During the summer months, we’re featuring a special series by Angel Wasserman, a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and owner of Paws in Training, about dog separation anxiety, including what causes this psychological disorder, what to look out for, and what you can do about it.

In this first post, you’ll learn what separation anxiety looks like in dogs and what may cause it.

What is dog separation anxiety?

Separation anxiety is a debilitating psychological disorder, which produces significant anxiety and/or panic attacks in animals when they are separated from “their person.”

Animals afflicted with this disorder suffer considerably when they are left alone and if they have a panic attack, the resulting behaviors can cause significant physical damage to the dog and extensive damage to your property.  These dogs are not destroying your property because they are mad at you for leaving them, or because they haven’t been obedience trained, and this is not something that the dog will get use to or outgrow.  The nature of the affliction leaves the dog so distressed that he will do anything to break out of the barriers that confine him, in an attempt to reunite with you.

It is virtually impossible for a dog owner to solve this problem on his or her own. If you think that your dog has separation anxiety, seek the council of a veterinarian or animal behaviorist immediately to confirm your suspicions.

A key differentiating feature between dogs who are mildly anxious when their person leaves and those with separation anxiety in the true, clinical context, is that separation anxiety dogs begin to display anxiety behaviors BEFORE you leave the home.