Puppy Separation Anxiety: Why’s He Doing This?
Puppy separation anxiety can be one of the most troublesome experiences for anyone to go through, both for you and for the dog. Unfortunately, it happens to many dogs for many reasons. Most commonly, it’s a natural instinct and reaction and for that you should be glad. Puppy separation anxiety happens when an animal destroys, defecates, urinates or otherwise displays poor behavior when you, the owner will leave him alone.
This is a common situation that most puppy owners will face at some time. Understanding why it happens and looking for treatments can help the puppy, as well as the owner to deal with the situation positively.
Why’s This Happening?
The first step to improving your situation with your puppy is to understand why his behavior is what it is when you leave him. First, consider how dogs are born. They are born to a mother usually with a litter of dogs. It is common for a bond to form between mother and puppy as well as with the other dogs in the liter. When the puppy is removed from this situation, he creates a similar bound to his new owner.
When you leave him, then, he reacts poorly because of several reasons. For some dogs it is because of a disorder that causes them to be overly dependent on their owners. For others, it is due to a traumatic event when they were younger, perhaps something you may not know about.
What Can Be Done?
The first thing to consider is how bad the situation is with the puppy. Some forms of puppy separation anxiety can take the dog to very poor health conditions. For example, it is not uncommon for dogs to vomit, not eat or drink, or even get involved in self-mutilation. In these cases when the dog’s health is at risk, consider talking to your vet as soon as possible.
In other cases, you may be able to find treatment for this condition through obedience training and through crate training the dog. Those dogs that display this problem through excessive chewing, having accidents throughout the home or through excessive barking can often be remedied through these behavior modification methods with great success.
Puppies do need to learn that being left alone is okay and that you will return to them. By helping them to learn this as well as helping them to learn proper behavior, you can get help for your puppy and reduce the problems associated with puppy separation anxiety. It will take some time and it will take patience and hard work, but puppy separation anxiety can be lessened considerably to where it is no longer a problem for you or your puppy.
