My puppy cries and chews when left alone. Is it separation anxiety?

From your description, if Miel is showing this crying behavior when you aren't around, it can be sign of separation anxiety. She is anxious when you leave and is afraid you may not be coming back. This can be a common problem in dogs. I recommend crating her when you are gone. The crate will provide her a small space where she can feel safe in it when you are gone. You will have to slowly train her to get used to a crate. Start putting her in it when you are home and sitting nearby so she doesn't think you are abandoning her, and slowly increase the time she is in it. She can have toys in the crate, and puzzle toys with treats in it that she has to figure out how to get the treats out. You can put a tablespoon of peanut butter in a Kong toy and freeze it in the freezer overnight, then give it to her in the crate. That will keep her occupied for a while. Finally, you can get a pheromone diffuser called DAP that helps dogs with anxiety and pair that will a DAP pheromone collar that releases pheromones when in contact with his skin. If these methods do not help her, then I recommend having her seen by a vet to discuss the use of anti-anxiety medications. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! Poor Nova! It sounds like Nova has severe separation anxiety. Since she is only 4 months old I highly recommend aggressive remedies as this behavior doesn't usually start this young. I would hire a private trainer or a Veterinary Behaviorist and discuss starting anti-anxiety medications now. You will have to work with her a lot one on one. This will not be easy and you will have to put in the effort or she will not get better. Be sure when you have time to provide plenty of exercise and once she is spayed and fully vaccinated I would enroll her in doggie daycare 2-3 times per week. Below are links to articles to read. I hope this helps and I wish you and Nova the very best! https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=3144 https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1502 https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1379 https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1129

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!

Sounds like some separation anxiety is starting. You should try and keep her distracted while your mother prepares to leave. Dogs will pick up cues like putting on shoes or picking up keys and start to feel anxious. Sometimes just doing these things and then not leaving will help, as the dog will start to disassociate that with her absence. Also practice getting your mom to leave for very short periods of time and keeping the dog busy in the house with a food dispensing toy, play time etc. Or just chilling quietly and rewarding her like crazy when she isn't looking to the door, acting anxious, whining etc. Have your mom come back. Any time she leaves or returns she needs to not make a big deal about it for the dog. That means no more "Ohh Fluffy, I'm so sorry I''m leaving" or "Hiiiiii Fluffy, I'm home, oh, aren't you just the best dog ever?!". It needs to be really neutral so they dogs behavior isn't being reinforced. Any attention (good or bad) is attention to the dog and you can actually be rewarding them for doing things you don't want reinforced by accident. Keep working on building up the length of time that she is gone and the dog is comfortable. You are absolutely correct that the sooner you get started on this the better off you will be! I also recommend upping your dogs exercise. A tired dog, is a good dog. Dogs with extra pent up energy are more likely to find ways to keep themselves busy and this usually means by doing something we won't approve of. Most "bad behavior" is stemmed from pent up energy and frustrations, and is just a way of expelling that. Make sure walks are just not a leisurely stroll. They need to include running, jumping, sniffing around, try some commands-anything to get their mind and body working together, and tired. If you aren't able to work through this yourself you will need professional help and guidance to work through this issue and give you the tools to be effective in helping her through this. This is imperative that be it addressed now. Over time, the behavior re-enforces itself and it gets worse and harder to treat.

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.

Poor Brownie! You're right that this level of anxiety is not normal, and needs to be treated ASAP in order to improve his quality of life and prevent things from getting worse as he gets older. I would strongly recommend getting in touch with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate Brownie in person and help you put together a detailed plan to work on his problem - this will likely include training exercises to help build his confidence with being alone, management suggestions to help him be more comfortable while you work on the problem, and anti-anxiety medication to make him feel better in the short term. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org

Poor pup! Barking and vocalizing while you're gone is usually a sign of separation anxiety - this is similar to a panic attack that occurs every day when you leave the house. Shock collars should never be used to treat this problem, as this will only increase his anxiety and make things worse. I would strongly recommend consulting with your veterinarian about this problem, as most dogs with significant separation anxiety issues will need prescription medication in order to make any headway with treatment. If your regular vet isn't well-versed in behavior, you could also consider making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist for a full evaluation and treatment plan - you can search for one in your area here: www.dacvb.org In the meantime, you could try a DAP pheromone diffuser as well as a natural calming supplement like Zylkene or Composure to help with his anxiety. These will not be as effective as prescription meds, but may help to take the edge off a bit until you are able to see the vet.