Saturday, February 12, 2011

Want To Find Out About Dog With Separation Anxiety?

By Alex Colin


Like human, dogs too suffer from separation anxiety. Dogs don't like it when you leave them alone. Experts say that this is mostly panic reaction. The strange behavioral patterns demonstrated by some dogs when left alone at home for long periods, point towards separation anxiety.

If you think you've got a dog with separation anxiety, look for the following distress signals and behavioral patterns when left alone: destructive behavior like chewing and scratching door frames, cushions etc, extreme salivation, howling or whining and other similar reactions, some dogs display sadness if they know their owner is going away for some time, some dogs react anxiously when their owners return. You can be sure that your dog is suffering from separation anxiety if he shows any or all of the aforementioned symptoms.

Normally dogs won't display such patterns however the dogs that get a lot of love and care from their owner in the early stages are much more prone to display such symptoms when left alone. Distress and anxiety might also result in dogs that were separated early from their litter, treated badly as a pup, endured trauma or lost someone they loved, like their previous owners etc.

If you don't allow your dogs to associate, play and be 'social' with other dogs, they are even more prone to develop such patterns when left alone. Dogs can't live without companions. They feel lonely and left out.

Its a bad idea to confine your dog only to the four walls. It is imperative that you take your dog out for regular walks, let him loose in parks and let him play with other dogs. A lonely dog is a dog with separation anxiety.

You have to realize that the signs of distress displayed by dogs on being separated or left alone are occasionally just like that of anger but what actually your dog is telling you is that it panics and feels anxious when left alone. It is helpful to tone down the smothering, let your dog be himself. Punishing the dog for its behavior doesn't really help, after all, your dog was anxious because he felt that you left him.




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