If your dog has separation anxiety, it can feel frustrating, exhausting, and defeating all at the same time. In this video, Instructor Carol is going to point out the most common mistakes that you may be making and show you how to start helping your dog through this challenging period!
Do you think you may just have a ”Barking” problem? THIS will help: https://youtu.be/2nfo5SigKWQ
Crate Training may be an important part of your dog training plan: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7BBgLulhermQJTejoBOCqhdwJOiNtk4_
We Now Have A Puppy Essentials Training Program Online!
Train With Us To Make Your Puppy Training More Enjoyable And To Give Your Puppy The Best Start Possible: https://www.McCannDogs.Link/PuppyEssentials
Are you looking for a more personalized training plan for your dog? We now have a Life Skills program for dogs over 5 months old. The Life Skills program is fully supported by a McCann Dogs trainer for YOU. Check out: https://mccanndogs.link/LifeSkills
Don’t Forget To Subscribe: https://goo.gl/g6O345
You should check out the video that we JUST Published: https://goo.gl/UNriTZ
We Currently Have Some Of Our Signature Training Equipment Available Online! (Limited Quantities) To Get Yours, Visit: https://www.McCannDogs.store
Our ”HeartDog” Merch Is BACK! Visit http://www.McCannDogs.Link/merch
We Also Have A Podcast!
Listen On Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/mccann-professional-dog-trainers/id1302363811?mt=2
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2wuGH4PATAsPECOoOuJwDl
Visit Our Amazon Store And See The Dog Products We Love: https://www.amazon.com/shop/mccanndogs
Are you a brand looking to showcase your dog-related product or service? Email HERE: ken@mccanndogs.com
CHAPTERS
00:00 Mistakes People Make With Dog Separation Anxiety
00:54 Think Your Dog Has Separation Anxiety?
01:29 Here’s What Separation Anxiety In Dogs Looks Like
04:03 What Triggers Your Dog’s Separation Anxiety?
05:09 Your Dog’s Separation Anxiety Is SOLVED! Well.. Not Really
07:27 Setting Up Your Dog For Less Stress
09:19 Change Your Dog’s Focus BEFORE You Leave
10:13 Using A Kong Dog Toy To Work Through Separation Anxiety
13:00 Less Common Tools For Working Through Separation Anxiety In Dogs
14:40 Everyone Has THIS Tool For Working Through Dog Separation Anxiety
15:38 Help Your Dog With Separation Anxiety Without Leaving The Room
16:49 What About ”Reward” And ”Correction” When Working On Dog Separation Anxiety?
19:05 Here’s The Good News
Thanks for watching,
Happy Training! ~Ken
#dogseparationanxiety #separationanxietyindogs
Separation anxiety is one of the hardest
things I have ever had to deal with With my dogs. If you have dogs that
bark, you know, that can be frustrating. They’re barking, nonstop, Separation anxiety takes that
anxiety for us to a whole new level. I’ve had a number of rescue dogs each
with varying degrees of separation Anxiety. It’s not easy to work through
and it disrupts your entire life. In today’s video, I wanna talk about what separation
anxiety really is and isn’t, And talk about how we can make things
easier for both you and your dog. I’m instructor Carol. This is the
Berk. Welcome back to McCann Dogs Here at a, Our facility we’ve helped over a hundred
thousand dog owners overcome the same Dog training challenges that you have. If this is your first time on the channel, Make sure you click that subscribe
button so that we can help you to have a Well-behaved four-legged family member. I deal with a lot of people that have
dogs that bark in the house or in the Crate when they’re leaving, or
when they’re in another room, They immediately assume it’s separation
anxiety, but that’s often not the case. Dogs may bark because they’re bored or
they just rather be doing something or Want to be with you. It’s not
necessarily truly that anxiety. They may also bark because
in the past barking, Perhaps they’re barking in the
crate and the owners go back in in, Do you ever do that? You go back to your dog to see if
they’re okay or to soothe them. So the dogs say barking in my crate
gets what I want. True separation. And anxiety is a phobia or true
fear. The dogs truly panicked. Many dog owners don’t understand this
because why doesn’t my dog figure out I Always come back to ’em. But the
problem is at that moment, you leave, The dog truly is panicked. Fear
is irrational. Think about it. Are you afraid of spiders?
Are you afraid of Heights? Where there really isn’t a
danger? It’s not rational. It’s one of the reasons it
makes it so hard to deal with.
So with true separation and anxiety,
your dog is going to appear stressed. They may be pacing. They may be drooling. Their body language suggests
that they’re very stressed. Many of the signs of separation anxiety,
especially more mild may be similar. Barking, absolutely.
With separation anxiety, You’re gonna get that
uncontrolled panicked barking.
That’s gonna go on and on, But you may see something
very similar with the dog. That’s just bored and just finds
barking, relieves that boredom. And when I talk drool, I often mean
excessive amounts. Your dog’s soaked. It’s like they’ve had a bath or there’s
a puddle in the crate because your dog Is truly irrationally,
afraid and stressed. You may also see that your dog is, um, Chewing or licking their feet, Or parts of their body
causing damage to themselves. You may see that there’s significant
damage to the crate itself. They may be trying to chew their
way out or being so stressed. They’re chewing on that. Again. We
may see some of that with a dog. That’s just bored and saying, I want out, But it’s gonna be very significant with
that severe, true separation anxiety. One thing you might see if you are a
dog, uh, if you put food in the crate, You know, some really, yummy
cheese, high value treats, Or even their bowl of food. Does
your dog not touch it? Well, You are not home sometimes. Won’t but
often that can be a sign of stress. If your dog says, oh,
I’m not so stressed. Now, When there’s food there tells you
that stress, level’s not too high. The other thing we can absolutely see
with dogs that are truly terrified with Real separation anxiety, they may
vomit. They may also eliminate. Now you need to say, do I
have a dog that’s stressed, And they just can’t hold it? Or
do I have a housebreaking problem? So you need to understand what’s
going on there. Even when I just said, If you think your dog has
separation anxiety, the rest
of this video is for you. But if you feel Ugh, maybe I don’t,
maybe I just have a barking problem. Then click on this card right here
for tactics to deal with barking. We discussed that separation anxiety,
True separation anxiety is a phobia,
fear. It takes time to work through fear, Whether you’re a dog or a person. The, So there’s not a lot of quick fixes
when we’re dealing with those behaviors, We need to go through a systematic
process of desensitizing the dog to us Leaving. So those triggers
picking up my keys. If I, If I just have my dog with me all
the time, I’m not gonna solve it. But if I can getting used
to just picking up the keys, What a good boy you can see, he’s
nice and relaxed going to the door. Not even going out, just
open it, closing it again, Walking to the door. So my dog gets used to those
triggers that set off that fear. And I’m slowly gonna build
up, till I can go outta sight. And I might only be out here for a minute. Then maybe I’m leaving for
five minutes, then an hour. Eventually my dog’s gonna be
comfortable with me, not there, But that takes time. So
piece of cake, right? That only took a few seconds and my
dog’s solved doesn’t work that way. Behaviors, even ones that aren’t
fear related and have us terrified. Take time to change behavior
change takes at least six weeks. And with a deeply set fear, it’s gonna
take even longer. Maybe three months, Maybe six months. Behaviors are
almost like grooves in the brain. A lot of scientists will refer to
grooves in the brain for those habits. We have, we need time where our
dog’s not rehearsing that behavior. So those old grooves of
being terrified, erode away. And we need thousands of
repetitions of a really easy level Of trigger that my dog says. He sees that and over time
gets desensitized to it. He’s no longer bothered because it’s no
longer a predictor that he’s being left Alone for a long time. So you’ve
got a long road ahead of you, But I’m gonna look at a few tips
that can speed up the process, Or for some of you that are dealing
with separation anxiety that’s not as Strong. You may have some
well ask their success. Now here’s the biggest
mistake people make. Well, They work through that desensitization
process. Often people do that.
They put on their coats,
they pick up their keys, They open the door and
they say, it’s not working. My dog’s not getting any better.
Here’s the twist. It’s not easy. I’m working through those
triggers to say it’s okay. And when you see me start
to leave, but life is real. I’ve still gotta go to work when
I’m not working those drills. And if I’m now leaving my dog
alone for four, six hours, They’re rehearsing that fear. It’s
maybe irrational. They don’t need to be, But they are. And that’s undoing
all of my desensitization work. My dog’s not gonna to
change that behavior. I had to deal with that with my
terrier Newman-Bing, you know, I was working through desensitization,
but at the same time I had to go to work. So what was I gonna do with
Newman? If I leave him alone, One he’s so stressed. He’s screaming,
he’s eliminating, he’s throwing up. I don’t wanna see that. Plus my
desensitization is not gonna work. So I’m gonna go through a
couple of different scenarios
that may help you manage Your dog. When you are not working
through the desensitization process. Some cases we can find a situation
where we leave our dogs and they aren’t Stressed. If we can do that, That’s fantastic because I can take my
time working through desensitization. And I’ve got this other
place where my dog can be. Now that may require getting a pet sitter
that might require your dog going to Somebody else’s house while
you work through the process. But sometimes we can find something, Just a different picture
where our dogs are fine. If your dog is loose in the
house, switching to a crate, Maybe all it takes. They may, that extra
confidence in the crate may be fine, But it’s still important that I create
this new picture because there’s so much Stress associated with the old picture. I wanna change the picture while I’m
working the new behavior. So, uh, I’m gonna change the style of crate.
I’m gonna change the size of crate, You know, for, so some of you, uh,
some dogs when they’re outside crated, You know, with probably a
little more of a run, um, Are actually fine when their owners leave.
There’s not that same degree of
stress. Sometimes going from, you know, A crate three times, this size is gonna
be okay, sometimes going even smaller. So he’s a little cramped, but
they feel or secure can work. I’d wanna make sure that, um, If my dog was panicky that I
didn’t have this collar on. So it’s not getting caught in the crate. If he’s really trying to
push around and move around. So we always wanna be careful that we
create a situation. That’s gonna be safe. In some cases, going to a crate,
that’s an X-pen. You know, That doesn’t have the top and the
bottom or going to a large, large, um, Tent can work. But if I have a dog
that’s highly destructive and panicked, They may rip through that. I need to make sure they’re not gonna
be chewing on the wall and swallowing Something they shouldn’t. So
safety is the number one priority. As we try to get a little
creative finding new pictures, This is a great preventative
strategy for separation anxiety. Having the dogs focus on
something else like food, Instead of thinking about us leaving, You may need to work through
the desensitization process
a bit before you get to This part where your dog’s willing to
take something, but I’ve got a treat, uh, Dispenser here. It’s got two little openings so I can
adjust how many treats or how easy it’s Gonna be. Berk is pretty good
at getting treats out of here. So I’m gonna load up a few just
so you can see how it works. And I am going to, would you
like to go in your crate Berk? You would now see that
when he’s got that he’s oh, Let me actually make sure it
can open. Yeah, there you go. So some treats can come outta there. So now he’s probably gonna be far
more interested than that than he is Worried about me leaving. Here’s my number one tool for
preventing separation and anxiety, But also for dealing with it.
Once my dog is able to, um, Take some food while I’m in the
process of getting ready to leave. This is a great tool.
Now the Kong is wonderful because
I can stuff things in there. I could put a large biscuit. I could
put kibble, uh, I can put peanut butter, Which is very high value. I’ll use
that to begin with. Eventually, Maybe it’s just yogurt or it’s, uh,
some soft dog food, some pumpkin, Little messier. Um, I’m gonna start
with some peanut butter with dogs, Cuz it’s pretty high value. Initially what I’m gonna do is I’m
actually gonna put this in the crate, But I’m not gonna put
the dog in the crate. So now instead of my dog saying, oh,
she’s gonna leave me. Where is she? Um, and thinking about me, he’s now
thinking about man, I wanna get in there, Forget about my owner. I want that Kong. So now there’s been 10 minutes or so
where I’m getting organized to go. And my dog’s not thinking about
me. He’s not stressing about that. He’s been thinking about
this crate and that Kong. So now I’m gonna have him
go in. I’m gonna ignore him. I’m just gonna open the crate and
say, okay, I’m not telling him, No goodbye, I’m not talking
to him. And then again, I’m not gonna make eye contact. I’m going to leave very
nonchalantly without talking to him. So me leaving no longer
becomes that huge trigger for Stress because he’s not focused
on me. See how relaxed he is. He’s not focused on me. Here’s a mistake that so many
people make with their young dogs. We feel guilty that
we’re leaving our dogs. So it’s like we get them or
in close. It’s okay, buddy. I’m gonna see you tonight.
We’re gonna have a long walk. We’re gonna have so much fun
then boom, I’m out the door. So we go from this, you know, real
excitement. I’m there to nothing. I want my dog to say. I, All I care about is that I don’t
mind my person leaving at all. The same thing applies. When you get
home, we need to ignore the dogs. This may be really hard for you. We’d
like to see them. They wanna see us. But again, if things are calm when I’m
not there and it’s such excitement. When I come home, that’s just gonna
feed that separation and anxiety.
So I wanna spend about 10, 15 minutes
where I don’t make eye contact. I totally ignore my dog. I can move
around the house, do other things. Then after 10 minutes, then I can let
my dog out, and then we can visit. I’m still gonna be calm as I let
him out. Great. That’s good, boy, We’re gonna go outside. He can do his
business and then I can visit with him. Now Kong’s my number one tool for
dealing with separation and anxiety and Certainly for preventing it. I’ve
got two other very important tools. But before I go on, I wanna talk about a few products
that you will see advertised A lot around separation anxiety.
So one is, um, a product. That’s a fair amount. That’s supposed
to relax dogs in my own experience. I haven’t seen that work.
However, when I’ve been using it, It’s been fairly severe cases of phobias. You can also use calming scents. You know, Some sense are designed to promote
that you can have music playing. That’s very relaxing for your
dog, for some dogs that will help. Sometimes that helps change
the picture. I’m terrified, But suddenly now this new scenario has
this interesting scent and music playing In the background. The other product
that I have had some success with, um, There it’s an anxiety wrap. And the idea of this is based on that
when dogs are wrapped up like this and Feel the pressure on the body,
uh, it actually relaxes them. And there is science
behind that, for sure. I have found some help with that.
That does help. If there’s limited, If your dog has severe separation
anxiety, throwing a coat on, Isn’t going to get you that solution. And it’s really important
where a lot of people fail. They get the coat hoping it’s
gonna work, put it on their dog. That’s terrified as you walk out the door. Now this becomes a trigger for stress.
The minute this goes on, I’m terrified. So we need to spend time putting this
on. When the dog is totally relaxed, We can make it part of this
new picture. That’s fine. And it may help speed up the
process. A little bit. 10 years ago, I had my first experience with separation
and anxiety with my own dog, Earl,
A Great Dane who is a little
bit older. So it was invaluable. If I’m gonna solve a problem,
I need to know what’s going on. So I would always make sure I
was recording him when I left. So I was able to see the
progress from an hour of Unsettled behavior, standing, staring
some drooling. To the point where, Um, weeks later I could see that
when I left, he would leave his Kong, Look up at me and then circle,
lie down and go to sleep. So having a camera, just your phone. Now you don’t need to go buy
an expensive pet monitor. You can use your phone or an old iPad.
You can check it out when you get home. Or, uh, I often FaceTime.
If I have a new dog, I’ll set up one phone and another
device and I can actually see them live. See if something’s going on, or
hear if they’re getting unsettled. What does that look like when you are
home with your dog and you’re not working That desensitization exercises? Well, I’m not gonna have my dog on my lap or
with me a hundred percent of the time, Cuz that’s just gonna build
that need to of me there. So I’m gonna have Berk lying down, Maybe across the room and just chilling
out that it’s okay to be around me. I can still interact, But I want periods where he’s away
from me and life is good. In fact, I’m probably gonna have him in another
room for part of the time so I can be Moving around the house. He can hear me. He doesn’t have to be at
my side all the time. Now, If you haven’t trained
your dog to hold on a mat, Let’s talk about how we might do that. So I’m gonna let my dog learn that
good things happen when they’re not Right beside me. So me leaving is
not a bad thing. What a good boy. And I might just start with
him holding there. Yes. What a good man and
yessing that he is holding. That means you’re perfect at that
moment. Yes. Then I’m gonna come back in. I could even do a little toss. Yes. And
I’m gonna toss that treat. So again, Good things happen without
me even close. Yes. Good boy. One thing we haven’t yet
talked about that many,
Many people make mistakes with is the
use of rewards and our correction with Separation anxiety, with separation
anxiety. There’s no place for correction. I sometimes get asked, should I use
a bark collar? And it’s like, no, Remember separation anxiety is a, Irrational feel it’s involuntary. So I can’t correct a dog for
something they can’t control. So I definitely don’t
wanna use a bark collar. I also don’t wanna get
crossed with my dog, Telling them they’re wrong
because they can’t control it. I need to help work through that process.
Correction’s not gonna help at all. And it may create other behavioral
issues. So we’re not gonna use correction. Is there a place for reward in
dealing with separation anxiety? I, I would say yes, but it
needs to be done carefully. I need to know that I’m truly
rewarding the right behavior. If my dog’s stressed or barking, I don’t want to be rewarding
inadvertently that behavior. And sometimes there’s not a lot of pause
in their barking. So I have to be very, Very careful that said I can. I
also wanna be careful that you know, My dog’s quiet for a minute.
I go back in and again, I’m not building that
separation. It’s all about me. So when I use a reward
for separation anxiety, Most often I do it
using a remote rewarder. I’ve got a remote treat trainer here. And so that it delivers the
treat right into the crate. I’ve got a really high tech
thing here. Just a bottle. I’ve cut off the neck, duct tape it
to it. So now when I press my button, It delivers the treat
right into the crate. So now I can be anywhere in the
house. I don’t have to be in sight. He can be rewarded for
the appropriate behavior. Now this is where it gets tricky.
I wanna make sure he’s not barking, But I’d also like, like
to know that he’s relaxed. So I might hear him chewing on his
bone. Perfect. I can press that button. He gets rewarded. If I can
tell, you know, he’s lying down. If I heard some snoring,
great, he’s relaxed.
That’s when I want to reward
this without me in the picture, I could also set up my camera. You
know, sometimes I’ll FaceTime my dog. So now I can see that he just laid
down. He’s totally relaxed. Again, Great time to deliver that tree. The good news is that separation and
anxiety can be greatly reduced so that you Can live a normal life with
your dog. If you have a very, Very severe case of separation anxiety, You might wanna seek out the help of a
professional to help you work through That desensitization process. Whether or not you’re dealing
with separation anxiety, You’re dealing with a dog that’s
barking or whether it being proactive, And you’re looking to prevent
separation and anxiety. This video’s for you on
that note, I’m Carol. This is the Berk happy training.