Separation Anxiety How Can I Help

Wolfie just goes nuts when I leave the house.  He barks and attempts to destroy everything.  The neighbors tell me that they think there is a "possessed being" in my house.  Is this "separation anxiety" and what can I do about it?

Separation anxiety is one of the most difficult issues to resolve in a dogs behavior.  It is brought about because of prior experiences as shelter or abused dog or lack of leadership in the current environment.  Over the coming months I will be discussing this in more detail, but, for now, lets get going on one thing we can do.

Wolfie and other dogs are very attuned to the sounds around them.  If their territory (home) sounds like everything is fine, they will feel that it is fine.  The way that they come to this conclusion is based on the "white noise" they are processing.  If they hear you doing the laundry or opening the refrigerator, everything is fine, Mommy or Daddy are home, no big deal.  If they dont hear this, they begin to increase their adrenaline and wonder where the rest of the pack actually are. 

Many people leave the TV on for their dogs as "white noise" for their being home.  This could actually be a negative thing if the TV is not always on.  Wolfie learns "A=B".  If the TV is on, you are not here.  Oh my gosh, I have to react to you not being here!  I will bark and destroy! (Just for your information, this is bad.)

We have an interesting solution.  Record about 30 minutes of daily household activities you would normally perform.  About 10 minutes before you leave, turn on the recording.  From this point until you leave, be very quiet.  Now, leave the house while your continuous loop recording continues to play.  

Wolfie now is focused on your natural noises and has been be redirected from your departure and his need to initiate separation anxiety.

This is only one of several things you must implement to successfully resolve Wolfies separation anxiety, but it is a start.  In the coming weeks, I will publish more articles that will assist you to resolve this problem.  For more information, please contact us at The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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Getting Wolfie to Stop Chewing and Teething

Wolfie likes to chew and teeth a lot.  I have tried all the normal ideas like Bitter Apple, Bitter Yuch, Tabasco Sauce, and the like.  It seems that these things make Wolfie want to chew the item even more!  Ideas!  Help!

This training blog is going to be rather short, because I believe I have found the Holy Grail of dogs chewing and teething.

I was at a client about two months ago and our discussion turned to their dogs obsession with chewing on wicker and hands.  Besides the normal corrections that we always teach, I wanted to provide them with a "Plan B".  I knew that the mainstream suggestions of the "Dont Chew on Me" items from the pet stores never worked, so I turned to my favorite suggestion of Hot Sauce.

They said they had some Hot Sauce and went to get it from the kitchen.  Being from Southern California, I assumed it would be a Mexican Hot Sauce.  I was wrong.  My clients were originally from China so they brought out some great Mandarin Chinese Hot Sauce!  (I hadnt had any of this stuff since I frequented a little place called The Mandarin Wak in California!)  This stuff was HOT!

I put three drops of this stuff on my hands and rubbed it in.  I then let their dog come back to my hand, (earlier he chewed on it), he took one sniff/lick, and he was done with that.  I put a few drops on the furniture he was chewing.  After one snip, he was done with that activity.

If your dog has a chewing problem, I think that Chinese Mandarin Hot Sauce is the way to go.  (Since I am also a hot sauce lover, I want to way that is is also really tasty!)   For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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