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Separation anxiety is the dread or fear that your dog experiences when someone that they are attached to leaves them. So a typical instance of this might be when you go to work in the morning, the dog might get tense or anxious. Typically this anxiety produces negative behavior in the animal. It may howl or bark, urinate or defecate in the house, start to chew things or bite itself. Obviously this is not good for the dogs state of mind or your home. So what can be done about separation anxiety in dogs ? Separation anxiety prevention should begin at birth. A puppy that is not allowed to wean off it's mother could display separation anxiety in later life. It should be weaned off and relatively independent by around the eight week period so don't get a puppy that is younger than this. Separation anxiety training can begin as soon as the puppy enters your home (it's new home). It is hard to resist a new puppy but you should not make a big fuss of it too much. This is especially the case when you are leaving it at night time. Place it in the sleeping basket and walk away. This will get it used to you leaving and being alone for extended periods. Try to communicate the fact that you will not always be there and your dog should not suffer form separation anxiety when it gets older. Teaching your puppy about separation anxiety should be quite straightforward. This may not be the case if you take on a grown dog. The dog may have come to you via the dog pound or maybe a previous owner has given it away. A dog that has spent any time in a shelter or pound has effectively been abandoned by it's previous owner. Thus anxiety over a past or future separation may be a completely rational conclusion to draw from past experience. It may also have had little affection in the shelter making it even more anxious. If it has been given to you by the previous owner there is generally a good reason why they have done this. It may be that there were family problems, a divorce, money problems or that the person had to leave the country. As a dog is a social animal and needs the support that a family gives to it, it is also aware when there are problems in the family. This can trigger emotional problems that could result in displaying separation anxiety at some point. So for an older dog the first step is to heal old emotional wounds. In terms of separation anxiety, you will have to leve at some point so start off slowly. Practice leaving. Leave for a few minutes and then return. Don't make a gbig deal of the leaving and returning, so as to imply that this is a normal process. Do this repeatedly, gradually increasing the length of time that you are away from the dog. If you notice that the dog is beginning to get anxious then go back to a separation time period when it was content. Continue this process until the dog is not displaying any signs of anxiety. Other strategies that may work are to keep you pet bust while you are out. So you could hide some tasty treats in the garden to take his mind off the fact that he is alone.
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