Separation anxiety is a severe panic disorder that impacts the entire family.
Long believed to be untreatable, the last decade has seen tremendous strides in treating separation anxiety. Most dogs suffering from separation anxiety can learn to stay home alone without stress. Separation anxiety is addressed through systematic desensitization. By slowly exposing your dog to the thing that they find most frightening – being left alone – we gradually teach them that they are safe.
This program entails:
- Gradual desensitization to absences.
- We progress at your dog’s pace, only going as fast as your dog can handle.
- Daily 30-minute exercises (to start), 5 days per week
- Weekly check-in sessions with Sharon to review progress and answer questions
It also means:
- Absences need to be suspended except while training. This means that pet sitters, daycare, friends and family may be needed for those times when you need to go out.
- Behaviour medications are often needed to see successful resolution.
- Tools like bark collars, squirt bottles and other barking deterrents cannot be used.
- Training may take many months. It can take 6 months of consistent training to achieve 2-3 hours of comfortable alone time. This is an average. For some dogs it will take much longer.