The Basics of Separation Anxiety in Dogs
"Many puppies are prone to separation anxiety if they are not properly trained or spoiled. Because it usually always gets attention and never learns how to live alone. Some owners over-indulge their dogs and over-indulge their dogs."
Children become anxious when they are separated from their parents or in a new environment, a phenomenon that psychologists call separation anxiety. Scientists have found that the intelligence of a dog is equivalent to that of a 14-month-old baby, which means that it is more dependent. If it is separated from its owner, it will also be very anxious. Animal psychologists have some summary of this.
Symptoms of separation anxiety in pets
1. The separation anxiety of pets is actually the same as that of people. During the time when the owner is out, they are uneasy, anxious, and do some uncontrollable behaviors.
2. For example, licking a certain part of one's own body (masochistic behavior); biting furniture (destructive behavior); making a whining sound (the owner suddenly attacked before going out); turning around (staged abnormal behavior); Barking for no reason; not letting go where it was originally set. The most serious, of course, is the hunger strike, which is quite touching.
3. The above behaviors are usually manifested after breaking up with the owner or going out for 30 minutes. And when it sees its owner again, it will be extremely excited, just like a child with full care seeing its parents, and some puppies are even excited to pee.
Cause of dependent puppies are prone to anxiety:
In most cases, there is nothing wrong with the dog, it is the misbehavior of the owner that is causing the problem. Many puppies are prone to this behavioral problem if they are not properly trained or spoiled. Because it always gets attention and never learns how to live alone.
Some owners are overly arrogant and indulge the dog, and over-indulgence will make it think that every psychological need of itself will be satisfied, making the dog unable to stand on its own. The relationship between some owners and dogs is too close, so that the dog has a strong psychological dependence. Once the environment changes, or if separated from the owner, such as in a pet center for a few days, it will be very uncomfortable.
Under normal circumstances, if the dog has behavioral problems, such as destroying things, the owner will take it to see a doctor—behavioral training. However, in the case of dogs with "separation anxiety", using training methods to treat this disease is not a good way, but will be counterproductive.
Some owners thought it was mainly because the dog was "bored", so they bought another dog to accompany him. This method can indeed find playmates for dogs and keep them from being bored. However, the main cause of separation anxiety is the restless symptoms a dog develops after leaving its owner, so finding a companion won't help the symptoms themselves.
However, owners should not think that the situation is very serious. As long as they understand how to treat them correctly, their dogs will improve a lot.
How to treat?
To help your dog get used to being alone, it should be separated from it slowly. Start by giving the dog a treat, then leave and close the door. A few minutes later he reappeared in front of the dog. Although it was only such a brief separation, the dog would still bark and jump as if the owner had returned from abroad. This must be done to let him know that even if the owner is not around, he can still live safely, and then gradually lengthen the separation time until the dog can accept that he is away for an hour or two without being affected.
When the dog can accept the owner disappearing for an hour or two, the owner can try to leave the house to see how it responds. When starting training, it can leave the house up to 20 times a day. At first, the dog will be full of great enthusiasm. The enthusiasm of the man welcomes you as if it were God, but then it seems to be too lazy to care where the master has gone.
When you're ready to go out, don't exaggerately coax and hug the dog. It's like parting from life and death. Just tell it to go out, and it will come back soon. It's not a terrible thing to make it feel that the owner leaves.
Before going out, you can take your dog out to exercise. When the dog comes home, he has used up too much physical strength, and he is so tired that he just wants to fall asleep and has no energy to miss his owner.
Well-trained dogs are more able to control their emotions and are more confident at the same time. Dogs with strong self-confidence are naturally less prone to anxiety. So in your spare time, you might as well educate it into a well-trained and excellent dog.
Since dogs are gregarious animals, as long as they can find a companion for them, they can greatly ease their thoughts of their owners. Many cases show that in addition to finding another dog as a companion, cats will also make them happy.
Whether you believe it or not, scientists agree that dogs are the animals that are best at understanding humans. Although many animals have been proven to have higher IQs than dogs, no animal can surpass dogs in understanding human words, deeds, expressions and even emotions. . Therefore, frequent communication with it is not only necessary, but also the most effective. In addition to food, toys, and the comfort of playmates, communication may be the easiest and most direct method, and it is also the most equal and most acceptable method for dogs. Share your story with it, tell it your plan, give it encouragement, give it praise. This is more conducive to the emotional communication between you and it, and it is more conducive to its physical and mental health.
