Training your dog not to weep when you leave the house

When you leave your dog behind when going out of the house, does she cry and weep like there is it is the end of the world? Although it is sad to see, virtually everyone's pet dog becomes upset to see their owners leave home, even for a moment. “Some dogs truly go off the deep end” says Karen Overall, V.M.D., Ph.D., a lecturer specializing in behavioral medicine in the Department of Clinical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Extreme cases of anxiety have been documented by vets that describe dogs actually chewing through drywall, bending metal crate bars, or even jumping out of windows to their death to get to their owners! While the reasons for such high levels of anxiety in dogs are still unknown, what we do know is that “dogs are pack animals. Some are utterly lost when left alone,” says Myrna Milani, D.V.M., author of The Body Language and Emotions of Dogs.

Below are 3 ways that veterinarians recommend to help ease the pain of separation:

Step (1) Leave the house without leaving the house. As simple as this method is, most dog owners overlook it. Choose a room in your house to put your dog in where you can open and close the door. Give your dog a treat and leave the room for a minute, while shutting the door behind you. After just a minute goes by, return to the room to greet your dog. In your dog's mind it will feel like that one minute was an entire week. The next time you practice this training method, increase the time away to 5 minutes, then 10, etc., until you reach the point where you can spend a couple of hours without the dog crying.

Step (2) Take short breaks outside of the home. Now that your puppy is able to withstand periods of time away from you in the room, take it to the next level and physically leave the front door of your house for 15 minutes at a time. Be sure not to make a big deal of your departure by coddling her. Just leave her a special treat and take a break from the house. This way the dog will not think it is any big deal that you are leaving and with a nice chewy treat left behind, she may even look forward to your departures.

Step (3) Repeat! As you can see it is not an extraordinary painful ordeal to reprogram your dog's mind not to be fearful and anxious when you are away. You should repeat the steps above until your pet is totally comfortable with you departing. And above all, please make sure that you take the advice of leaving something chewy and special behind when you are away. This can cut training time in half in virtually any breed.

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