EnvironMental Monday: Separation Anxiety and the World Around You

As I've mentioned in previous EnvironMental Monday posts, the goal of my EDEN philosophy is to create a tranquil home in which you and your canine companion are balanced, healthy, and happy together. This week, we'll talk ab out one of the most challenging behavioral issues animal guardians face: separation anxiety.

Dogs suffering from separation anxiety - a condition in which a dog separated from its guardian exhibits extreme behavior as a result of intense anxiety - may dig, chew, bark, break windows, or exhibit self-harming behaviors, all in a desperate attempt to reunite with the person or people they love.

In this post, I won't talk a lot about training techniques to modify or change this behavior - there are many great articles out there on just that topic, including this one by the Humane Society of the United States. What I will talk about here are ways that you can modify your environment to create a setting that eases your dog's anxiety. These ways include aromatherapy, white noise and sound therapy, and the creation of visual stimuli to help relax your panicked pooch. These tools should be used in conjunction with the many excellent techniques espoused by the aforementioned Humane Society article.

Dogs have a much more keen sense of smell than do humans; it follows, then, that dogs are much more sensitive to scents of any kind - good or bad. This makes your pooch a great candidate for aromatherapy. And, aromatherapy has the added benefit of soothing you and helping to establish that tranquil setting to which we aspire. To begin using aromatherapy as a viable way to modify your dog's separation anxiety, it's best to start by trying a few different essential oils while you are at home to observe the effect (if any) they have on your pup. Dr. Edward Bach, creator of Rescue Remedy, has an entire line of natural essences geared toward pets - during my internship, we used many of these essences regularly, with excellent results. These formulas are typically administered either internally or externally, directly on the canine. Results are impressive, and happen quickly - the drawback is most certainly the price. If you're interested in blending your own essential oils, this article from Dog First Aid 101 will give you all the information you'll need to do so inexpensively and with minimal effort.

Another avenue you may try with your pooch is having music on in the background while you are away. While this alone will not get rid of the separation anxiety entirely, studies have shown that dogs are more relaxed and are less prone to frequent pacing or listless behavior when classical music is playing. There are now a whole host of specialized CDs created just for pets - you can find them on Amazon, or simply pick up a few classical CDs in the discount bin (percussion has been shown to be less popular with the pups, and Bach was the hands-down favorite), or tune your radio to a local classical station. You can read more about the findings from this very interesting study here.

And finally, we have stimuli for the more visually oriented pups out there. If you have a dog who likes to watch TV with you, this may be just the thing: videos for your dog. You can try tuning to Animal Planet and just leaving it on the station for the day, but I have found that actually creating your own videos are more fun and get better results. If your pooch is prone to severe separation anxiety, keep the content of your video low-key... collect footage of your pup playing, of you and your family, or simply of you talking quietly to your favorite pooch. Rigorous play sessions or you speaking in a high-pitched, excited voice should be avoided - the last thing you want is to stir your already anxious canine to a frenzy. If you can fill a six-hour tape with a combination of some soothing Animal Planet or National Geographic specials interspersed with snippets featuring you and your pup, the day will go that much faster for your four-legged friend.

Don't forget to include lots of hard chew toys - treat-filled Kongs or Nylabones are great, and try to keep absences short as you begin the process of retraining your pup. Thanks, as ever, for reading, and drop a line with any questions.

EnvironMental Monday: Putting an End to Unwanted Chewing

I got my first dog as an adult when I was twenty-three. Moonshadow, as I soon named her, was six months old at the time - already lean, lanky, and full of life. Over time, she became one of those dogs people remember for years afterward: sweet, mellow, and fun-loving. For the first six months of our time together, however, our relationship was hardly ideal. In fact, there were many days when I genuinely debated sending my sweet Moon right back to the shelter where she'd come from.

The major issue? Chewing, hands down.

Before you can set up your personal paradise, in which you and your dog and your family and friends all peacefully cohabitate, there may be some obstacles. One of those obstacles is most definitely chewing. It's hard to make your place the ideal when you have no books lower than the fourth shelf on your bookcase, and all of your plants have to be suspended from the ceiling. Is it possible to have a great house and still have dogs? Absolutely. But it does take some work.

There are three common reasons dogs chew your stuff: Lack of exercise, separation anxiety, or - particularly in the case of teething puppies - simply because it feels good. In my girl Moon's case, it was a combination of all three things; I solved the problem by hiring a neighbor to come in during the afternoon to walk her, thus breaking up the day. In addition, we did a more rigorous walk in the mornings, and I set her up on the porch while I was at work, with all sorts of things that she was allowed to chew up and nothing that she wasn't.

The first thing you should do is determine which of these three issues is most likely to blame for your dog's chewing issues. If it's a lack of exercise, you need to prepare yourself for a harsh reality - dogs need to move. High energy dogs like terriers, especially young ones, may need a couple of long walks a day and a rigorous play session besides, while larger dogs or less active breeds may do just fine with a single long walk each day. Check out this Wednesday's blog for some ideas on how to make sure your pup is getting the exercise he or she needs, without either of you overdoing it. In the meantime, though, simply make a mental note as to whether your dog's chewing problems are related to exercise or some other problem.

Now that you've determined the root of your dog's problems, it's time to go about solving the issue. The first thing you need to know: You won't stop a dog who loves to chew, from chewing. So rather than trying to stop them from a natural behavior that is instantly gratifying, you need to find something that they love to chew more than your favorite shoes. There are a lot of alternatives out there. Those I have had the most success with are Kong toys stuffed with cheese or frozen peanut butter, marrow bones, and assorted stuffed toys. Provide a few alternatives, and give plenty of praise every time your pooch shows the slightest bit of interest in them.

The second thing you need to do is set your dog up for success. This means that, at least initially, you'll have to do a little puppy-proofing - they should have zero access to whatever you don't want eaten. If your dog is used to being crated, that's an easy solution. If he's not, you'll need to set up a space that's distinctly dog-friendly whenever you're out of sight. Provide plenty of chewy toys, lots of encouragement, and keep a close eye out whenever your pup is back in the great wide open.

Remember in all of this that accidents will invariably happen. If you find a shoe that's been chewed and your dog is nowhere in sight, don't bother any kind of reprimand. Dogs live in the moment - if you come up to them with shoe in hand and tell them they're a bad, bad dog, they will associate whatever they are doing in that instant with the reprimand. They will not, however, have the slightest idea why you're yelling at them and waving your shoe around. If you actually come upon your dog while chewing your shoe, go to them, gently remove the shoe, and then provide a firm "No. Bad dog." Screaming and, particularly, physically reprimanding your dog are counter-productive to training of any kind. Immediately after reprimanding your pooch, provide him with an acceptable chewing alternative and give lots of praise.

Try this approach, along with a longer, more rigorous walk in the morning before work, and you'll be amazed at how many shoes you're able to save. If you do find no change in the behavior, then you just may be looking at a pup with some severe separation anxiety. If that's the case, read next EnvironMental Monday's post, when I address the issue of canine separation anxiety and provide a few tips for dealing with the issue. As always, drop a line if you have any questions, and thanks for reading.