How to Stop Separation Anxiety in Dogs

For this Los Angeles dog training session, we worked with Maltese mix Blue, sharing tips to stop separation anxiety in dogs.

We started off by discussing Blue’s day-to-day routine. We talked about increasing his exercise, tips that will make it more effective and how exercise can set a dog up for success.

Stopping dogs with a barking problem is all about identifying why the dog thinks it needs to bark in the first place. After discussing the matter with blues guardian, I believe that much of the barking is territorial in nature. This means we needed to create a healthy leader follower dynamic where the dog was comfortable and confident that the human was in the lead and had things under control.

The secret to stop in dog barking is not a magic command word, it’s a whole bunch of little things that the humans do that confuse the dog into thinking it needs to be protective or possessive of them. Additional factors such as barking at dogs out the window, can help the dog practice this behavior.

I shared a number of tips to stop the dog from barking at dogs it sees out the window as well as introducing and enforcing rules consistently can help a dog see and identify the human as being the authority figure.

As one of Los Angeles dog behavior experts, I learned a long time ago that modifying the human behavior is one of the best strategies to stop dog barking.

I went over a few structural exercises that will make a big difference. Petting with a purpose and passive training may seem easy and minor, but they are extraordinarily effective when humans adopt and do them consistently.

After showing the guardian how to teach the dog to go to a dog bed on command, stay calm when pulling out the leash and how to disagree it away the dog will respond to, I turned my attention to the last issue on the table, blue’s separation anxiety when left home alone.

Stopping separation anxiety in dogs involves helping the dog practice being alone, desensitizing them from the triggers that are associated with the humans departure and building up its confidence.

Many people take it personally when a dog that is suffering from separation anxiety has accidents in the house or chewing things up. In fact these are symptoms of the dog being so unsettled and upset that they lose control of their bowels or do things to soothe themselves.

I pulled out my camera and handed it to the guardian so that she could record a positive dog training video where I outline the secret to stopping a dog‘s separation anxiety.

Helping a dog get over separation anxiety is all about building a positive experiences when it is alone. If the guardian follows the steps that I outlined, she should be able to put a stop to the separation anxiety for good.

To help blues guardian remember all of the dog behavior tips that we shared in this in-home LA dog behavior training session, we recorded a roadmap to success video that you can check out below.