A dog that suffers from dog separation anxiety can be retrained so it can be left alone.
It has to be done slowly and carefully, however.
To begin, you have to gradually reduce the amount of attention that you give your dog.
It can be difficult for you both but for the retraining to be effective it has to become used to being around you but not relying on you.
If your dog is demanding attention you need to deny it, not all the time, but regularly.
Identify times of the day to play with and give lots of attention to your dog and other times when you will be getting on with other things.
Let your dog get used to you being around but not paying direct attention to him.
A good technique is to retrain a dog suffering from dog separation anxiety is to physically separate yourself from him as you walk around the house by closing doors.
It is also a good rule to not allow your dog upstairs.
If you have this rule in place then spend time up stairs away from your dog.
You can build up the time you spend away from your dog either upstairs or behind a closed door until it is quite used to you being away from it for extended periods.
Dog separation anxiety shows itself at its worst when the dog is left alone in the house.
So you need to transfer the ability of your dog coping with you ignoring it to it coping with you actually not being there.
If you have built up the time you have been upstairs or in a closed room this will really help your dog make the transition.
Start by just leaving the house for a few seconds at a time and let your dog sees you leave and come back in.
Then you could walk out the front door and in through the back.
Do this without making a point that you are leaving, just do it as naturally as you can at random moments throughout the day.
When you come back in from these mini trips it is important not to overdo your hello even if the dog is demanding it.
Remember you are retraining him to learn to cope without you.
You will gradually be able to stay out for longer and longer periods and your dog will begin to accept your absence.
In this way dog separation anxiety can be trained out of even the most anxious dog.
A dog just needs to know that you are there and reliable so it will respond to your behavior.
If you let it become independent when you are at home it will be independent when you are not.
It just needs to be confident that you will return.
It has to be done slowly and carefully, however.
To begin, you have to gradually reduce the amount of attention that you give your dog.
It can be difficult for you both but for the retraining to be effective it has to become used to being around you but not relying on you.
If your dog is demanding attention you need to deny it, not all the time, but regularly.
Identify times of the day to play with and give lots of attention to your dog and other times when you will be getting on with other things.
Let your dog get used to you being around but not paying direct attention to him.
A good technique is to retrain a dog suffering from dog separation anxiety is to physically separate yourself from him as you walk around the house by closing doors.
It is also a good rule to not allow your dog upstairs.
If you have this rule in place then spend time up stairs away from your dog.
You can build up the time you spend away from your dog either upstairs or behind a closed door until it is quite used to you being away from it for extended periods.
Dog separation anxiety shows itself at its worst when the dog is left alone in the house.
So you need to transfer the ability of your dog coping with you ignoring it to it coping with you actually not being there.
If you have built up the time you have been upstairs or in a closed room this will really help your dog make the transition.
Start by just leaving the house for a few seconds at a time and let your dog sees you leave and come back in.
Then you could walk out the front door and in through the back.
Do this without making a point that you are leaving, just do it as naturally as you can at random moments throughout the day.
When you come back in from these mini trips it is important not to overdo your hello even if the dog is demanding it.
Remember you are retraining him to learn to cope without you.
You will gradually be able to stay out for longer and longer periods and your dog will begin to accept your absence.
In this way dog separation anxiety can be trained out of even the most anxious dog.
A dog just needs to know that you are there and reliable so it will respond to your behavior.
If you let it become independent when you are at home it will be independent when you are not.
It just needs to be confident that you will return.
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