Helping a Dog Practice Being Alone to Stop its Separation Anxiety

For this Omaha dog training session we helped year-old Lab / Pit Bull / Boxer mix Sam get over her separation anxiety.

On the way to the session, I ran across a Border Collie running in the street and fortunately Sam isnt dog aggressive, so I collected the loose dog and it played with Sam until the owner was able to come and collect his dog.

This gave me an opportunity to evaluate Sam’s confidence which can be a contributing factor in dogs suffering from separation anxiety. But based on what I saw, Sam”s social skills and confidence are solid.

I spent the first part of the session going over all the things that humans can do to cause to Separation Anxiety in dogs. Adding rules, structure and rewarding desired behaviors can all help a dog feel more relaxed and confident in its humans leadership. While not always directly related to Separation Anxiety, it can be a contributor.

I also shared tips on increasing Sam’s exercise as that can absolutely amplify the effects of anxiety when being left alone. The expression a tired dog is a well mannered dog is tired, but true. Increasing exercise can help make fixing a Separation Anxiety problem easier.

Stopping Separation Anxiety is all about helping the dog build confidence about being left alone. As a dog behavior expert, I have tried many different methods to stop separation anxiety and I share my preferred solution in the free dog training video below.

Helping a dog get over separation anxiety is all about removing the creation to the triggers that lead up to us leaving while simultaneously helping the dog practice being alone in the easiest way possible.

If the guardians practice this approach for a few weeks, progressively increasing the duration Sam stays in another room, he will get more and more comfortable being alone. At that point, then can start leaving he house for only a few seconds, then start increasing that duration. With enough practice at being alone, Sam will stop becoming anxious when left alone and instead relax and chill out until his humans return.

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 that you can watch below.