from getting anxious and upset and prevent your furniture and other goods in the house from being torn apart.
Terrier Separation Anxiety
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