Hi everyone I have an almost 6 month old lab mix. Female, intact, planning to spay in near future. Everything has been going very well with her, and we've definitely gotten the basics down (potty training, basic dog manners, etc) My question today is about avoiding separation anxiety. She has never had any problems being left alone so far, and I would like help to keep it that way. Here is what we've been doing: Before I leave for work in the mornings, I fill 3 food dispensing toys with her breakfast. She has many food dispensing toys and I rotate them daily. I also give her a sweet potato chew. She now knows this routine and gets very excited when I get dressed for work. Once I am ready to head out the door, I give her the toys and chew. From the camera I set up, I can see that it takes about an hour for her to get through her toys and chew. After that she sleeps until I come let her out at lunch about 4 or 5 hours later. Then I go back to work and only give her a sweet potato chew. She eats it in about 5 mins and goes back to bed until I get home in another 4 or 5 hours. While I'm away, she has free run of the kitchen, living room, and hallway. Her bed and crate (door off) are in the living room. My questions are: 1) Everything I have read about separation anxiety says to avoid cues that let your dog know you're leaving. Should I be worried that she knows when I'm leaving and gets really excited for the treat/food she's going to get? Or is it ok to associate my leaving with the treat/food? 2) I have also read that to avoid separation anxiety, you should ignore your dog for 30 mins when you come home, and then only pay attention to them if they are calm. How do I do this if she really needs to pee when I get home? I can't come home from work more frequently 3) She has come to expect a sweet potato chew when I leave. If I give her another kind of chew (that she's tried and loves) she will follow me to the door/stare at me until she gets one. Is it bad for her to SPECIFICALLY expect a sweet potato chew when I leave? 4) I live in a shared building, so I have worked really hard to desensitize her to the many loud bangs and noises that comes with that. It has gone well. I am however, worried that she might experience noises that she's never heard before while I am away (maybe the neighbors have a really bad fight, use power tools, etc, I don't know). I am worried that something new and scary might freak her out and end up traumatizing her or something. How can I guard against something like this? 5) She used to bark at me for attention. I taught her not to bark for attention by immediately locking MYSELF in the closet when she barked. I came out when she was quiet. This has worked well and she is now a very quiet dog. However, there are a pair of dogs upstairs that bark all day while their owner is gone. Although the barks wake my dog up when she's sleeping, she ignores the barking. I am worried that when I'm at work, she will one day figure out that no one is there to stop her from barking back at them. 6) Is there anything else I could do differently? Anything I not thinking of? Any criticism and help is greatly appreciated
Hi @Slam Welcome to the site. I'm glad that you are being a really responsible dog owner. Camera is an excellent idea. Most of the things you raise are management strategies for dogs that have been properly assessed as having separation anxiety. They are not strategies for dogs that are not displaying any anxiety. And on the basis of your description I don't believe your dog displays the symptoms of separation anxiety. You are correct that your dog is learning your departure routine. But that alone does not result in separation anxiety. If it were so, then the problem of separation anxiety would be widespread in view of the emergence and rise of two-earner couples. My advice is just keep on doing what you are doing. Keep an eye out for a change in your dog's behaviour. Watch in particular how your dog behaves shortly before and after your depart. If the problem begins to emerge, then at the incipient stage become random in your routines. Please be advised is that it is extraordinarily difficult for we humans to be random. Re loud noises, I can't think of any preventive strategy. Perhaps leave a radio on to drown out some of any potential noise. Check with neighbours that you are not creating a noise pollution problem. Do you have audio on your camera? If so, you will be able to tell if your dog begins to bark. Do you have a neighbour that could give her a quiet cue should she ever start? Perhaps you could hire a puppy walker to come in to break up your dog's mornings.
Welcome to the forum, Slam! It sounds like you are being a really conscientious owner and that your dog isn't showing any signs of concern when you go out. I'd very much echo what Michael says, lots of these things to avoid are more relevant to a dog that is worried. Yours sounds like she's happy with the current routine. We've got some information on the main site on separation anxiety that you might find interesting, but if I were you i'd keep doing what you are doing while it's working. With maybe some more walks thrown in by a dog walker if you are able to afford to have the morning and/or afternoon broken up a bit more for her in that way. There is also some good advice for puppy parents that work in this article. Let us know how you get along! Sounds like you really are doing your best for her, and that is half the battle won already
I think it's great you are asking questions like this and trying to pre-empt problems before they occur. I know this wasn't part of your question, but I would really consider if that is best for your individual puppy's physical and behavioural health. There are some great links to research papers to read here: https://www.avidog.com/research-on-the-effects-of-spaying-and-neutering/ As an overview of some research you might like to read: http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/Long...c_RmDc4r0sATjOourPpDMaspd6kNEvRDRe_pXda0GvMQ0 http://www.caninesports.com/uploads...eHnwCSvieRURb53JE3sS-Gy2e6gynBKouzMXPdlGTIRd0 And a video: I agree with Michael, you don't seem to have any problems or SA issues so you can probably rest assured on the things you're worried about. You might want to buy a Furbo camera, which will give you barking alerts for your dog and also enable you to throw treats if you need to reinforce or distract the dog (should something happen to make her bark). But... Being alone for 8 hours a day in an ongoing way (with a little break at lunch) is kinda tough for a dog, so take care to spend quality time with your dog when you are back and maybe consider a walker who can take your dog out on leash to break the day up.
