Tips to Help a Venice Beach Husky Get Over Her Separation Anxiety

For this Venice Beach dog training session we helped 1 year-old Husky Misha get over her fear of the kennel and tips to help get over her Separation Anxiety.

I spent the first hour of the session sharing dog behavior tips and suggestions to make sure the dog see’s its guardians as being authority figures. Often I find a lack of structure to be a major component for dogs who suffer from separation anxiety. While we discussed the leader follower dynamic, I got up and tossed several treats into the kennel to prepare for the kennel training we wold do later in the session.

After showing the guardians how to introduce and enforce rules, I started to explain my petting with a purpose method. But when the guardians informed me Misha didn’t know how to sit, I knew we needed to back up and work on some basics first.

After showing the guardians how to train Misha to sit, lay down and stand up I explained how important it is to reward a dog for desired behaviors like sitting, coming, laying down, etc on command. Dogs do whatever gets our attention and often people train their dogs to misbehave as its the fastest way to get the human’s attention. But by petting or engaging with the dog when it does things we like, either on command (petting with a purpose) or voluntarily (passive training), we can develop a healthy leader follower dynamic and build up our dog’s confidence and skill set each time we pet our dog.

The need to redefine the leader follower dynamic became more important halfway thought the session when Misha decided to start barking for a treat or attention (also known as Demand Barking).

The more the guardians ask Misha to sit, come or lay down before they pet him, the more confidence she will have in their leadership which is a great way to help a dog get over separation anxiety.

I have found that the best way to help a dog get over separation anxiety involves three parts; help the dog practice being alone, desensitize it to the triggers and build up the dog’s respect for the human’s as leaders. To help the dog practice being alone we first needed to train the dog to stay. You can find out how to train a dog to stay and get some kennel training tips by watching the video below.

The above video actually covers two of the fore-mentioned factors; teaching a dog to stay so it can practice being apart from the humans and a great way to help a dog get over a fear of the kennel. Id like to see the guardians practicing both of these exercises a few times a day every day. The more they practice, the faster the rehabilitation will go.

I was surprised at how quickly Misha laid down in the kennel, but the early work I did of tossing treats inside the kennel certainly helped her feel better and more positive about it. Based on how quickly Misha laid down and her body language, I don’t think this is a bad case of separation anxiety.

By the end of the session, Misha was going into her kennel on her own and laying down for a nap. I really couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the session. To help the guardians remember all the positive dog training tips we covered in this in home dog training session, we shot a roadmap to success video.