Empowering you to help your dog be relaxed at home alone with separation anxiety training
Is your dog’s distress at being alone causing you stress, anxiety and guilty?
If you are seeing any of these signs in your dog, they may be suffering from Separation Anxiety.
Living with a dog who has separation anxiety and struggles to be home alone can feel stressful and life limiting. It is also very distressing for your dog.
Do you want to go from the above to being able to leave your dog without worrying and get your freedom back?
Book in for a free 15 minute phone call to find out how Claire can help you with the problems you are currently facing.
Claire is a Certified Canine Behaviourist with the International Canine Behaviourists and a Certified Separation Anxiety Behaviour Consultant after qualifying with Julie Naismith; a world renowned Separation Anxiety expert, best selling author and self professed ‘Separation Anxiety Geek’.
"Transformative for both our dog and our family"
Our dog, Max, struggled with severe separation anxiety, leading to destructive behaviour and constant distress whenever we left the house. Claire’s expertise and compassionate approach provided us with effective strategies tailored to Max’s needs.
Through her guidance, Max has become more relaxed and confident when alone, and we now have peace of mind knowing he’s comfortable during our absences.
We highly recommend Claire to anyone facing similar challenges with their dogs.”
What is Separation Anxiety?
Separation anxiety is a term often used to describe dogs who struggle when left home alone.
Without the presence of their owner or a human companion, these dogs may show stress by vocalising, destroying household items, or toileting indoors.
When we talk about Separation anxiety, we are talking about a range of behaviours that present when the owner is absent often called separation related behaviours.
By definition, separation related behaviours are behaviours that only happen when the owner isn’t home, or if they do happen at other times i.e. when the owner is around, there’s a greater intensity and frequency to them when the owner is absent.
Separation anxiety/distress is a phobia of being left alone and it is not a problem that will get better on its own.
If anything, it tends to worsen as every time your dog is left longer than it can cope with and goes into a panic state, it confirms to them that being alone is a scary experience. Due to the stress, your dog is unable to learn that being left alone is safe.
But don’t worry, you’re not alone and I am here to help.
How the training works!
In cases of separation-related behaviour, dogs typically only exhibit these behaviours when their guardian is absent or if home alone.
Therefore the sessions are best conducted online, using tools like Zoom and a pet camera. We wouldn’t get a true picture of your dog’s behaviour if I sat in the house while you practised your absences.
A dog camera that connects to your phone will be necessary to support you as you progress. This is because you will need to see how your dog is coping with absences in real time. This is so we are not letting your dog go over threshold and experience stress during your practice.
One of the key aspects of the training is exposing your dog to gradually increasing absences to build your dog’s confidence without them experiencing the stress of being left too long. I.e. only exposing them to safe absences or alone time.
The Process
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PET POPPINS
Separation Anxiety Packages
An 8-week intensive course includes:
- A 60-90 minute initial consultation via Zoom.
- Up to eight 30-minute Zoom sessions to monitor and assess your progress with the absence training.
- Up to five training plans per week delivered through the training app, with two rest days a week.
- Ongoing WhatsApp support.
- The option to send videos for review of your practice.
- Zoom recordings of our practice sessions.
- I will send a report in the following week post consultation.
The cost of the course is £425
4 week get started package:
- 60-90 minute initial consultation via zoom
- Up to four 30 minute zoom sessions to monitor and assess your progress with the absence training.
- Up to five training plans per week delivered through the training app, with two rest days a week.
- Whatsapp support throughout
- The option to send videos for review of your practice.
- Zoom recordings of our practice sessions.
- I will send a report in the following week post consultation.
The cost of the course is £275
Follow on Support Sessions 4 weeks:
- 2 x 30 min zoom sessions.
- Up to five training plans per week
- Whatsapp support
- 1 Video review per week.
- Zoom recordings of our practice sessions.
The cost of the course is £75
FAQs
Will separation anxiety get better eventually, if I just leave my dog more often?
Every time your dog is left alone, they will go into that panic state. This floods the brain with stress chemicals and inhibits learning, which means your dog will never be able to learn that being left alone is safe.
Most dogs experience separation anxiety from their humans, and often bringing another dog in can complicate the situation. That second dog could also develop separation related issues themselves due to picking up on your original dog’s anxiety and stress.
It requires commitment to follow the personalised training all the way through. It’s crucial that we expose your dog to gradually increasing absences and build your dog’s confidence without them experiencing the stress of being left too long. I.e. only exposing them to safe absences or alone time.
A dog not eating can be a key sign, they are over-threshold.
The other thing that can occur is that the dog may be fine while eating a Kong for example but as soon as that is finished the dog becomes distressed. It doesn’t matter how creative you get with stuffing kongs or using remote feeders, at some point that food will run out. Therefore we have to be able to help dogs be comfortable alone without food being available.
Take the next step
Book a free call with Claire today and get the help and support you need.