Expert: Kaza - 6/17/2007

Question
I have a 3 year old male Basset Hound/German Shepherd. We adopted him when he was 9 months old. He has been piddling in the house when we leave or go to sleep. Do you have any ideas how I can prevent this from happening?

Thank-you.

Answer
This is quite common for an adoptee. Its called separation anxiety disorder.It doesnt just affect adoptees but all dogs that for many reasons did not have the socialisation that is necessary for them to develop both cognitive and physical attributes.
This will take time but I do think that in order for you to address this issue you need o understand why they do it.
Housetraining a Urine Marking Male Dog


About the time you have your young male dog or older male pup housetrained, you realize he has started urinating in the house again. What’s wrong with him? Is he doing it because he’s mad that you go out and leave him at home?

You’re pregnant, you have a new baby, someone with a baby in diapers comes for a visit, you get a new cat or dog, a family member moves into or out of the house, you move to a new house, your schedule changes—and just when something major is going on in your life, the dog starts urinating in the house! Is he getting back at you because he wants attention?

Urine marking is a normal, instinctive dog behavior, mostly in males but also sometimes in females. Like a lot of other natural dog behaviors, we need to modify it as one of the fascinating ways that humans and dogs learn to cooperate for rewarding lives together.

We take the ability of dogs to adapt to our lifestyles for granted until a behavior like this one gets our attention. Some dogs are so talented and motivated to figure us humans out that we don’t even notice or give them credit for amazing things they do. If you have a male who doesn’t urine mark in your home, take a moment to thank him! If your male dog needs some help from you, as most of them will in life at least a time or two, read on for how to do it smoothly.

Why It Happens

Dogs do not consider elimination to be an insult. On the contrary, the dog who urine marks may well be stepping up to offer his life if necessary to protect his pack. Instead of saying “Get out of here, new baby,” he may be saying, “This small one, too, is under my protection.”

If you have a male and one or more female dogs, watch how he urinates along the fence, outside the marks of all the girls. Likely you’ll occasionally see him go over and urinate over the spot where she has just urinated—or, oops, hasn’t quite finished! Watch her reaction. She probably feels more secure as a result of this action of his. How confusing it must be for a dog whose owner flies into a hissy fit at the same action!

Dogs don’t actually “understand” housetraining. Dogs with what we consider normal instincts who have been raised properly for the formation of housetraining habits are following instincts when they start to toddle out of the sleeping, eating and playing area to eliminate.

A small dog’s concept of this area may not include the back bedroom or the formal living room. To him, that can seem to be outside the area needed for living space or as the pack’s den headquarters. A larger dog tends to prefer marking outside the house, given your help to get there on a good schedule.

Ironically, people often get small dogs because they want a cleaner house. If easy housetraining and minimal indoor elimination is a priority with you, a tiny male dog is not a good adoption choice.

Dogs get a lot of information from urine scent. Among dogs, it helps to keep the peace. We don’t even know all the things dogs can detect from urine scent, but they certainly can tell a male from a female, a neutered dog from an intact one, a female in heat or coming into heat, and whether the other dog is sick or well. Just as a human reacts to a sight according to past experiences with that sight, a dog’s reaction to a particular scent is heavily influenced by the dog’s experiences. For example, a male dog who has previously mated a female will be far more excited by the scent of a female in heat than a neutered male who never mated. Thus dogs react to a lot of scents we don’t even know are there.

Scents can be overwhelming to dog instincts. A male dog is highly likely to urine mark in the presence of a female dog in heat—possibly even quite a distance away. He’s also highly likely to urine mark where another dog has urinated inside your home, whether that dog is male or female. Two tiny male dogs living together are likely to appear to be in competition to see who can urinate in the house the most. Is this about fighting? Probably not. It may even be their way of presenting a united front in defending what they view as their pack.

Like most dog behavior, urine marking has to be taken in context to get some idea of the cause in any given situation. We never know everything about the cause. Dogs are complex, with some behaviors strongly instinctive and some learned. Like humans, they do things automatically at times, and at other times they have an intention. It’s not useful to think of a dog’s intentions as “spite” or “anger.” Fear, protectiveness, excitement, prey drive, bonding and other survival instincts are much more likely explanations.

In nature, urine marking provides boundary signs for a pack. When humans say that dogs are social animals, they may think dogs living in the wild would all happily play together. Dogs are pack animals. They form separate social groups to cooperate for survival, which includes hunting for food as well as rearing their young. A pack has a territory it defends from other canines, which helps spread the animals out over a wider range for a better chance that all of them will be able to find enough to eat.

Urine also helps males and females find one another at mating time, since a female dog is only fertile for a short time once (in the wild and some domesticated dogs) or twice a year. Only then is she receptive to mating. Male dogs are instinctively drawn to the scent, testosterone stimulates them to respond to it, and they also form beliefs about the scent from experience.

The male’s urine sends messages to her as well as to other dogs. The dog with the best chance of resisting the urge to mark in this situation is the neutered male who has never mated. The intact male, whether or not he has been mated, may have great difficulty refraining from urine marking in the house. He may be so disturbed that he can’t even eat.

Urine marking is not about us. Dogs are not trying to tell us things by urinating in the house, other than perhaps that they are sick, or that they are willing to give their lives to protect us. Some of our choices cause our dogs to have problems with urine marking, but they do not do it out of spite or anger toward their owners.

How to Handle It

Probably the single most effective thing you can do to help your dog resist urine marking inside your home is to have your veterinarian neuter him prior to his forming this habit. At least one study has shown that neutering a dog at any age will help, so it seems that the testosterone of being intact plays a role in urine marking.

Neutering does not eliminate the need for training and management, though, particularly if the habit of urine marking has become strongly formed prior to the surgery. No one can guarantee that neutering a dog is going to magically cure this problem. But if you do not neuter a tiny male dog, your chances of ever fully housetraining him are greatly reduced. They are reduced even more if you use him at stud. Larger male dogs have a better chance of making it outside to mark, with good management from you, even if they are used for breeding.

Besides the urine marking problem, neutered male dogs are often capable of tying with female dogs in heat. This should not be allowed to happen due to the risk of injury and even of sexually-transmitted diseases. The easiest arrangement for most people to live with is to spay the females and neuter the males. If you do keep an intact female, she and any male, intact or neutered, need to be separated whenever she is in heat and no adult human is closely supervising them. Another complication is that sometimes people don’t realize the female is in heat until it’s too late.

Consult your veterinarian for the best time to neuter your male. Try to avoid leaving the tiny male intact past the age of a year for the best chance at housetraining.

Multiple dogs of the same sex will often fight when kept together, especially if they are terriers, and males will stimulate each other to urine mark in the house. If the males are small and/or terriers, the risk of urine marking is increased. Fights among multiple female dogs in the same household tend to be worse than male fights, but the females are less likely to urine mark.

Larger male dogs are instinctively inhibited against hurting female dogs and against hurting smaller dogs, as well as being less tempted to urine mark than small males. When adding a second dog to a home with a small female dog, consider the advantages of making that second dog a larger male.

Keep in mind that medical problems in the male dog or in another dog he lives with can trigger urine marking. Especially if this represents a change in behavior for a mature dog, he needs to be medically checked, as does any other dog in the household who might be the trigger, such as a female dog with a urinary tract or uterine infection.

Don’t let anyone talk you into punishing a dog for housetraining problems, including urine marking. Dogs do not learn housetraining from punishment. Instead they learn to distrust you and possibly all humans. You can ruin a dog’s temperament and create aggression toward humans by punishing for housetraining accidents.

Dogs who are punished in housetraining learn to hide from people to eliminate, which makes training even harder. If you supervise properly, you may catch a dog having an accident. In that case, interrupt the dog with a calm “No—let’s go outside,” and RUSH out the door with the dog. If you are using an indoor spot at that time, give that a name, too, such as “No—use your box.”

When you get the dog to the spot, the goal is to get the dog to finish there. For success outside, give excited praise and sometimes a treat. For success inside, give quiet praise. The outside habit is the one you want really strong. The inside habit will likely be changed later to outside. A box of grass sod on a condo terrace can be helpful in building the outdoor habit and reducing the risk of indoor accidents.

If your timing is really perfect, you’ll get the dog outside before elimination even starts inside. This forms stronger habits more quickly. Applying yourself diligently to housetraining with positive methods pays off big time, and slacking off is a big mistake. People get rid of dogs more often for housetraining problems than for aggression! Good housetraining means keeps faith with your dog.

When It May Be Something Else

The male having accidents in the house could have a urinary tract infection, prostate enlargement or infection, mental confusion, heavy sleep, mobility problems that make it hard or painful for him to get outside in time or painful to do so, or other illness.

Sometimes we are mistaken about which dog is eliminating in the house, and people often miss some of the spots. A video camera can help you be sure. Another possible way to check is to confine one dog at a time to another area and rotate them so that you know only one dog had access to the target area at the time.

Separation anxietyis a major cause of housetraining accidents. Punishment when you come home and find this or anything else that displeases you will make it worse.

The difference between urine marking and the dog not being housetrained can be hard to determine, and it’s not really important to know, since both are handled the same way. The best housetraining results include the following factors:

1. The nest shared by mother dog and puppies is kept clean, and they all have space to get away from the nest for elimination.

2. The puppy is never kept confined in urine and feces at any age.

3. The puppy has at least some positive experiences eliminating outdoors starting in young puppyhood. That requires access to a safe place that will not expose a young puppy with an immature and unvaccinated immune system to contagious diseases.

4. Housetraining starts in your home the minute the puppy gets there. There is no postponing it and leaving the puppy loose to potty all over the house. Every accident in the house confuses the puppy’s habits. Housetraining starts as a positive practice and the owner diligently continues to help the puppy hit the target, be it inside or outside. The early experiences are critical.

Small dogs in particular become victims to people postponing housetraining. The messes are small and people figure they’ll stay small so it’s easier to just to clean it up. Eventually they realize odor and mess are unacceptable to them, but by this time they have made the task of housetraining that dog difficult to impossible.

All the scent must be removed from the house, too, using a bacterial enzyme odor eliminator product such as Nature’s Miracle. Lack of housetraining is the major reason people get rid of small dogs, so failing to housetrain a puppy right from the start is a huge disservice to the dog.

5. If an indoor elimination method (papers, pads, dog litter box) must be used because there is no clean outdoor place available or the owner has to leave longer than the puppy can hold it, this is not continued for longer than several weeks.

6. The puppy is taken out at least once per hour whenever the owner is home and awake until housetraining is complete. After that, the schedule that works well for that dog is used, with the owner making sure the dog has plenty of chances outside.

7. House freedom is increased gradually, and dialed back whenever it’s evident that the dog cannot handle that many rooms or that amount of space. When your dog is not confined in an area where the dog is reliable not to eliminate in your house, you need to be in the same room with the dog, supervising closely.

One supervision aid is to leash the dog to your waist for a half hour or so at a time. This also increases your dog’s bond with you, ability to settle calmly in the house, and your mutual skill at moving together with a leash.

8. All accidents are promptly deodorized from the dog’s nose, not just the much weaker human sense of smell. If used immediately, undiluted clear vinegar will work. It needs to go deeply into the carpet and then either allowed to air dry, or just blotted up by stepping on newspaper, fabric, towels, etc. that are placed over the spot.

It will smell of vinegar in the room until it dries, but that is necessary. You can avoid the vinegar odor by using a bacterial enzyme odor eliminator instead. If you do that, though, you lose the benefit of the vinegar scent in discouraging the dog from using the spot again. But if you miss the chance to treat the spot when it is still very fresh and wet, vinegar will not neutralize it and you will need the bacterial enzyme product.

Don’t scold the dog when you clean, and it doesn’t matter whether the dog sees you clean or not. Be careful never to get vinegar in a dog’s eyes, as it is an irritant to eyes. For that reason, don’t spray vinegar at a dog’s face—and lemon juice is even worse because it is more acidic.

9. The dog is praised, lifelong, for getting housetraining right. Housetraining is a lot of work, it is complicated, and it is easy to confuse your dog. Done right, it helps you get off to an excellent start with all training and helps you form a good bond.

Don’t get a dog until and unless you are ready and able to meet the dog’s elimination needs. You won’t be happy, and you can ruin the dog’s life. Often an adult dog already housetrained is a much better choice for a particular owner than a young puppy who will need a full housetraining course and won’t be able to wait long at all between outings.

Sometimes a cat is the perfect choice. Kittens don’t need much more help to adapt their elimination instincts to indoors than being encouraged in the litter box and you keeping the box clean and easily accessible. Cats don’t need to go outdoors at all, and are as therapeutic in many cases as dogs. They are the perfect condo companion animals.

Training or Management?

Some tiny males will never be able to handle the whole house. Baby gates, closed doors, and “playpen” arrangements such as exercise pens can be used as lifelong management tools if needed. Many do well with a gated bathroom or kitchen doorway. If the dog climbs or jumps one gate, you can stack another gate above it.

Belly bands or male dog pants with or without pad liners can help with management. The dog can’t wear these all the time, due to risks of infection and of him chewing and eating the absorbent materials. Occasionally people find these help interrupt a dog’s urine marking habit, but realistically they will probably only serve as a management tool.

You can sometimes help avoid some housetraining accidents by spending time in little-used rooms with your tiny male dog. If you feed and play with him there, it will seem to him more like part of the pack’s den area and less like “out in the boonies” where elimination feels natural.

Some breeds are not as naturally inclined to keep their areas clean as other breeds. Individual Beagles and Dachshunds can fall into this category, though certainly not all dogs of these breeds. This trait can mean a dog will eliminate in the dog bed and lay in it, even with access to other areas.

Dogs of any breed who have been confined in their own waste will do this, too. It’s a problem for commercially bred dogs and also for those who have been through the pet shop system.

It’s the reason that you need to stop crating a dog when you start to see a pattern of eliminating in the crate, too. If you continue to crate the dog, you will damage the dog’s cleanliness instincts, possibly cause medical problems, and put the dog at risk of separation anxiety.  Some dogs also become unable to tolerate a crate lifelong. The dog needs to be confined in some other manner for long enough to restore cleanliness instincts.

Happily Ever After

Urine marking is a housetraining matter. In contrast, urinary incontinence, illness, and submissive urination are not housetraining issues, other than to make sure scent is properly removed so they won’t CAUSE housetraining problems.

Urine marking is simple to deal with in that you handle it by the same supervision, scent control, alertness to triggers, praise, checking for medical problems, and other basics you use to properly housetrain a dog in the first place. You partner with your dog to make sure he gets the help he needs from you. You realize his instincts are causing the behavior, not some willful intention to insult you. It’s not about you.

Even the most housetrained of large, neutered male dogs will urine mark under certain circumstances, and it doesn’t mean this will become a regular problem. He may urine mark one or two times when he moves to a new home, and then no more. You can help keep it from happening again by dousing the spot with clear, undiluted vinegar.

He is likely to urine mark when visiting inside someone else’s home, and you should keep him with you on leash to prevent this. He is also likely to urine mark anyplace you take him, unless you handle him in a way that prevents it.

A good way to minimize the risk of your dog marking indoors away from your home is to allow him to urinate only on your property except when you give him specific permission to use a specific spot at a specific time. Before leaving with him, take him to your yard (or the spot you normally use if you don’t have a yard) and cue him to eliminate, with your choice of words. “Go potty” is one option.

On your outing, even if you’re walking outdoors, interrupt him from lingering too long to check out scent that might trigger urination (you’ll get familiar with that body posture) by simply moving the walk along. If you’re out long enough that he will need to eliminate, find a polite spot to do that, and of course clean up after him. When you get home, immediately take him to his usual spot.

Take him to his spot before and after EVERY outing, so that he learns he can count on you to do this. It helps him wait, and it helps him realize that he does need to eliminate if he possibly can when offered that chance BEFORE the outing, too.

If he is not expecting to urine mark on a walk outside, you can see how much easier it’s going to be to keep him from doing it in someone’s house, in the building at a dog event, in a health care facility on a therapy dog visit, etc. It’s a simple and highly effective practice.

A lot of small male dogs will always present some degree of challenge with the urine marking, but you can (and should!) keep your home clean and free of urine odor with good management. Large males who are managed well may actually have fewer accidents indoors than females, because males are less prone to urinary incontinence.

Life with a male dog can be great. Housetraining does not have to cost dogs their homes. It’s something we need to educate ourselves about, preferably before getting a dog. When you bring a dog home for the first time and every time, take him immediately to the right place to eliminate—and to make his mark.

Dogs, like humans, are social animals. Similarities in human and canine social structure (e.g., living in groups, extended care of the young, communal hunting) have contributed to dogs becoming "man's best friend." However, the many differences between canine and human social behavior and communication can lead to miscommunication, misunderstandings, and what humans consider "behavior problems." From a dog's perspective, for example, submissive urination is perfectly normal; but owners have real concerns about this behavior.

What's Going On?

A complex communication system has evolved among dogs to help establish and maintain stable pack dominance hierarchies, which are essential for a pack to work together in caring for young, hunting, and defending territory. Dominant animals use vocalizations, gestures, and postures to communicate their status. Subordinate animals use submissive displays to turn off these dominant social threats. When dogs live in "packs" made up of their owners and other humans, they use the same gestures to communicate. Problems arise when humans do not understand these gestures or expect dogs to understand things about human society that do not come naturally. For example, humans expect dogs not to eliminate inside the house. A 7lb Yorkshire terrier may not defecate in the room where it sleeps (i.e., its den) but may defecate on the living room rug because it sees the rest of the house as fair game.

Submissive urination is the ultimate gesture of submission. Submissive urinators communicate that they are absolutely no threat to other dogs. In response to the submissive signals, dominant dogs stop their display.

Submissive urination can be seen in dogs of any age or sex. It is most common in puppies, which makes perfect sense because they are automatically subordinate to all the adults in the pack. It is also more commonly seen in females and smaller breeds. Submissive urination occurs when dogs are confronted with facial expressions, body postures, or gestures that they perceive as a threat (see Case Examples, Case 1), including humans reaching for them; petting them on the head; leaning over them; talking to them in excited, deep, or harsh tones; making eye contact with them; or punishing them verbally or physically. In canine communication, dominance gestures include staring, standing over, putting a paw across the back of another dog's neck, and low growls. Dogs simply interpret human actions as they would another dog's actions.

While submissively urinating, dogs usually show other submissive signs, including laying their ears back, tucking their tails, cowering, and avoiding eye contact. They may also give a submissive "grin" in which the corners of the lips are pulled back, exposing molars and premolars. This should not be confused with an aggressive lip lift, which shows the incisors and canines. Some dogs roll onto their sides, exposing their bellies, while giving these signals and urinating. This is not a request for a belly rub; it is a request to be left alone.

Dogs that submissively urinate expect that their behavior will stop "threats" from humans, but well meaning humans continue leaning over, petting, and trying to comfort these dogs as they would another person. Dogs see this as a continued threat rather than a comforting gesture. Punishing these dogs will only exacerbate the situation. A typical scenario is the owner who is frustrated because his dog urinates on the carpet every time he comes home. Believing that he has "caught the dog in the act," the owner scolds or otherwise punishes the dog for what he believes is a housebreaking lapse. Thus a dog that is already intimidated and trying to say with its only "words" that it respects the owner's authority is met with further threats, resulting in more frequent and intense displays of submission.

Excitement Urination

Excitement urination, a variation of the submissive form, usually occurs during greetings (see Case Examples, Case 1). Dogs with this behavior often do not show other signs of submission. Instead, they seem happy and excited to be greeted by humans. These are the puppies that urinate when greeted and then wag their tails and jump on humans, splashing urine all over.

CASE 1

I recently saw Jake, a 6?year?old neutered male American Eskimo dog, for submissive urination. This had been a big problem when lake was younger but seemed to resolve with maturation; however, Jake had begun to urinate in the house again. Jake had always been a very sensitive dog, cowering not only if scolded but also if family members raised their voices at each other. Jake's owners did not think they had been scolding him any more mud were confused and concerned about the return of the submissive urination. Because lake's owners had been remodeling the kitchen and bathrooms, they often came home to a mess and an unusable kitchen. Although they did not yell at Jake when they came home, they were stressed and upset lake was reading their body language and responding with submissive gestures. But why did Jake submissively urinate when no one was there to see the gesture? Just as Pavlov trained an automatic response (salivation at the sight of food) to occur on an external cue (a ringing bell), Jake learned to pair the automatic response of submissive urination with the learned cue of the owners' yelling. When the owners had a series of bad days, lake felt as though the alpha dog (the owners) was constantly threatening him. In response, lake's behavior became more submissive. Jake's owners were asked to change their behavior when they came home. Rather than checking on the progress of the renovations, they walked or played with Jake. After some positive, relaxed time together, the owners checked on the kitchen. They were also reminded of Jake's sensitivity and tried to control their stressful reactions. They used lake as a barometer of their own stress reactions and made a conscious effort to relax when they noticed signs of submission.

CASE 2

My childhood dog, Misty, a cocker spaniel, was an excitement urinator. As a puppy, urination would occur whenever anyone came home or greeted Misty. My family had never owned a dog before, but someone told us that the behavior was caused by overexcitement, so we never punished Misty. We just assumed we had to live with it. We tried to remain as calm as possible when greeting Misty but never actively worked on the problem. Misty's behavior improved slowly; by 3 or 4 years of age, submissive urination no longer occurred on a daily basis. After that, urination occurred only when Misty greeted special persons whom she rarely saw. My family learned to have Misty greet these people outside. After we understood the problem and found an acceptable way to manage it, Misty's excitement urination ceased to be a problem. Managing the behavior just became a fact of life, like a daily brushing to maintain the coat.

Changing the Behavior

The prognosis for dogs with submissive urination is good: most puppies and young dogs outgrow the problem as they mature and gain confidence in social situations. Treatment relies mainly on owner education and patience. Owners must learn to accept submissive urination as a normal part of canine social behavior. The battle is half won when owners accept that their dogs have not lost their housebreaking skills and are not being spiteful.

The next step is identifying and avoiding the stimuli that lead to submissive urination. Everyone (e.g., owners. their friends. veterinary caregivers) who interacts with dogs that exhibit this behavior should avoid doing anything that causes urination. For example, dogs with submissive urination should not be rushed toward when greeted; instead. they should be allowed to approach on their own. Humans should speak softly, avoid prolonged eye contact, and kneel down to avoid towering over these dogs. Ignoring these dogs for the first 5 minutes after arriving home may prevent overexcitement. These dogs should not be reached for, especially over the head; they should be petted under the chin, on the chest. and on the side of the neck.

Dogs with submissive or excitement urination may be helped by being taught an alternate greeting behavior or to associate greetings with a different set of emotional responses. These are forms of counter conditioning. Owners should be instructed to meet their dogs at the door with a treat or toy. The dogs will learn to anticipate food or play when owners come home and be less likely to urinate. Especially with treats. owners can shape their doss' behavior from an excited or submissive greeting to a calm one. When the dogs begin looking for the treat, owners should wait for them to sit calmly before giving it. Later, a treat should be given while their dogs are sitting calmly, being petted, and not displaying any Submissive gestures. Dogs with submissive urination should not be punished. Some dogs are so sensitive that even upset facial expressions or tense body language from owners is enough to elicit urination. The best way to avoid punishing dogs is to guide them toward appropriate behaviors. For example, instead of yelling "no" when their dogs jump on them, owners should teach them to sit. Dogs should be told the right thing to do, something that will result in praise and a reward. rather than being allowed to decide what to do, potentially resulting in scolding and punishment. Reducing the amount of punishment will help build the confidence of Submissive dons and reduce their tendency to show such exaggerated submissive behaviors as urination. Other good confidence builders for dogs include positive reinforcement/reward basic training for obedience or dog sports (e.g., agility, flyball). These activities also help strengthen the owner?dog bond, which may have been damaged by frustration over urination.

Conclusion

Submissive urination is a commonly encountered, normal canine behavior. It is considered a behavior problem because humans do not want their dogs to urinate in socially unacceptable locations and situations. However, submissive urination is easily manageable. By teaching owners a little about canine social systems and communication, veterinary technicians can help them understand their dogs' behavior (see Resources). After owners understand and avoid eliciting the behavior, the submissive urination stops. Confidence building activities between owners and dogs can help end submissive urination and strengthen the owner?dog bond.

About the Author Dr. Bergman is affiliated with the Behavior Service, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California, Davis.

ORGANIZATIONS

American College of Veterinary Behaviorists

Dr. Bonnie V. Beaver, Executive Director Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843?4474 t Phone: 409?845?2351 Fax:409?845?6978 Email: bbeaver@ cvm.tamu.edu

American Veterinary Society for Animal Behavior

Steve Feldman, DVM 8119 Beechwood Lane Clinton, MD 20735 Fax: 301?868?5436. Email: avsabe[ yahoo.com Web site: http://www.avma.org/avsab/

BOOKS

Askew H: Treatment of Behavior Problems in Dogs and Cats. London, Blackwell Science, 1996.

Beaver B: Canine Behavior: A Guide for Veterinarians. Philadelphia, WB Saunders Co, 1999.

Hens S: Pet Behavior Protocols. Lakewood, CO, AAHA Press, 1999.

Landsberg G, Hunthausen W, Ackerman L: Handbook of Behaviour Problems of the Dog and Cat. Woburn, MA, ButterworthHeinemann, 1997.

Overall K: Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals. St. Louis, Mosby, 1997.

Serpell J (ed): The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behaviour, and Interactions with People. Cambridge, MA, Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Turner DC, Bateson P: The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour. Cambridge, MA, Cambridge University Press, 2000. Vet Clin North Am 12(4), 1982; 21(2), 1991; 270), 1997.

Voith V, Borchelt P: Readings in Companion Animal Behavior. Trenton, NJ, Veterinary Learning Systems, 1996.


Separation anxiety in dogs is the fear or dislike of isolation which often results in undesirable behaviour. Separation anxiety is one of the most common causes of canine behavioural problems (Polin 1992; Voith and Borchelt 1985).

As social animals, it is normal for puppies to form attachments to their mother and littermates. Once a puppy is separated from its family group, it becomes attached to its owner. Attachment implies a trusting relationship and is the foundation of a good, healthy bond between owner and pet (Polin 1992). However, when a dog becomes overly dependent on its owner, problem behaviours may result.

There are many problem behaviours associated with separation anxiety including: defecation and urination in inappropriate locations, destructive behaviour, excessive barking and whining, depression, and hyperactivity. These behaviours may also be the symptoms of other problems. However, if undesired behaviours are clearly related to the absence of the owner, occur shortly after departure and a prolonged greeting response occurs upon the owner's return, separation anxiety is the probable cause (McElroy 1989). If a problem behaviour has persisted for an extended period, a visit to the vet will ensure that there are no underlying medical problems.

Contributing Factors

Separation anxiety may occur in dogs with an abnormal predisposition to dependency (Machum 1991). Traumatic events in a young dog's life may also increase the likelihood of the development of very strong attachments. These events include; early separation from the bitch, deprivation of attachment early in life (puppies kept in pet shops or animal shelters), a sudden change of environment (new home, stay at a kennel), a change in owner's lifestyle which results in a sudden end to constant contact with the animal, a long-term or permanent absence of a family member (divorce, death, child leaving home) or the addition of a new family member (baby, pet) (Voith and Borchelt 1985; McElroy 1989).

Separation-induced behaviours

Every dog afflicted with separation anxiety reacts somewhat differently (Borchelt 1983). Some dogs only engage in one problem behaviour while others may engage in several. Many dogs can sense when their owner is leaving and become anxious even before the owner leaves the house. The dog may follow the owner from room to room, whimper, shake or even become aggressive as the owner tries to depart (Voith and Borchelt 1985). The dog's anxiety level peaks within 30 minutes of departure and this is usually when most damage is done. Dogs displaying separation anxiety will often scratch and dig at doors and windows in an attempt to follow their owner. Chewing on household objects is also very common. Some dogs urinate and defecate in unacceptable locations such as by the door or on their owner's bed. Whining and barking for an extended period are also common concerns. Other dogs become depressed and will not eat or drink while their owner is gone. This is especially detrimental if the owner is gone for an extended period. In rare cases, dogs will have diarrhea, vomit or engage in self-mutilation such as chewing on themselves or excessive licking after being left alone. Most affected dogs will become overly excited when the owner arrives home and will engage in an unusually prolonged greeting (Voith and Borchelt 1985).

Treatment

Some methods for treating problem behaviour include: punishment crate-training, and obedience training. These methods are directed at the problem behaviour, however they fail to address the source of the problem. By ignoring the source of the problems, one undesirable behaviour may simply be replaced with another as the dog searches for an outlet for its anxiousness (Borchelt 1983). In addition, punishment is likely to be counter productive and will only increase a dog's anxiety with each departure. Therefore, punishment is not recommended as an acceptable method of treating separation anxiety.

Presently, the most accepted method for treating separation anxiety involves planned departures. This method involves gradually adjusting the dog to being alone by exposure to many short departures. Because the stress response occurs very shortly after the owner's departure (within 30 minutes), the dog should only be left alone for very short intervals at first (seconds to minutes) to ensure the owner returns before the onset of anxiety. Before the departure period can be increased, the owner must be certain that the dog is not stressed. The owner must closely watch the dog for signs of anxiety and ensure that the dog does not engage in an extended greeting. After the short departures have reached the 30 minute mark, the length of time the dog is left can be increased by larger increments. Once the dog can be left alone for 1.5 hours, it can usually be left all day. Departure and return should be made as quiet and uneventful as possible to avoid overstimulating the dog. The dog should not be given attention prior to departures nor given attention and praise upon returns. Excessive attention prior to departure and upon return seem to increase the anxiety during separation and it does NOT make it easier on the dog as most people suspect. Safety cues may also be used to associate with the short departures (Voith and Borchelt 1985). The T.V. or radio can be left on or an acceptable chew toy may be provided for the dog. However, it is very important that the safety cue is not an item that the dog already associates with anxiety. These cues help the dog relate to a previous safe period of isolation.

Antianxiety medications are sometimes used to suppress anxiety. These are often used on dogs with severe separation anxiety or when owners simply must leave the dog alone for an extended period while treatment is occurring. The use of drugs allows the dog to spend extended periods of time free of anxiety. However, in most cases, drugs do not offer a solution and should be used in combination with a treatment program. A vet should be consulted for further information on the safest and most effective anxiety- suppressing drugs.

In severe cases the owner may also have to take steps to weaken the dog's dependency upon a person. This requires the owner to ignore the dog for a period of time, sometimes up to three weeks (Flannigan, Personal comm.). This will not break the bond between owner and dog but it will decrease the dog's extreme dependency and allow it to tolerate its owner¹s absence without anxiety (Machum 1991). Ignoring your favourite pet may be difficult but it is important to keep in mind that a much more healthy and happy relationship will result.

Prevention

When a puppy or new dog is brought into the home, it is important to avoid situations that may encourage an excessive attachment to develop. Your dog should slowly become accustomed to staying alone (Voith and Borchelt 1985). This can be accomplished by crate-training when the pup is young. As well, ensuring that the dog does not constantly follow the owner and gradually adjusts to being alone in the house will go a long way toward a healthy owner-pet relationship.

Summary

If you think your pet may be the victim of separation anxiety it is important to take measures to alleviate the problem soon. Unfortunately it is not something that will simply disappear with time. Your vet may be able to help get a treatment program started or could refer you to an animal behaviourist who may be more familiar with treatment alternatives. It is important to remember that your pet is not bad or trying to make life miserable-although it sometimes may feel that way! Your pet is the victim of a disorder that can be treated. Prognosis for recovery is excellent if you are willing to spend time working with your pet (Voith and Borchelt 1985). If early attempts on your own fail to decrease your pet¹s anxiety, contact a professional who may be able to point out a critical detail that others less experienced with behavioural disorders may overlook.


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