We all love our dogs, and all of us envision ourselves to spend as much as time as we can with the dog. But there are, inevitably, times at which we have our errands to run, or we have to leave the dog alone for periods of time while we head to work for an important meeting. We will also need to leave the dog at home so that we can go grocery shopping to conjure up those delicious home cooked food for the dog.
Unknowingly, the problem here is that most dog owners are not aware that some of their seemingly harmless action can cause or trigger reactions in the dogs. For example, while leaving the dog alone at home might seem innocuous, it can be pretty damaging for the dog, especially if your furry companion has anxiety issues.
Here is a quick tabulation of the common causes for the anxiety attacks in your dog.
- Complicated commands
- Constant aggression to the dog
- Ignoring the dog’s needs
- Not showing enough love to your dog
- Constant loud sounds in your house
- Improper living conditions
- Too much negative issues in the house
- Leaving dog alone in the house
The above is just some of the common issues that can cause the dog to have anxiety attacks. Now, how do you tell if your dog has anxiety issues then?
Telltale signs of anxiety issues in your dog
If you observe your dogs and if they show any of the following signs, then it is very likely that the dog has anxiety issues.
- Noticeable decrease in appetite
- More lethargic than usual
- The dog howls when you leave the house
- The dog howls when it is left alone to sleep in the night
- Diarrhea often plagues your dog. Sometimes, it can be constipation
- Excessive drooling
- The development of aggression in your dog
Note that these are just some of the more common telltale signs of anxiety issues in your dog. The list isn’t exhaustive, and the anxiety issues might be the result of a combination of more than just 1 sign. For example, the dog can be howling when you are asleep as well as howling when you leave them alone at night.
How to help dogs with anxiety issues
If you notice, most of the factors listed in the former listing can be controlled by us. For example, we should always strive to improve the dog’s living conditions as well as to show constant love and attention to our dog. But while these are within our control, there are some that are tougher to keep in check. One such factor is leaving our dogs alone for periods of time, whether it is we are leaving the house or we are leaving the dog to sleep alone at night. If your dog is constantly howling when it is left alone for whatever reasons, then take heed that this isn’t a unique problem, and it can be solved if you take a series of systematic steps to help your dog.
How to help your dog adjust to alone time
Dogs howling when they are left alone isn’t a unique problem. The proper terminology for this is separation anxiety, and this plagues almost all dogs, especially if the dog is new to the family or the house. To help your dog adjust to alone time, especially if you are trying to get the dog to sleep alone at night, you can follow the steps below.
- Place the dog on the bed: First of all, place the dog on the bed and stay by its side. Encourage the dog to stay still and be quiet. Reward the dog with a treat if it managed to accomplish this feat.
- Command the dog to stay: Once the dog is sufficiently still for a sustained period of time, you can proceed to move away from the bed slowly. As you do so, use the command “stay” to get the dog to stay in its place. Once you are out of the dog’s line of sight and the dog doesn’t move to you, you should proceed to reward the dog with a treat.
- Rinse and repeat: If the above steps have been successful, you can proceed to repeating step 2 again, but varying the length that you are away from the dog. Should the dog not heed your heed, go back to the previous step.
- Close the door: Once you have determined that the dog is sufficiently trained by you such that it will not howl when you have left the room, the next variable you should test is the introduction of a closed door. This is because while steps 1 to 3 might be good if you are trying to prevent the dog from howling from anxiety issues when you are leaving it to sleep alone at night, it might not be enough if you are leaving the house as there is an additional variable here: a closed door. So for this, repeat steps 2 and 3, but instead of just leaving out of the line of sight for your dog, ensure that you close the door as you leave the dog alone. If the dog starts to howl, repeat the earlier steps again. By right, if you have done the steps correctly, the dog wouldn’t be howling at this point of time.
- Monitor duration: If the dog is comfortable being alone even behind closed doors, you should now vary the amount of time that it is being left alone. As part of the training process, try to increase the time incrementally by hours. Once the dog can be left alone for up to more than 3 hours, the dog can now be left alone for periods of time, even if you are out of the house for longer periods!
Wrapping things up
Of course, the above steps serve as a guide for you to help your dog adjust to alone times. It is also recommended that you supplement the training with peripherals that can help your dog too. Some items such as the Thundershirt for dogs can be comforting for the dog too. The best option here will be to purchase a dog crate with a cover for your furry companion as it has been shown that a dog crate can help the dog as the enclosed space in the crate can help to comfort the dog when it is suffering from separation anxiety.