This case study with Lenny the Cavapoochon and his absolutely lovely humans will be in two parts, and is a good indication of what I mean when I say working through separation anxiety takes time…..but is also a very good example to show you that it DOES work and you WILL get there, no matter how overwhelming it may seem at the start! Lenny – Part 1 I started working with Lenny initially in June 2021 when he was 5 months old – wasn’t he cute! In our initial assessment, he was standing at the door when his humans exited the house, started whining at 6 seconds, barking at 27 seconds, and his beh ..read more

Seems an odd question right? Surely if a dog is quiet when home alone, they’re comfortable? Sadly it is not that simple. Every dog will give different behavioural signs that they are anxious or uncomfortable. The most common behaviours that we tend to associate with dogs who have separation anxiety are vocalising (barking, whining, howling), toileting in the house when alone, and engaging in destructive behaviours when home alone. But those are by no means the only behaviours that we should be looking for, and each and every dog will communicate their anxiety using very different and varied ou ..read more

Medication can be a game changer when given alongside a behaviour modification plan for separation anxiety, but a lot of people are still reluctant to use medication, feeling it will change their dog’s personality in some way, or that they feel their dog should be able to overcome their separation anxiety ‘on their own’. And I understand having concerns. However, a lot of the concerns I hear about medication are unfounded or incorrect, so lets look at some of the myths surrounding the use of behavioural medication, and how it can actually help your dog! Medication is extensively researched Al ..read more

Lottie is an almost 1 year old Cockapoo who has always struggled with being home alone. She would bark, whine, howl and scratch at the door (in the videos below you will be able to see the damage she has caused to the inside of the door). Initial assessment 25.8.22 I worked with Lottie and her humans for a month, and during our initial assessment Lottie showed significant signs of stress before her humans had left the house, when they were starting to get ready to leave. As you can see from watching this video below, Lottie appears “excited” and does a couple of yawns, multiple lip licks and ..read more

I started working with Louie the 3 year old French Bulldog on 22nd June 2022, after his mum contacted me to help him with his separation anxiety.  He had never been comfortable being home alone, but since lockdown in 2020 his behaviour had got worse. Louie’s mum had been amazing and trying to find solutions and had even found a good daycare for him so that he could go there, but unfortunately although Louie was happy there for a while, he started reacting to the other dogs as the environment was likely a bit too overwhelming for him (which is really common) and therefore daycare was no l ..read more

Bella is a beautiful little 6 year old Bichon Frise x Maltese who I worked with for one month from July 2021. Bella’s mum had tried to work on her separation anxiety on her own in the past but with no success, and being a young woman who lived on her own, she was finding it really hard to be a prisoner in her home. This is Bella: The initial assessment In Bella’s initial assessment, Bella followed her mum to the hall and watched from the living room doorway as she put her shoes on. 10 seconds after the front door closed Bella went closer to the front door, lowered her head to sniff, her tail ..read more

Obie is a 1 year old Doberman who has always had concerns about being home alone. This is Obie – isn’t she beautiful? Initial assessment 26.4.22 I worked with Obie and her wonderful humans for 1 month, and in our initial assessment on 26th April 2022, Obie started whining and running up and down the hall 5 seconds after the front door closed, then at 12 seconds she escalated and started jumping up and the front door and doing multiple high pitched barks.  The initial assessment is a chance for me to get an idea of how long the dog can cope being alone for, what their threshold is (ie whe ..read more

I started working with lovely Bertie the greyhound in May 2021, and we did one month on the separation anxiety protocol, after which Bertie’s lovely mum continued it on herself. In Bertie’s initial assessment, he went and stood on the back of the sofa (which was close to the hallway behind a stair gate) as soon as his mum left. He then stood there displaying mild stress signs before jumping off the sofa at 1 minute 10 seconds, and going back and forth, on and off the sofa.  He then started to whine at 1 minute 33 seconds and this gradually escalated. Below is a video Bertie’s mum sent me ..read more

Koba is a 2 year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier x Mastiff, rehomed to his current owner at 10 weeks when the previous owner no longer wanted him after 2 weeks! Koba was never comfortable being home alone, and would become anxious at signs that his people were about to leave, and when left would vocalise and run up and down the stairs, toilet somewhere in the house. Upon their return, Koba would launch himself at them and often urinate at that stage as well, and would not leave them alone for quite some time. This over excited behaviour upon return is something we see a lot, and it can be put d ..read more

Buster – 5 year old Jack Russell x Dachshund Buster has never been comfortable being left home alone, and his lovely Dad Martin has previously done some work with another behaviourist as well as doing some work on it himself, but unfortunately although occasionally he was able to leave Buster for 10 or 15 minutes occasionally, and on one occasion longer, it was never consistent and these were very much “one offs”. This is Buster below – isn’t he cute! I started working with lovely Buster on 20th April 2022, and during our initial assessment Buster showed signs of anxiety as soon as he realise ..read more