Separation Anxiety can show up for a variety of reasons. For some dogs, they may have a genetic disposition. For other dogs, they may have never learned that alone time is safe, perhaps there have been changes in the household like a big move, losing a companion dog, or health issues arise that contribute.

The most effective way to work through separation anxiety is with a true desensitization focused training plan. This means that we gradually expose your dog to being alone at a pace in which they can comfortably tolerate. Unlike in other forms of training, we do not use food or treats to reinforce or distract dogs during training.

Many dogs with separation anxiety do need pharmaceutical support to be successful. Since I am not a veterinarian, this is something you will need to discuss directly with your dog’s veterinary care team. While some dogs can make progress without being on medication, it is acceptable to start training without medication on board, assess, and go from there. Our separation anxiety assessment will be telling and I will always share my transparent thoughts with you.

It depends. At the short end, a few months, at the long end, a couple years. Every dog and every case is different. The stricter you are about sticking to your dog’s training plan, the quicker the training will go.

We offer separation anxiety training in Portland, Gresham, Troutdale, Happy Valley, and even world-wide since private lessons are offered 100% virtually.