The separation anxiety in dogs is a severe and relatively common problem. Do your dog find it difficult to stay calm when you leave him alone at home, destroy objects, barks, and or displayed some hilarious behavior? Never worry. This well-detailed article will be showing you how to crate train a dog with severe separation anxiety.
What is separation anxiety in dogs
Separate anxiety is a feeling of worry, fear which leads to disorder or destabilize a dog some even become highly disruptive and react in a weld manner such as barking uncontrollably, biting people or showing depressed signs when kept away from is the owner or the owner is about to depart from the house. Individual dogs even show signs of anxiety just by losing eye contact with their reference people.
The reason why separation anxiety in dogs is a big issue is that it affects the welfare of the animal and the effective bond with its owners very negatively. It is suspected that the number of abandoned or slaughtered dogs due to this disorder in our country is very high.
Stress and anxiety in dogs
Pressure in dogs does not have to be a negative thing. But sometimes that stress response lasts too long or appears when faced with stimuli that do not pose a real threat to the dog. The animal anticipates that this dangerous situation will occur before it has happened.
This is why some dogs with separation anxiety begin to suffer long before their owner has left home, making it difficult for them to enjoy their cage.
Symptoms of Separation Anxiety in Dogs
The most apparent signs of a Separation Anxiety disorder in dogs are:
- Destructive activities at home, while the dog is left alone: the canine is searching for escape routes to reach the owner again, and may even severely damage doors, walls, blinds, etc. And it does so not as vengeance but as a product of a state of excessive fear.
- Excessive vocalization: constant barking, whining, and even howling.
- Improper disposal: the dog urinates and defecates inside the home, even when allowed to relieve himself on the street. The stool is usually soft and looks like diarrhea.
- Anorexia: The dog refused to eat in the owner’s absence.
- Hyper salivation: The animal drools heavily due to fear, and often when the owner returns, he may discover saliva puddles on the home floor.
- Sweating: Some homeowners identify sweat stains scattered all over the house or around driveways such as doors and windows on their feet.
- Gastrointestinal symptoms: diarrhea or vomiting.
- Self-mutilation
- Excessive licking
When your dog is suffering from separation anxiety, you may find it challenging to make him use the dog crate you have may be available for him. But with the information in this article, you will be able to navigate your way through.
What is crate training?
Crate training is an ample space where comfort, safety, and proper security is assured to teach your dog how it should behave or culture their behaviors.
Crate training aims is to less the fears and anxiety of the dog and enables it to enjoy his stay alone. Crating is the best way to train a dog with separation anxiety.
How can you crate train a dog with severe separation anxiety?
Follow these steps to crate your dog:
1. Provide a comfort zone
A comfort zone must be provided; that is, the right crate. The crate must be purchased based on the size of the dog. It must not be too spacious at the same time. It must be a place where the dog can comfortably stand, turn around and easily stretch is legs.
The crate must be placed in a cool place that is free from sunlight or excessive heat and a quiet area, and proper security and safety are assured. Also ensure that your dog crate is always tide and clean.
2. Training
In training the dog, expose him to some primary teaching, such as go, come, sit etc. and ensure a positive response from him.
3. Feeding
To get them familiar to their crate, you might start by placing their favorite food at the entrance of their crate, and you must feed them in their crate daily.
4. Mindset
It’s also essential you create a positive mindset towards their box by encouraging them each time it enters the crate. Get the stuff like choke chains, as a reward for staying in the crate
5. Exercise
Allow your dog to exercise itself and let the dog play around your surroundings for about 20 to 30 minutes because a dog that is tired or stress up as no strength to act anxiously. This is done to calm the dog down before going to its crate.
6. Attention
Withdraw the emotional attention sure as kiss, huge, etc. you give to your dog when departing from him. When you are returning to, he ignores the excitement he throws at you like jumping all over you by walking away, then gently returns and calmly greets him when he finally calms down.
7. Patience
During the process of getting the dog used to its crate, patience is required and study their reactions. At the first introduction of the box, you may need to stay with it for an extended period. Still, the more it gets used to the box reduce your waiting time until you leasing its fears and anxiety.
Final Verdict
Crate training as helped and proven to work for many dogs with severe separation anxiety. Though it requires patience and takes a lot of time and commitment to get your dog off is anxiety when alone, but the process is worth it.
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