Severe Separation Anxiety In Rescue Dogs

Separation anxiety happens when a dog that s hyper attached to their owner gets super stressed when left alone.

Severe separation anxiety in rescue dogs.

Separation anxiety ranks high as a reason for relinquishment. Destructive behaviour messing in the house barking or howling when they are left alone and other signs of distress such as drooling pacing circling or even becoming withdrawn when you are preparing to go out. As in humans many rescue dogs experience separation anxiety too. What are the signs.

Separation anxiety is a psychological disorder that manifests in excessive barking whining or crying chewing digging urination defecation and other destructive behavior that is accompanied by excessive panting and drooling when the dog is left alone. The key is to teach them that these signals do not mean you re leaving. These behaviors can result in self injury such as broken teeth cut and scraped paws and damaged nails. They sometimes resort to self mutilation when left alone.

Before you assume your dog has separation anxiety consider all of your dog s behaviors. They can destroy cars homes and possessions at an incredible rate and dig and chew their way out of windows and doors. Many dog owners adopt a dog from a shelter and come to notice the signs of separation anxiety but do not know how to deal with them. In other words your dog begins to fear you grabbing the keys just as much as you being gone.

A dog with separation. You have to desensitize them to these behaviors. Sparky was showing symptoms of separation anxiety the term trainers use for when dogs are disruptive or destructive when left alone cats are seldom afflicted with it. Separation anxiety is a serious condition.

Dogs suffering from the more severe forms may salivate pace bark howl and or urinate and defecate in panic. According the aspca because far more dogs who have been adopted from shelters have this behavioral problem than those kept by a single family since puppyhood it is believed that loss of an important person or group of people in a dog s life can lead to separation anxiety. For a dog with separation anxiety these signals eventually become the triggers of the anxiety itself. This may lead to the dog being surrendered again.

The fact that rescue dogs have separation anxiety is a known fact among shelter workers. Separation anxiety in rescue dogs can be triggered after experiencing a lifetime of being neglected abandoned or worst case scenario abused. It s more than a little whining when you leave or a bit of mischief while you re.