There I said it.  Helping a dog with separation anxiety is not easy.  It takes time, effort, patience and perseverance. But I was recently reminded that this is true for most things.  While we would all like to master a new skill rapidly, quickly become proficient at a new sport or recover from an injury, none of it happens overnight. I recently had some major surgery.  Despite knowing that the whole process would take time, I thought I would be different.  I was prepared, and I had done my homework.  What I didn’t allow for was that my body would take as long as ..read more

What is Canine Cognitive Dysfunction? Canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) is a disease related to the aging of a dog’s brain, leading to changes in awareness, affecting the dog’s learning and memory, and decreasing their responsiveness to their surrounding. This condition in dogs has been compared to human patients with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Although the initial symptoms are mild, they gradually get worse over time at a rate which can not be considered normal aging. At what age does cognitive decline start to occur? CCD is common in older dogs, generally occurring after nine years of ..read more

Treating Separation Anxiety in Older Dogs. The root cause of behavioural issues in older dogs is often anxiety, which can increase as they enter their golden years. And just like puppies, senior dogs with anxiety need patience, understanding, and a few lifestyle adjustments to navigate their world more happily and healthily. Why is separation anxiety common in older dogs? Anxiety, in general, can start to occur as your dog ages, even when the dog has shown no signs of anxiety previously. While it can be heartbreaking when we start to notice signs of aging in our pets, there is much we can do t ..read more

It is the prevailing opinion that dogs with separation anxiety have an over-attachment to their people, but evidence indicates otherwise. If you talk to your friends, colleagues and neighbours with dogs that don’t have separation anxiety, you will discover that many of their dogs also follow them from room to room. In fact, if we really look into it, this ‘following thing’ is more of a dog thing than a separation anxiety thing. Does your dog cling to you everywhere you go?   I tell my clients that I have not been to the bathroom alone in years. If I stand up and walk away from my desk, my ..read more

In the separation anxiety training world, we talk a lot about things most people don’t give a second thought to.  Intuitively, anyone living with a dog struggling with separation anxiety knows about pre-departure cues, but you don’t always have a name for them.  When you put on your coat or shoes, and your dog starts to show signs of panic, this is a pre-departure cue. You know these things are important. Anything you do before leaving home is referred to as a pre-departure cue or a PDQ for short. PDQs are a big red flag to your dog that you will be leaving. A PDQ doesn’t just happen ..read more

Fear is defined as a response to a near and present danger.  Whereas anxiety is defined as the response to a situation that is not real but is perceived as such. What is Fear? Let me give you an example. You are visiting a new city.  You have spent the afternoon sightseeing.  The weather has been beautiful, and you have strolled far from your hotel.  You have spent the last few hours visiting a museum that has been on your bucket list for ages.  The bell goes in the museum, telling you that they are about to close.  It is now 6 pm….where did the time go?  You ..read more

Suspending absences is a critical and essential part of the separation anxiety training process. It is a temporary sacrifice that needs to be made, but it is not easy. This blog will give you some ideas on how to go about suspending absences during the training process. What is suspending absences?  During the training process, we need to prevent your dog from having over-threshold experiences.  When we are dealing with a dog with separation anxiety, the over-threshold experience is any time the dog is left alone and has a panic response. For separation anxiety, this includes: Vocal ..read more

If there is one canine behaviour that drives people nuts, it is barking.  Nothing is more likely to get neighbours upset or drive you around the bend than the sound of incessant barking. So why do dogs bark?  The obvious answer is that it is one of our dog’s primary communication methods.  But there is more to this story.   To get to the bottom of what motivates our dogs to bark, we need to do some detective work. The first step in addressing barking is to understand why your dog barks.  Once you have this information, you can address the underlying reason.   Ther ..read more

If you live with a dog suffering from separation anxiety, you will likely try anything to fix it.  Googling separation anxiety solutions can lead you down rabbit holes of outdated and punitive solutions that will not only not fix separation anxiety but are likely to worsen the situation.  Here are the six most common but bad pieces of advice my clients have received. Bark collars Bark collars range from citronella collars that squirt a powerful citrus spray into the dog’s face to e-collars that give the dog a painful electric shock to the dog’s neck.  Both are intended to startl ..read more