Separation Anxiety Treatment: Systematic Desensitization
When it comes to preparing our puppies for post pandemic alone time, the biggest advice we can give is to START NOW!
Start helping your pup adjust to solo time weeks or even months before a significant absence - aka returning to the office. You’ll do this through a systematic desensitization process - aka slowly exposing your pups to the experience of being home alone in small increments that they can handle without panicking.
For many dogs this starts with simply stepping out of the door for 1 sec., building up to 2 sec., then 5 sec., then 1 minute over a series of days. Those minutes will become hours with systematic daily practice, but we are often talking a matter of months not weeks for some pups to get truly comfortable with regular long periods of alone time.
To ensure our pups are always comfortable with our incremental absences it’s vital that we set up a camera or viewing system of some sort to observe & document their behavior. That way, if you have built up to 2 min. of alone time, you can watch your pup through your camera and be sure to come back BEFORE you see signs of panic. This teaches your pup that absences are SAFE & that you'll never leave them for longer than they can handle.
Important mgmt tip: While our puppies are still learning to be comfortable when left alone we need to avoid letting them cry it out! Imagine someone who’s afraid of water being pushed in the deep end of a pool - that might actually make them MORE nervous to be around a pool in the future! Well that's what it can feel like to many pups who are 'thrown in the deep end' with regards to isolation. It’s vital we take it at their pace, knowing that's the only way to truly get them safe & avoid sensitization.
For many the thought of breaking down a 4 hour absence into seconds & putting in place a systematic desensitization protocol seems overwhelming & that's where the professionals come in. We HIGHLY recommend reaching out to a CSAT (certified separation anxiety trainer) to get the coaching & support you need to successfully see improvement w/ this challenging behavior
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