Dog owners frequently ask how long it takes to cure separation anxiety in dogs and while it’s an an understandable question question, unfortunately it doesn’t have an easy answer. In today’s high speed society, we’re all looking for a quick problem fix, but when it comes to your dog’s behaviour problems, time and patience is the best cure.
You see, how swiftly or slowly a dog overcomes separation anxiety depends on how acute the symptoms are, the individual character of the dog and the opportunities it gets for learning new behaviour. All these different variables means that there is no definite time frame you can put to this issue, which is essentially a good thing.
Now I realise that everyone wants the symptoms of separation anxiety in dogs to go away as soon as possible, but having short time frames often results in people putting themselves under unwarranted pressure. This can have an unfavorable effect on the situation, making dog owners more anxious and less patient with their dogs. If they add further pressure to that by badgering themselves with questions like “why hasn’t this worked yet”, they are more likely to end up feeling a failure, or deciding that that the training program does not work and giving up before they get the results they are looking for.
Time Pressure Could Increase Your Stress and Your Dog’s Nervousness
Another disadvantage of putting yourself under time pressure is that your pooch will be aware of your worries as they’re very sensitive to our moods and feelings. They’ll sometimes take their lead from what we are feeling also, which means that if they sense you are stressed it will add to their own anxiousness and the result will be that it takes longer to resolve the problem.
In brief, the best approach once you have found a good dog separation anxiety training program to follow is to relax and accept that there’s no pressure, and instead trust that it’ll work. Ironically, it could help decrease the training time required.
Learning Does not Happen in a Straight Line
Another fact about learning new behaviour or skills worth mentioning is that while training needs to be regular and consistent, improvement seldom happens in a continuously growing upwards curve (ask any sportsman or coach), instead you tend to get large jumps forward followed by a plateau where you often feel you are getting nowhere. Your dog’s anxiety training could develop in the same way, so do not give up when you hit a plateau stage, as you might be about to get one of those massive steps ahead.
A good tip is to keep a list of all the anxiety difficulties you want to deal with and make a note of your progress each week, however small, because when you are feeling de-motivated it will be a great reminder of how far you have progressed. Keep up your training plan and you will see results so long as you are consistent and persistent in your training, and give your dog the right messages. I’ve heard many, many stories of dog owners who have used training to get rid of their dog’s anxiety problems and in the process gained a much happier and stress free life for themselves and their dogs.
Author Venice Marriott is a writer and dog owner and runs a website, which provides help and information for dog owners dealing with dog anxiety. Get more information about how to cure dog separation anxiety, when you visit the site.
