First and foremost, anxious dogs require appropriate exercise, a potent stress reliever, and an hour of exercise a day can help lessen a dog’s anxiety, being particularly effective if done just before your departure.
Boredom and lack of exercise contributes to anxiety. If your dog has been physically exercised and mentally stimulated before you leave, this might increase his ability to cope while you are away.
Daily exercise can be complimented with a compliance teaching program that allows your dog to learn new basic cues centered on impulse control and problem solving. This helps activate the learning part of your dog’s brain which in turn deactivates the emotional center of the brain responsible for the anxiety.
It is much easier for your dog to cope with your departure if you make little fuss of her when leaving. The same is true when you return.
Dogs are also sensitive to changes in their environment and the transition from the energy when you are present to silence in the home when you leave is profound. Leaving lights on and tools like DogTV or playing specially-designed calming music for dogs during your absence will help make the transition easier.
Desensitization to departure triggers is important, as dogs can become anxious as soon as they see you picking up keys and putting on your coat.
Masking these triggers by hiding the keys in a different place, using a different bag or not wearing your coat can help, but you might find your dog becomes wise to what you are doing as departure energy is difficult to hide.
Putting on a coat and exiting followed immediately by a return, allows your dog to see the trigger in a different light – the coat doesn’t always mean you are going to leave for a long period of time.
Constant repetition over a number of days can help desensitize your dog until departures no longer trigger a response.
Time spent away can be gradually increased until your dog is confident that you will always return.
Should I Leave My Dog With Appropriate Activity Toys?
Your dog might be too anxious to eat or play with a toy when you are absent, so it is important to introduce her favorite toys and/or chews while you are present, building up a positive emotion around that particular toy.
Once that positive feeling around toys has been built you can give them a few minutes before you depart which will allow her to focus on the toy rather than you leaving.
Interactive toys such as rubber toys stuffed with treats and treat balls can help re-focus the mind, causing your dog to release anxious energy on an appropriate item rather than the sofa.
Treatment for separation anxiety can be highly effective if implemented diligently and a once destructive and anxious dog can become a much more relaxed and contented animal. In most cases, true separation anxiety cases require the guidance of a qualified positive dog trainer to help the behavior modification process.