Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Dog barking collars are really not the answer for dogs who bark because of separation anxiety. There is nothing worse than a dog that won’t stop barking. It drives you nuts. It drives your neighbors nuts. It begins to affect every aspect of your family’s life. When did you last get a good night’s sleep? Can you remember?

When you are at your wits end with a puppy or dog that won’t stop barking, you will try anything to get some peace and quiet. One popular option is the use of a Bark Collar.

Dog Bark Collars come in a range of types and configurations. They are based on negative reinforcement psychology, whereby your dog will be subjected to an unpleasant or uncomfortable sensation automatically when they bark. The idea is that your dog will learn that when it barks, it will be subjected to an experience it doesn’t like.

Sounds simple enough, and even quite effective right? Well, the answer is yes and no.

To begin with, some of these collars apply an electric shock (or makes an unpleasant noise or releases an unpleasant odor)  to your dog each time it barks. Although it is not a lethal experience, there is no way I would subject my pet to that sort of torture. This is called negative reinforcement or negative dog training methods.

More importantly, while a Bark Collar can appear to be quite effective in the short term, it is really only a band-aid fix for this problem. The deeper issues causing your dog to behave in this way are left untreated – and you are left with a lifeless and unhappy dog – perhaps one who is even more anxious and stressed than when it all started. Also, the cost of these items can be very high – most costing $ 100 or more!

There is a little known and serious medical condition that causes some dogs to bark all the time – and it CAN NOT be treated with a Bark Collar.

Let me ask you the following questions about your dog:

1. Does your dog whine or bark incessantly?

2. Does your dog pace, chew furniture, destroy window coverings, rip up carpeting, eat through drywall, mutilate plants or scratch at windows and doors?

3. Does your dog injure itself through its destructive behavior?

4. Does your dog jump on you and your guests? This often leads to ruined and dirty clothes and can even result in scratched skin!

5. Does your dog get jealous and growl or attack people near you… this can include small children… who love to pet “any” dog?

Come on, be honest here. If you answered yes to any of these questions then your dog may be suffering from a serious condition called Dog Separation Anxiety.

Dogs with severe separation anxiety may also urinate and defecate all over your home. There are documented cases of these poor animals even causing themselves great harm by jumping through plate glass windows to try and escape your house to find you! Or if stuck in the house, they just lick themselves raw on a paw or hot spot on their body out of anxiety. (This is true! Some dogs have actually died due to the effects of untreated separation anxiety.

The sad truth is that many dogs suffer from this condition, and after a bark collar, obedience training and owners tearing their own hair out with no progress, these poor dogs become known as ‘bad’ or ‘destructive’ dogs.

The good news is, that dog separation anxiety is completely treatable. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information available on the condition, let alone effective treatments for it.

You have two main approaches to try – (1) change the environment to reduce the dog’s exposure to situations that make him bark; (2) use behavioral training methods (positive rather than punishment oriented methods are best).

If the dog is barking at people going by the house, make it harder for him to see and hear the people. Close the blinds, keep your dog in another room, move the furniture if he uses it to climb up and look out the window. Set up at least a visual barrier (cover the openings in a fence if the dog is outdoors) to make it less easy to look out and see passersby.

If the dog is barking to get your attention, ignore him and then when he falls silent, praise him and perhaps give him a motivating reward (food treat or petting or a toy). Once he learns that not barking leads to desirable rewards, he will be less likely to keep going, even if he starts to bark briefly.

If the barking comes from boredom or separation anxiety, you need to find a way to get him interested in something for distraction —  like a safe toy (like a Kong toy with peanut butter frozen inside) or another type of toy intended for this purpose.

There are safe, drug-free strategies to try like the doggie comfort wrap called a Thundershirt for barking that comes from separation anxiety or another form of anxiety in dogs.

Luckily there has been a great course put together on the identification and treatment of this serious condition. Before you run out and spend hundreds on a bark collar to try and stop your dog from barking, you owe it to yourself to check out this site – click here to learn more about treating dog barking and dog separation anxiety.