Dog separation anxiety: How much exercise before I leave?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Yes, gradually work up to the length of time you are usually gone for a normal day. He may or may not ever make it though. If he has extreme separation anxiety I would discuss medications (anti-anxiety) with your vet and private training. If he likes other dogs consider doggie daycare twice a week so he can expend energy. Max is a high energy breed. On your days off and free time be sure to exercise him well. If he plateaus at a certain length of time I would seek help and meds form your Vet. I hope this help!

Be sure to get him plenty of exercise while he is gone; walks are great. You can talk to your vet about temporarily trying a medication such as fluoxetine or even trazadone to help ease his anxiety. You can try a calming treat such as Composure. I'm not sure if you can get this in India, but it is a good product and no prescription is needed. Thank you for asking PetCoach!

It sounds like your dog has a degree of separation anxiety. I would recommend first getting him crate trained. If you keep him in a crate while you are gone this will keep him safe from hurting himself or damaging other things in the house. I would also recommend taking him on a fast-paced walk for 20 to 30 minutes before you leave the house. This will help drain some of his nervous energy. It would also help to give him a toy or a treat to play with and keep him busy while he's in the crate. If these tips aren't working for you, you may consider talking to your veterinarian about getting Bruno started on an anti-anxiety medication. I hope this helps. Best of luck

Most people make the mistake of leaving their dogs for the first time without regard to how long they'll be gone. This can lead to separation anxiety. It is best to begin by leaving for, literally, a second or two. The dog will not have had time to work herself up into a frenzy yet. Come back in and greet her happily. Do this several times; then gradually increase the time you are out in 10 second increments; keep lengthening your time away. If you find her anxious when you come in, go back to the amount of time you were able to remain out without upsetting her. You can also use a Kong toy filled with peanut butter (be sure it's not made with xylitol). For a longer play session, freeze the Kong with the snack in it. She will begin to associate your going out with a goody, which will make it pleasureable.

Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach to address your concern! Unfortunately, separation anxiety can be quite difficult to address for most dogs. I usually recommend a multi modal approach. I recommend the following non-prescription approach prior to anything prescription: 1. NaturVet Quiet Moments calm chews plus Melatonin (can be found online quite easily. 2. Adaptil pheromone collar 3. Adaptil diffuser 4. Thundershirt In combination with this, I typically recommend providing plenty of toys such as a kong toy filled with peanut butter and some other noise making toys. I have recently recommended a product called the Pet Cube. This allows you to watch him via an app on your phone remotely and you can even control a laser pointer and interact with him while you are away. If this does not work or the behavior worsens, I typically recommend adding in anti-anxiety medications such as Trazodone, Amitriptyline, Clomipramine (clomicalm), etc. in combination with the above recommendations. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Separation anxiety can be difficult to address but with patience and persistence training can help. Rather than starting on anti-anxiety medications right away, I typically recommend trying products such as NaturVet Quiet Moments Calm Chews with Melatonin and an Adaptil collar, which can both be found online or at your local pet store quite easily. I would also recommend using a Thundershirt, which can be found online or at the pet store. It would also help if you began feeding Sienna breakfast and dinner in the kennel so that she becomes used to being inside the cage for positive things. I would move all of her toys to the inside of the kennel and whenever she goes inside the kennel, reward her with her favorite treat. If this does not help, I would recommend speaking with her veterinarian and discuss anti-anxiety medications as these may be beneficial in deterring this separation anxiety she suffers from. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further!

This does sound like Rexxy has some separation anxiety. Some things that you can do to help him are to make sure he gets plenty of exercise, especially before you have to leave for an extended period of time; put him in a crate/kennel before you leave to prevent him from being destructive while you are away; and you may want to consider talking to your vet about medication for anxiety. This may help his transition and make him be more calm in your absence. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck!