Seperation Anxiety: Can It Be Overcome?

This is a pretty loaded question, because in many instances it can be but there will always be those few that can’t…

In  a lot of cases we have dealt with, a hound will present with what  appears to be separation anxiety in those early weeks settling into the  home.  It’s a common settling in issue, and with a bit of guidance and  support, they soon come to understand their routine and move past it.

While  it can be easy to panic and assume your hound is presenting with  separation anxiety, a lot of the time it is just settling-in stress  induced behaviour.  However, for genuine separation anxiety, it’s no  joke.

For anyone who has had, or  currently has, a hound with separation anxiety you will know just how  much forethought, planning and management needs to go into supporting  them.  It’s a lot!  So, for anyone in those early settling in days  thinking their hound is developing separation anxiety, it can be very a  scary concept because it is such a life limiting behaviour should it  develop.

Separation anxiety is a  common issue across all dog breeds, but particularly in breeds like  greyhounds that form very strong bonds with their owners.  Greyhounds,  as we all know, are like overly emotional, melodramatic toddlers, and  they don’t always know what to do with their big feelings…which can make  the experience of being left alone particularly stressful for them, and  for the owner.

As humans who  have experienced chronic separation anxiety, read every book, watched  every webinar, and employed every single trick and tactic to address  it…it is exhausting.  Not only do you have to restrict your lifestyle so  wholly to support your dog’s needs, but it also causes a great deal of  emotional turmoil…and trying to train them out of it is a whole  different ball game.

Listening to  your hound cry, howl and bark, become destructive, toileting indoors,  try to break out of windows and doors, hyperventilate and panic so much  that they make themselves sick, and self-harm.  It is truly heart  breaking…and for most people, they cannot cope with it.

Many  hounds are pre-disposed to separation anxiety.  Either through previous  negative experiences, lack of socialisation, confidence or  over-attachment to their owners.

However,  in the case of settling in, the behaviours come about through a lack of  trust, understanding and safety in their environment that can make them  present with separation behaviours.  It’s not always the case that this  will be a long-term condition.  

While  some may raise the pitch forks over this (because it isn’t always the  case), in our experience, some hounds have gone on to develop separation  anxiety through human error in rushing settling hounds into coping when  they weren’t ready.

This has  generally led to said hounds getting returned to us, as the adopters  don’t want a hound with separation issues, can’t cope or cannot dedicate  the time needed to support them past it.

We  had one such case where the adopter had been given our recommendations  for settling a hound in, to prevent separation issues, and chose to  ignore our advice.  The second day of having their adoptive hound, they  left the hound at home for several hours in which the hound created a  path of destruction across the house.  The owner was straight on the  phone, in a panic that the hound we’d given her had separation anxiety.   We managed to calm her and advised again.  She did not listen, again,  repeatedly going out leaving her panicked hound at home without any  management in place.  That is until the destruction was too much to bear  and she returned her.

This hound  was soon adopted by the most delightful family, where she created  strong bonds with the young daughter, found her place on the sofa and  didn’t look back.  She has not once to this day shown any sign of  separation anxiety or destructive tendencies in that home.  

Funnily  enough, in all such cases, they all went on to get adopted again and  (bar one) they’ve never shown issue again.  Sometimes it is just  circumstantial.  Greyhounds are very empathetic and aware of their  owners, and if their owners are in a flap, they’re quite likely to get  into a flap as well!

In those  initial days and weeks of settling your new hound in, they’re looking to  you for support and guidance in an unfamiliar world.  They will follow  you around constantly (probably always will…ours do) and whine or stress  should you go into another room without you.  

What  people tend to forget is that greyhounds haven’t been in homes before.   They’ve only ever known kennel life where they lived very simple  straight forward lives.  In being put into a home, they have absolutely  no idea what is going on, what is expected of them, what the routine is  and what to do with themselves…the only thing that is familiar in this  strange new land is humans.

And when those humans, that they know and are placing all their trust in disappears, they’re going to panic!

We cannot begrudge them that.

They  need time to decompress, learn the routine and gradually introduce  separation training.  Each greyhound is different but to try and  introduce separation training too early is as likely to give them  separation anxiety as prevent it.

We  always recommend taking time off work, working from home, or making  other arrangements to be home for your hound in the first couple of  weeks at least.  And if they’re not ready for full separation by the  time you go back to work, hiring a dog walker/sitter to pop in and help.   
Also, if you aren’t intending on having your hound  allowed upstairs, you need to be prepared to sleep downstairs with them  until they’re ready to cope with you leaving them overnight.

But  when it comes to training, there are numerous approaches.  But the one  thing we would say is to go slow.  It may seem frustrating if they  aren’t ‘getting it’ while you’re doing micro absences and going in and  out of the door three hundred times, but separation anxiety can take  weeks, months or in some cases, years, to overcome once the behaviour  has developed.

In honesty,  preventing separation issues is easy.  Fixing it is hard the part, and  there is no one size fits all.  You need to find what works for them and  stick to it.  

When you start  building up their time being left, you must do it at their speed.   Because, more importantly than anything, is to be patient.  If you rush  it, each time you leave them and they end up getting into a panicked  state, they’re reinforcing that behaviour.  Creating negative  associations with being left.  

Pet  cameras are a great way of managing this, so you can return to them  before they start to panic.  Be it only a few seconds to start with,  until you work up to an hour.  Once you hit that hour mark, things tend  to progress quite quickly.  But again, don’t rush.

Some  people get lucky and have a hound that settles in straight away.  But  those who aren’t, there are so many routes you can go down to address  it, some of which are very simple!

We’ve  seen hounds with chronic separation anxiety go on to have the behaviour  addressed simply by providing a crate…not even shutting the door, just  in providing that safe space.  Many have benefited from the 30-15-15  tactic (which is one of our favourites, and will discuss in a moment),  and others have needed to go right back to basics.  You can enlist the  assistance of qualified behaviourists, or if they’re distress is severe  there is also the option of veterinary intervention, giving medication  to take the edge off enough for them to come to terms with the training.
There  are also plenty of alternative approaches such as using plug-ins such  as Adaptil, or using aromatherapy with dog-safe essential oils.  
Enrichment through puzzle feeders, long lasting chews and things such as Kongs are also a go to in working on separation.

In  dealing with separation, or preventing it, your ultimate goal is to  change your hound’s mindset into understanding that you’re leaving them  brings about good things, be it treats or toys.  Whatever your hound is  most motivated by.

As mentioned, one of our favourite separation tools is the 30-15-15.

This  tactic utilises both physical and mental activity as a way of tiring  your hound.  It’s long been believed that if you take your hound for a  walk before leaving them, they’ll be knackered out and sleep.  And in a  lot of cases this is true, but for some hounds, particularly other  breeds, walks wake them up!
Have you ever had a hound  (I’m looking at you lurcher owners) come back from their walk and get  the zoomies or start throwing their toys around, or otherwise being  busy?  Walks are exciting!  Going out and investigating their  surroundings, sniffing things, peeing on things, meeting other dogs etc  etc.  They become alert, endorphins are running high, cortisol may also  be running high (depending on your hound) and you get home and while  they may be physically tired, they’re mentally wide awake, and you’re  then leaving them!

For most dogs, this works out fine.  Greyhounds are lazy, they just shrug and go to bed and wait for your return.

But  for those who struggle, this isn’t enough.  This is where the 30-15-15  comes in: 30 minutes’ walk, 15 minutes of mental activity and 15 minutes  of decompression.

A good 30  minute walk, not marching, but engaging with their environment where you  let them sniff anything and everything is very mentally enriching.  On  returning home, their brains (theoretically filled with endorphins) is  wide awake which makes it the perfect time to do some training or brain  games with them!
You don’t have to teach them  anything particular, simple things like paw or touch, or provide a  puzzle toy or treat ball that they have to really use their brain for.   10-15 minutes of that and they’ll be mentally tired.  Then, you swoop in  with 15 minutes of decompression by providing them a long-lasting chew  or treat that requires a lot of licking!  So, things like frozen Kongs  or Lickmats.

Licking and chewing  are naturally calming behaviours, that fill your hound with happy  hormones.  By the time they get through their treat, they will be  physically and mentally spent, and calm.

This  leaves them far more receptive to your leaving.  Providing their meals  in various puzzle feeders can also help on top of this.  You can scatter  some bits of kibble or small treats as you leave, if that helps  distract from your going out the door, but generally, we’ve found the  30-15-15 very effective and it is what got our severely anxious boy back  on track.

Even if your hound doesn’t have separation issues, this is still a really good approach to take for enriching their routine!  

But  each dog is different, and this may not work for all of them, and you  may have to experiment a bit to find what they respond to best!