Dogs are social creatures; they evolved as pack animals, and hate to be alone. There’s a bit of the wolf even in a little Bichon Frise or Chihuahua, and it can sometimes come out in unexpected ways. One of these ways is in the household pecking order. Somebody in the house has to be the “alpha dog,” and it had better be you. Your beloved dog may not like getting her Frontline flea control treatment, but it’s for her own good and you’re the boss. You need to make that crystal clear – otherwise she’ll be ruling the roost.

However the pecking order shakes out, there are times when the dog-human relationship can get somewhat unhealthy on the dog end of the equation, and this can result in separation anxiety: unacceptable erratic behavior when you’re away. Either the dog depends on you for every little thing and can’t handle you being gone, or they think they’re the dominant one in the relationship and start to stress out when you’re gone, wondering how you could possibly survive without them (anyone who’s ever been owned by a Pomeranian can identify with this one). Whatever the case, the result can be soiled floors, torn curtains, cats chased up into the chimney, and certifiably insane dogs.

Coping mechanisms

Okay, so your dog is nuts. How do you want to handle it? There are some great, safe pet meds that you can give them to control anxiety; one of them, buspirone (BuSpar) is especially effective, and has few if any side effects. Other options are Valium, Elavil, and Prozac. Fortunately, with the exception of Prozac, none of these medications is expensive.

Separation anxiety isn’t a permanent affliction, since your dog will certainly calm down once you come safely home. If you have the time or inclination, you can effectively use behavioral methods to curb their anxiety. Despite the damage, avoid scolding your dog much when they’ve been bad: dogs are fine companions, but they’re a little slow connecting what’s going on now with what they’ve done in the past. Instead, the dog is likely to connect your arrival with the scolding, which will make them even crazier. Instead talk to them a bit disapprovingly, making it clear that they can do better than that. In fact, most experts advise that you shouldn’t scold your dog for any bad behavior unless you “catch them in the act” of doing it.

Passive dogs need to be shown that they can be more independent, so learn to let go a little. Sure, she needs you to take care of her heartworm medicine and flea and tick control, but you needn’t fawn over her every second. Let your baby girl go into the backyard without you when she needs to sniff. Spend less time with her, and eventually she’ll be better able to live with herself. If you’ve got a dominant dog, learn to put the pup in her place. Just because she wants you to scratch her rear end for hours at a time doesn’t mean you have to. Let her know when she’s been bad. You’re the Alpha human here, by golly!

Changes won’t happen overnight, but eventually your dog will learn that it can live without you being there all the time, and that you can live without it for a little while. Once they’ve made that paradigm shift in their thinking, it’s unlikely they’ll ever go back — though of course you might get some backsliding. Your best bet may be a combination of behavioral modification and an anxiety-reducing drug like BuSpar, since they seem to compliment each other very well.

Published with permission (FCDMInc)