Separation Anxiety

Annie is a miniature poodle owned and loved by "L." Although she cares about Annie very much, L was exasperated by Annie's separation anxiety. The little dog could not be apart from her or she would become extremely stressed out, drooling buckets, nearly to dehydration. This situation became very stressful for not only Annie, but also L.

Annie had earlier been treated with two different medications by her vet for Separation Anxiety. Although these drugs can be helpful in some cases, neither helped Annie at all. L was at the end of her rope. She was starting to think she would have to give up on the dog. She came to me although she didn't really believe there was a solution. L, Annie and I spent three hours together in a Pack Leader Session.

Here is the letter I received from L a couple of days later:

I want to thank you for your help with Annie. I did not have any faith when we came that there was anything else that could be done to change her behavior, I thought I had tried all that could be done. This was her last chance to stay in our home.

Well, we already see a change. She does very well on the walks, it takes just a few houses at the start and then she settles in to my pace. The first day she was mad at me, would not look at or come by me and when I called her she would crawl to me with her head down, but she did go into her cage with only a small amount of help. The first night in the cage took maybe 20 minutes for her to settle down and she did drool but not as much as usual. Last night was maybe 10 minutes and almost no drool. She goes in several times during the day when I am in the room and does fairly well. She still does not like going in but will take the last few steps on her own. She is not getting the affection until after her walk or doing something I asked her to do. She loves the new food, no problem with it sitting there for later, she gobbles it down right away.

I am hoping she will continue to improve as we learn to give her what she needs. I have never had to work at my dogs happiness before and it a strange concept but I understand the why's and have seen some results so far. So we would like to thank you and we will be in touch to let you know how she is doing.

One of the problems I uncovered in the Pack Leader Session was nutritional. Canine nutrition is a subject I have studied, and although I do not claim to be a scientist, I do know how to read a dog food label. You wouldn't think that this would be a complex subject. However, AAFCO, the governing body of dog food manufacturers is composed OF dog food manufacturers. Needless to say, their labeling rules can be confusing. Deliberately so.

Anyway, Annie was being fed a very popular food so L thought she was doing a good job of nutrition. Yet, reading the label, we found that corn was the first ingredient. Corn does contain protein but is not easily digested by dogs. The second ingredient was "chicken by product meal" which translates to super-concentrated powder made of beaks, toenails, intestines and feathers. (No, I'm not kidding.)

So part of the therapy for Annie was to change the diet to a digestible one featuring high quality animal protein with zero "by products" on the label. That alone should help her brain as her body begins to receive proper nourishment.

The other problems involved L herself. L loves her dog so she did spend a great deal of time with her. She did walk her dog sometimes. But she was walking her wrong. Believe it or not, if you allow your dog to pull you and be unfocused on the walk, your walk not only doesn't help your relationship, it hurts. Annie was sure from leading on the walks that she was also the leader in the house. And, as a leader, she didn't ever choose to be separated from L. When forced to be apart, even for a short time, Annie would go to pieces. So part of our approach was to walk Annie appropriately...great exercise for dog and mistress both.

A schedule of crating and uncrating Annie without actually leaving the house also is helping L to show Annie that it's ok to be apart occasionally.

Each case of Separation Anxiety is different, so I modify the approach for each dog depending on the family's lifestyle and on the dog's individual needs. Dog psychology is not a recipe book, the same for every dog, every time. The magic is in knowing how to combine the ingredients as perfectly as possible for every unique situation.

Separation Anxiety cannot usually be trained away by conventional dog training. Usually, there is something amiss in the dog's relationship to her family and environment. We must get to the bottom of the problem, and create positive solutions to eliminate this anxiety problem. Dogs who suffer from SA range from mildly neurotic all the way through extreme panic. It's sad to see a dog living in a fear state. And many dogs die each year because their owners don't know what to do so they give them away and often, they get put down.

I'm glad little Annie gets to stay home and is learning to adapt to life with her family.

Addendum July 2008.

I got a call from a husband and wife who had adopted Annie. Apparently the original family simply had too much going on at home to cope with the dog. The new people seemed very interested in helping this dog succeed. So I invited them to the farm for a chat about what they could do for Annie.

When Annie got to the farm I could already see she was a new dog. She was not tense or anxious like the previous time I had seen her. She was far more relaxed, open, curious and tail wagging. We had a chat about how to keep Annie from reverting to Separation Anxiety behavior and I have a strong feeling this family will work out for Annie. Looks like a success story to me.