Puppy Training Home > Dog Behavior > Puppy Separation Anxiety

Tips for Eliminating
Puppy Separation Anxiety

Puppy Separation Anxiety Puppy separation anxiety is a very common condition that affects many dogs that have to spend time home alone. Fortunately, it's fairly easy to treat and get rid of.

Sometimes, even without realizing it, we make our pets even more anxious.

How?

By acting in certain ways, we may encourage this condition in the future.

Here are some tips for dealing with dog separation anxiety.

Dealing With Puppy Separation Anxiety

While there are a lot of techniques you can use to deal with your puppy's separation anxiety, your two main goals are to…

Make your puppy enjoy the time he is alone
Keep him busy

Here are some tips that can help you eliminate separation anxiety in puppy...

Start training your puppy to be alone for short periods of time while he is still young.
Trick your puppy into thinking that you are about to leave without actually leaving. Get dressed, open the door and then immediately close it. The next time you really need to leave, the site of you getting dressed will not make your puppy too excited.
Before you leave your puppy alone, exhaust him. Engage him in some draining activity, like running or playing ball. When you bring him home, he may be too tired to pay attention to you leaving. He may even fall asleep.
There is no need for long, emotional goodbyes. If you leave and then come back to reassure your puppy, he will think that you are rewarding his tantrums. You are actually encouraging puppy separation anxiety.
Before you leave, turn the radio on.
Love your puppy, play with him, spend time with him, but like with a lot of things in life, everything in moderation! Excessive attention that your puppy is getting can make puppy separation anxiety even worse.
When you return, don't make a big scene. If you do, you are encouraging your puppy to look forward to your return. This anticipation will make him more anxious.

To make your dog enjoy the time he is alone, get him a tough rubber toy that you can stuff with food. It's designed in such a way that he can't extract all the food at once. Getting food will be a time consuming effort, but the reward is so great!

Kong Dog Toys are designed with this in mind and there is a toy for a dog of any size!