It's About Animals

As a puppy, a dog learns that making sounds brings its mother to it. This is called et-epimaletic or care seeking behavior. So barking and whining may be normal canine responses to isolation. However, when these behaviors are excessive and include destruction of property, digging, inappropriate urination and defecation or escape behavior, it is sometimes refereed to clinically as a detachment or separation anxiety disorder. If a dog is punished for these actions, the resulting increase in the animal’s anxiety level can make the whole situation worse.

In order to treat the disorder, it is necessary to understand exactly what is happening and to help the dog adjust to the separation from its human family with a behavioral treatment plan. The first thing you need to do is to observe the dog without him knowing it in order to determine how long he or she waits before responding inappropriately to the separation. Some dogs begin in one minute or less while others wait a half hour or so. Once you have an idea of this you can work on correcting the problem. It is helpful to teach the dog to relax prior to working on the actual behavioral problem. Teaching Down and Stay with you while you are in the room can hopefully generalise to contexts in which the dog is left alone. A family member can practice graduated departures, first commanding the dog to lie down and stay and then leaving for a few seconds, returning while the dog is quiet and then praising it for the appropriate silence. The duration of absence is then gradually increased.

Departure cues that have been classically conditioned, such as jingling keys or putting on a coat, can be disassociated from the departure by performing these actions during the day when you are at home. Eventually the dog will become desensitized to them. Playing a talk radio station in another room sometimes helps a dog feel less alone. Giving him a hollowed-out bone or Kong toy with peanut butter in it (I refer to this as the "Bye-bye bone") can distract the dog while you slip out the door. Remember not to make a big deal about leaving. Robust "Goodbyes" can make the dog even more anxious when you finally disappear.

Crating a dogs can stop the destruction of property quickly and if a plasic carrier is used, draping a blanket over it can muffle sound that can drive neighbors bonkers. The trick is to make the crate a nice place. Try feeding the dog exclusively in his crate and always leavingspecial treats and chewtoys there so he begins to see it as a nice place to visit.

In some cases, anti-anxiety medication, such as amitriptylline (Elavil Rx) or buspirone (Buspar Rx) can help. Clomicalm (Clomiprimine) is a new by Novaris approved by the FDA for seperation anxiety in dogs and has been met with mixed reviews. Talk to your animal behaviorist or board certified veterinary behaviorist about this. Remember that "behavior in a bottle" never works without a clear clinical diagnosis from a behavioral specialist and a definitive behavior modification plan that has a high probability of client compliance. Unfortunately, some veterinarians are notorious for dispensing behavioral pharmaceuticals without a BM plan. This rarely works and can frustrate a family member to the point of "getting rid of" the dog. With a good behavioral plan, the help of a professionbal and some dillegent work on the family's part, these situations can ofetn times be resolved with the animal eventually adapting to the periods of isoltaion for the day. Exercise and lots of love when you are with your dog will also go a long way to assuring happy tails.

Robert DeFranco is an applied animal behaviorist, frequent radio and television guest and director of the Animal Behavior Center of New York in Rego Park, New York City. For more information visit www.canines.com or e-mail him at: bob@canines.com

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