Separation Anxiety:
“Separation Anxiety” is a name for the anxiety and stress that some dogs feel when they are left alone. Like any kind of anxiety or stress, separation anxiety will lower a dog’s immune system, making it more susceptible to illness. Separation anxiety can also lead to frustrated chewing and destructive behavior, which can lead to anything from a torn up couch to a dangerous piece of something lodging in the dog’s system.
One of the first questions you should deal with upon getting a new puppy is ‘How do I prevent my dog from developing separation anxiety?‘ Certainly, some dogs are more genetically predisposed to separation anxiety than others. Every dog has a personality, and some are more dependent on dog or human contact than others. However, there is a lot you can do to shape your dog’s behavior.
First, if you have the ability to do so, you can get your dog a companion dog. Keep in mind that the work involved in raising two dogs is exponentially greater than the work involved in raising one dog. However, the companionship your dog receives may be quite worth it. In studying puppies left alone, researchers have found that distress vocalizations decrease by 700% when a puppy is isolated along with another puppy (as opposed to being left completely alone). Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training Vol.1, Steven Lindsay, p.54, referencing Fredericson study.
Second, you can gradually introduce your puppy to being alone, beginning with short periods of time in places that are highly familiar and slowly moving to longer periods of time in unfamiliar places. (For example, start by placing the dog alone in a room it spends lots of time with you and leaving for 10 minutes….work up to longer times in rooms that are less familiar.) This gradual progression has been shown to help create puppies who are better able to handle separation later in life. Id. at 56. While it may be tempting, especially if it is possible because you work at home, to keep the dog around you at all times, this is not necessarily the healthiest route for the dog, who will develop more confidence and thus less stress in general by learning how to function when you are not around.
Third, increase your dog’s level of confidence in its own existence. This is not the easiest thing in the world to do, but is highly worth doing due to the results it will have on a dog. Many of us get puppies because we want to receive the frenetic joy they bounce all over us with. However, it is healthier for the dog to experience us and the rest of its world in a calm way; the more balanced the dog is when its humans are around, the more balanced it will be when they are not. Id. We can encourage a dog to develop calm self-confidence by setting consistent boundaries and limits for the dog. If you (consistently) refuse to allow your dog jump on you when you arrive home, ask it to sit before it gets its dinner, and so on, you will not break the spirit of your dog but will instead give it an overriding sense of calm which will enable it to feel more comfortable with its place in the world, whether you are in the room or not.
What if you rescue a dog which already has a severe case of separation anxiety? Such a dog has already been abandoned at least once (hence the rescue), and therefore has a justifiable reason for its fear and anxiety when left alone. Despite this fact, such a dog can and will be helped by pursuing the same methods you would use with a new puppy, though there may be elements of the fear of separation that you can never completely eradicate. Keep in mind that punishing a dog for behavior emanating from separation anxiety tends to increase this kind of attachment behavior, not decrease it. Id. at 57. Therefore, you’ll get much further by rewarding calm, quiet behavior than by punishing its opposite.
Also keep in mind that not all destructive behavior comes from separation anxiety. It is entirely possible that a destructive dog is simply frustrated and bored. Dogs need a great deal of exercise, and for most breeds a “walk” doesn’t cut it. Nor do hours of sitting at home with nothing to do. Try taking your dog to run and play in a free environment, and, when you leave the dog alone, try giving it a job to do, like getting a treat out of a treat-dispensing toy. Check out, for example, the Buddy twist toy; this toy allows you to easily control how difficult it is for your dog to get the treats inside and can provide hours of a fun job for your dog to work at while you are not there.
Nutrition:
Please don’t underestimate the importance of digestive enzymes! Digestive enzymes act to break down a given food so that the animal digesting the food can actually use the food’s nutrients
Raw foods, including raw meats, vegetables and fruits, each contain digestive enzymes miraculously formulated to help digest the food they are in! In other words, raw beef contains an enzyme that helps break down raw beef.
Cooking a food kills off these enzymes, so if you are feeding cooked foods to your dog please supplement your dog’s diet with additional digestive enzymes. Some kibbles add in digestive enzymes, and you can find supplemental digestive enzymes in any health food store. Dosage will be less than that given to an adult human; as a basic rule, give a dog the amount you would give to an infant.
Groomer's Corner:
Brushing isn’t just for beauty, though your dog looks gorgeous after a visit to the salon. The main reasons for a good brushing are health related. Items trapped in the coat can be incredibly dangerous. For example, foxtails, very common in backyards and on hiking trails, will actually work their way into the skin and through the body of a dog, causing infections and even pierced organs!
Matting (tangles in a dog’s hair) can disguise serious skin problems that you would otherwise recognize early on and be able to treat. In fact, matting can even cause serious skin problems. Tangles can gather the hair together so tightly that the skin is literally pulled apart in places, or can cause such itching that soreness and infection result.
If you have a dog with long or curly hair, please ask your groomer to show you how to brush your dog in between visits in order to keep your dog happy and healthy!
Calendar:
NEW AT WAGVILLE: GROUP TRAINING CLASSES: We’re now offering a 5 week group obedience class with Vera Lukas, a wonderful dog trainer who uses the clicker to mark desired behavior as well as positive reinforcement methods. These lessons help socialize your dog and teach you how to train your dog. The series costs $199. The next class will start the last week of March. Sign up today!
FIELD TRIPS: The upcoming field trips are scheduled as follows:
* Wed. March 15, 9:00 am, trip to Huntington Beach.
* Wed. March 29, 9:00 am, trip to Runyon Canyon.
Please sign up before the date of the trip, as we need to know how many WagVille caretakers to bring with us, and this depends upon the number of dogs coming.
Dogs for Adoption:
Sunny is a highly energetic and sweet 30 pound mutt rescued from the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. She is about 7 months old, and loves both big and small dogs. She’s a bit apprehensive of new people at first (most likely due to being trapped alone in a bathroom during much of her life), but once she gets to know someone she has so much love to give! Please let us know if you would like to consider providing Sunny with a forever home.
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