Kaytu's Separation Anxiety

One day less than 2 weeks ago I came home and the bed in Kaytu's crate was folded up in half. I thought maybe she was being a goof, but more likely was that she was having separation anxiety issues (SA). On Tuesday the 13th I had to take Denali to agility class and my husband was not home yet. I gave Kaytu a Kong with peanut butter smeared inside and then stuck a bully stick through the middle of it. I set up a camera in front of her crate, hit the record button, and left.

My husband came home and the camera had turned itself off. He watched part of the video, and when I came home he said it was really sad. I watched it all, over 45 minutes of Kaytu panting hard, whining, howling, digging at her bed and at the crate door, biting the crate bars and lifting up the crate, licking and mouthing the bars, pushing her nose against the door and corners of the crate. She was stressed out the entire time.

Kaytu mouthing the crate bars; she dug up her bed and folded it back.

Note: SA is different from boredom. Record your dog when you leave so you can tell if the dog is truly stressed or is simply looking for something to do.

When it comes to separation anxiety the key factors are management and training.

Physical and mental exercise are incredibly important first steps. I know Kaytu needs plenty of exercise to be content, as do most dogs. It's been really hot lately and I haven't been able to mush her or give her the exercise she needs and I've been slacking on the mental exercise too. Even doing basic obedience training for a few minutes a couple times a day is a good mental workout for a dog. Exercise can be considered a type of management because a hyper, under-stimulated dog is not going to enjoy being locked in a small space. You're not setting the dog up to succeed if you putting it in a crate when it's all wound up!

Diet also plays a role. Low-quality foods may have sugar in the form of beet pulp, fructose, or glucose. Added sugar of course increases energy levels.

Other than exercise, here are some great management techniques to try when dealing with a dog that has SA.
-Darken the room. Shut the blinds, shut the doors, cover the crate.
-Leave on the TV or radio loud enough the dog can hear it. Youtube has playlists of books on tape that are great! Narrators often have calm, soothing voices.
-Give the dog something to do. Crates are boring! In a larger area an interactive food-dispensing toy like a Buster Food Cube can be great. The dog can be given it's meal (if kibble) from the toy. Stuffed hollow toys like Kongs and appropriate chew toys like bully sticks or deer antlers are also great. No rawhides!
-It's no big deal when you leave, and no big deal when you come home. No fussing, no excitement. Do greet your dog when you come home but don't be super excited.
-Crate or confine the dog. Sometimes dogs do better when crated/confined, sometimes they do better when they have more space. You may need to experiment. Do not leave a puppy, new dog, or destructive dog unsupervised as it can hurt itself and will destroy your belongings. Blocking off windows and other glass may help if seeing things go by outside is stressful.
-A Thundershirt may help. I used one for 2 weeks with our previous foster dog and was left unsure about if the dog was actually feeling less stressed of if he just looked less stressed because he felt restrained.
-As a last resort or in situations where the dog is hurting itself due to extreme stress, medication may be useful. While some medications simply make the dog loopy and drugged up, there are newer medications that actually help reduce stress like medications for humans do. Medications are not the ultimate answer and should only be used in extreme cases until other training and management techniques are working, then the dog should be taken off the medication if at all possible.

For Kaytu, here's what I did. Closed the blinds fully so it was darker. Put the crate pan back into the crate so she could not dig at the carpet beneath or lift the crate, and covered the top with a blanket. Left the TV on loud enough she could hear it. I gave her 2 bully sticks and a peanut butter Kong but didn't put the bully stick through the Kong, so it would be easier for her to enjoy. I was also able to leave Denali in the room with her. I recorded her again and the difference was amazing! She dug at the bed twice very briefly but didn't pull it up, and then settled down to lick out her Kong and eat the 2 bully sticks I left for her. This was Thursday, just 2 days later so I hadn't even had a chance to get to any training. This was just management.

Licking out her Kong

Knowing your dog is also important. I know Kaytu is more active in the evening. That's when we mush, that's when we go to the dog park. So when it's hot as it has been she doesn't get any exercise, and I leave with Denali in the evening for agility class, that made it really difficult for Kaytu on Tuesday. Thursday I left at about 10:45am to go to the shelter and got back about 2:30pm.

Training can really help as well. Here are some thing we'll be working on.
-Desensitize her to the process of me getting ready to leave. This means I get ready to go somewhere, then I don't go anywhere. Kind of a pain but worth it!
-Have her spend short periods of time in her crate with a Kong and all tucked in when I am home. Gradually the time can be increased, interspersed with shorter times too.

These two things can be combined. Maybe I'll put my socks and shoes on, which is when she starts to get really excited, then I'll crate her with a Kong and lay on my bed next to her and read. Then we can work up to me getting fully ready to leave, crating her, then me hanging out downstairs. We'll take the training slow, and take as many baby steps as needed.

It will take more training and management but now that I'm aware of the problem I can help her. Who knows how long she's been stressed and I didn't know because there were no signs when I came home? It's never a bad idea to record your dog when you leave home to see exactly what they do!

Book recommendation: I'll be Home Soon: How to Prevent and Treat Separation Anxiety by Patricia McConnell, Ph. D

UPDATE 5/18/13: I was gone for about an hour. Same new routine where I darken the room, cover the crate, give her an easy Kong, fan on, tv on. Denali was in the room too. For about the first 5 minutes she dug at the bed a little and whined. Then settled down for about 10 minutes, then got back up, howled and pushed on the crate door, and was anxious for about another 5 minutes. Then she laid down, and was fine the rest of the time. So in total she only spent about 10 minutes freaking out. That's awesome improvement given that not even a week ago she spent over 45 minutes being anxious!