The majority of dog owners are familiar with their dogs suffering from separation anxiety while they are left at home. Symptoms of separation anxiety depend on the age and breed of the dogs. They can include barking, howling, biting, chewing on furniture, having accidents inside, and other symptoms when dogs are more distressed. There is no better way to care for your dog than by hiring a professional dog daycare service. But does putting your dog into daycare lessen their anxiety while you are not home? As with most things in life, there are positive aspects and negatives to consider concerning the idea of doggie daycare, particularly for anxious dogs.
What is Separation Anxiety in Dogs?
A term known as separation anxiety is a condition where a dog will display distress in the absence or separation from its owner.
Common symptoms of separation anxiety include:
- Barking, howling
- Maladaptive – biting, rubbing the door with his hands, destroying other items in the house
- Injuries – wetting and soiling the home even when housetrained
- Pacing, restlessness
- Drooling and panting
- Acting differently, i.e., depressed or anxious when the owner gets back home, or avoiding the owner
Such behaviors can only be seen after a dog has been left alone. In some dogs, separation anxiety may worsen over time when the issue is not addressed. Dog owners need to understand what is considered anxious behavior. They should try to solve the problem by training, changing their pet’s living conditions, administering medication, and using services such as dog daycare.
How could dog daycare potentially benefit separation anxiety?
Using dog daycare to help with separation anxiety will allow dogs to be attended to so they can socialize with other dogs and people instead of staying at home and being lonely.
There are some potential benefits to this approach:
Loneliness and Friendship
The canine is a pack animal; thus, fun and interpersonal contact with other dogs can somewhat satisfy that part of the pack instinct. Doggie daycare offers company to your pet when you are at work or out doing different activities. This can avoid the loneliness that pets feel when you are away or at work.
Environmental Distraction
But if dog goes to a lively daycare with lots of new stimuli and activities like sights, sounds, smells, etc., it could counterbalance. It may interfere with their tendency to focus on their owners, leaving them or, in general, not being affectionate enough.
Routine and Predictability
Fearful dogs establish a new routine of being dropped off and then taken in the afternoon which creates a routine, and routines and predictability are calming to your pet. In due course, this predictability may reduce your pet’s concerns about your departure at any time. It allows separation to be a regular occurrence.
Tiredness
In particular, high energy and accumulated stress or tension can lead to overanxious behavior in separation. Dogs that spend hours playing, exercising, training, or socializing with their caregivers in doggy daycare are joyfully exhausted by day’s end. Thus, they are likely to lie down rather than pace up and down, or show other signs of anxiety when taken and brought home.
What else could be helpful if your dog is struggling with separation anxiety?
While doggie daycare is one option, there are other tactics to try in tandem for anxious dogs home alone:
- Gradual increase of absence lengths – desensitization training
- Enhance the effectiveness of puzzle toys that will help dogs stay mentally and physically active
- Calming food items or anxiety vests /wraps
- Ensure that your pet has been taken for a potty break, play time, or a meal before being left
- The use of calming music or TV noises can in some way serve as distraction
- The amount of alone time can be reduced with help of dog walkers or pet sitters
The needs of each dog will vary. A dog’s separation struggles can increase with age or experience a decline as time passes. Pet owners should also have more patience, be consistent in their efforts, and involve some practitioners in areas such as veterinary behavior. Separation anxiety needs to be tackled alongside the various inherent emotional issues that provoke such anxiety in distressed dogs as well as offering positive supervised counterparts like daycare.
Learn More About Dog Daycare and Dog Daycare for Separation Anxiety
Getting your pet into doggie daycare several days a week may help other dogs with more moderate levels of separation anxiety. Curing the root anxiety through desensitization training, medication, or individual one-on-one dog sitters/walkers may be better for your dog than group daycare in such cases.
Each anxious dog is an individual so owners should try to find what outlet or strategies will be best for their fur baby. The best strategy for dogs who become anxious when left alone in the house consists of consulting separation anxiety specialists and adhering to routines. Daycare may help as an occasional fix but is no substitute for professional training in making distressed dogs confident and self-sufficient.
