Dog separation anxiety is a frequent issue faced by owners all over the world, with latest research suggesting that between 15 and 50% of our dogs show dog separation anxiety symptoms at some time of their life.
While it is not necessarily easy for dog owners to differentiate between dog behavior problems and symptoms of separation anxiety in dogs, here are some of the most obvious symptoms as well as some more less obvious tell-tale signs that owners regularly miss.
Dog Anxiety Symptom 1: Noise Issues
One of the most evident signs of dog separation anxiety is a dog that makes a large amount of noise while you’re gone. The noise can take the shape of barking, howling, whining or crying and because they’re regularly very loud, they’re most liable to have your neighbors complaining!?
Now, dogs will be loud for other reasons, but the key indicator for separation anxiety is that your dog will bark, whine, howl or cry as you are leaving, or immediately after you leave. Often they will carry on for an hour non stop, while others will bark and whine on and off all day.
Dog Anxiety Symptom 2: Dog Urinating or Pooping In House
Moving on from one of the most blatant evidence of dog anxiety to one of the most difficult indications of dog anxiety to handle, a dog urinating in the house or pooping in the house must top the list.
Unfortunately, a dog can do this anywhere in the house - your kitchen, hallway, sitting room, door-way or maybe your bed. Frequently this behaviour will make no sense to you, because your dog is most likely to be properly house trained and you probably walked them before you left the house and you know they did what they wanted to then!
Dog Anxiety Symptom 3: Dog Chewing
Dog chewing is another classic sign of dog separation anxiety and because dogs respond in a different way to the stressfulness of separation, they might be gnawing for 2 absolutely different reasons. Some dogs will be active in trying hard to get the ‘pack ‘ back together, and will as a result, try and chew their way out of the house to find their owners. Other dogs won’t cope at all and start to panic and chew as a way to calm themselves down.
Chewing releases a natural endorphin into the body that helps to calm the nervous system. So chewing up your best shoes is often a dogs way of making an attempt to feel a bit better.
You?ll understand this symptom if you’re a nails chewer yourself, as we regularly chew when we are feeling stressed. Many of us also comfort eat (which is more chewing), or chew on gum nervously (you only need to watch UK football executive Alex Ferguson at a match to grasp this one).
Dog Anxiety Symptom 4: Dog Getting Out, Escaping or Running Away
Some dogs will try and escape while their owner leave them alone, whether that’s making an attempt to dig their way under the hedge, scratch their way thru a closed door or get out of the house by any other means they can.
Remember with anxiety symptoms, we’re talking about a dog that’s panicking and therefore the notion of doing something perilous is not as vital as the necessity to find the pack.
Dog Anxiety Symptom 5: Destructive Dog Behaviour
This again is potentially an really pricey behaviour problem in dogs and I have seen an extraordinary quantity of damage done to houses by a dog that’s panicking and suffering from separation anxiety.
Typically destruction takes place around threshold areas of the house where the dog thinks it has the best chance of getting out. Similarly they can target the place they know you left by. So this can involve scratching at doors or around windows, digging up carpets, or gnawing plaster around a door. In truth I heard about a dog that absolutely wrecked an entire kitchen while the owner was away for less than an hour.
Dog Anxiety Symptom 6: Dog Health Issues
If the strain that comes from dog separation anxiety becomes too much to cope with for a dog, it can end up in health problems, in a rather similar way as people who can’t cope with highly stressful scenarios can get sick. Often the vet will find it tough to diagnose anything specific.
Some dogs show symptoms such as pacing up and down continually and they can also froth at the mouth excessively. Other dogs will lick or gnaw on their own body to alleviate the stress that comes from separation anxiety. This may cause raw patches and a lot of tenderness on areas like the dog’s front legs and paws, or the dog’s tail.
Dog Anxiety Symptom 7: A Dog That Follows You Everywhere
Interestingly , one of the commonest indicators of a dog with separation anxiety shows up when you’re still at home with them!
Some dog owners can’t move around the house without the dog moving too. They literally appear to be stuck to them like sellotape! Some dogs will even lay on the owner’s feet so as to be aware of the slightest movement.
Of course, dogs are pack animals, so if they believe the pack is getting ready to leave they will be alert so they know whether they should come too. But equally, they should feel at ease enough to let you go into another room without following you every time.
If your dog shows several of the dog separation anxiety symptoms mentioned above, take action now as it will not vanish by itself. They need your assistance.
Author Venice Marriott is a writer and rescue dog owner and runs a Dog Anxiety site, to provide help for dog owners coping with behavior issues caused by their dog’s anxiety. Watch a free video about dog separation anxiety symptoms, when you come to the site.