Separation Anxiety

One of the symptoms of severe separation anxiety is anorexia (refusal of food and water) according to Nicholas Dodman DVM in his informative book "The Dog who loved too much."

[My Kerry] Molly suffers terribly from separation anxiety, which is typical of rescue dogs according to Dr. Dodman, even though she is showered with love and attention.

She will not be distracted by treats.

Molly, our rescue Kerry

The first things she does upon hearing keys in the door, upon our return, is to run to the water bowl for a long drink. Even if it's summer - in the desert - she refuses food/water while we are gone.

We have worked with our trainer as well as holistic vets on this problem. In addition to behavior modification we have tried various Bach and Perelandra flower essences and things have improved ever so slightly- when left home alone, now she will sleep and not bark and drool the entire time as she once did.

Initially when she came to live with us we avoided using dog walkers or kennels because of her behavioral problems. [My husband] and I arranged our schedules so that one of us would always be with her. That was four years ago. Her behavior improved however the separation anxiety increased.

Since [he] works from home and I'm home too, one of us is almost always with Molly - and the only time she is away from us is when she is at the salon being groomed - and often I stay to watch to improve my grooming skills.

Since I have loaned my copy of Dr. Dodman's book I'm afraid I can't recall all the details, but he describes other symptoms of separation anxiety and treatments.

So if your dog is down when he/she returns from a stay away from home; at a kennel or on the show circuit, it may have nothing to do with the are he/she received or failed to receive, but he/she may have been suffering from separation anxiety.

Initially when we left Molly alone, even in our own home - even for just a moment, she would work herself into a frenzy which included barking, drooling, pacing and a racing heart.

I thought I would elaborate on some of the things we've done to help reduce Molly's anxiety when we leave her at home. Some have worked and others have not.

Totally ignore her when leaving or returning. This may seem counter intuitive to some. The idea is not to make a big deal about your absence. It's hard to do especially when upon returning you have a shivering, quivering mess you want to comfort.
Initially it was no treats upon returning - however much later Molly learned the joys of the doggie bag and I think she is now disappointed when we eat in.
Results: Definitely worked.

Barking collar. Molly would bark and carry on even if we only left for a few minutes to go down to the lobby for our mail.
Results: This did not work at all for Molly. It just freaked her out and we abandoned this approach in short order.

Setting her up - positive reinforcement. We would leave for a very short periods and then come back. The idea was that if she remained calm and quiet she would be praised.
Results: We had very little luck with this approach since she was always in such a frenzy when we returned we were never able to praise her. However, whenever we do return home and she is quiet she is praised.

Restrict her in our bedroom when we're out. It's not that she is at all destructive in our absence, but for some reason she is calmer when she is in a smaller space. We put her in the bedroom and turn on the watchman, radio or CD to muffle any extraneous noises and shut the door.
Results: It really works for Molly. We often wonder if she thinks she is just practicing a down stay or if she really knows we've gone. To this day she is still in a frenzy when left with access to the entire house. [My husband] feels it has to do with her desire to protect her home: In the desert leaving her free in the house makes her neurotic, checking all the doors and each and every room, worrying about the cat across the street, and each person who walks by our property.
In SF, being on the 22nd floor, eliminates many of the outside distractions, however there are other tenants, night watchmen, and now the dreaded Rebel - a yellow lab who moved in right next door (both Molly and Rebel have decided to hate each other - your basic turf war - they both want to own our end of the hall).

Bach Flower Rescue Remedy and flower essences from Perelandra.
Results: It is hard to judge the effects of such things. I would say in an overall sense that the work with did with various holistic vets did help to calm Molly down - and I get that feed back from people we see periodically.

Giving her a job. One animal communicator (yes we exhausted every avenue in helping Molly) suggested that we give Molly a 'job' when we go out. This came later: when we leave we tell her 'take care of the house' and when we return we thank her for doing such a good job.
Results: It doesn't hurt so why not!

Massage. There are also three places that reduce stress. Her ears, accupressure points HT9 (the outside carpus of front paws), and BL18, 19 and 20 (liver, gallbladder and spleen points) along her spine. We incorporated massaging these points in our daily play/cuddle time.
Results: everyone loves massage!

We have had absolutely no success in calming her if left even briefly unattended in the car - any suggestions would be welcome. If we leave her even for a second to run in to pay the attendant for gas, when we return the windows are covered with drool, she's barking hysterically and her heart in beating like a hummingbird's. We've even tried a crate with no success - but she is otherwise never crated since we prefer to use a tie down.

As I mentioned Molly will now stay quietly and eventually fall asleep when left in our bedroom. However I recently looked at the backside of the bedroom door, the previously white door was filthy. Also there is a noticeable yellowish stripe demarcating the bedroom from the hall where Molly sits sniffing under the door the entire time we are out. So even though she has made progress - she is not carefree about our absences.

Also, we have good friends with a Kerry, Sebastian, who is Molly best friend. We have made the mistake of bringing Molly along when we have gone out to dinner with them - so that she and Sebastian can play together. Even though she knows every inch of their house and is very comfortable there from her very frequent visits, each time she and Sebastian have been left alone we return to a wet beard, and quivering mess. Sebastian can't seem to distract her even for a moment - she would rather be left alone at home.

Last Update: 03/25/07, 12:22:24 Terms of Use and Disclaimer.