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Looking for advice/ideas for helping a puppy with separation anxiety
My spouse and I adopted a 9 week old Husky puppy this past weekend who is suffering greatly from separation anxiety and we are at a bit of a loss on how exactly to deal with it. This is not our first puppy or Husky puppy, but the separation anxiety is new territory for us. We have spent a lot of time reading guides on helping a puppy adjust to being on their own and talking with a close friend who is a vet tech, but I wanted to see if there are any things we may have overlooked.
Things we are already doing:
- Daily walks - we typically take 2x 10-20 minute walks during the day, depending on the weather. We are in the southeastern part of the US and it is unbelievably hot during the day so we go early in the morning and late at night, afternoon is pretty much not an option with temperatures reaching the upper 90's.
- Lots of play time - tug of war and fetch are the most entertaining for her right now. We also have a neighbor that adopted a German Shephard puppy that is about the same age and they have loved playing together.
- Crate training - We have a crate in our room which she sleeps in overnight and one in our work area for during the day when she naps.
Things we are starting to implement:
- Leaving the room for short amounts of time. We are giving her a treat that is only used for this type of training that she really likes in hopes that she associates us leaving as a good thing because she gets a yummy treat.
- Returning to the room before she gets really anxious so she doesn't associate the crying and destructive behavior with us coming back.
- She has two Kong toys that I am going to put yummy food in before we leave the room to keep her mind occupied on that instead of the fact that were not there.
I guess I'm looking to see if there are any other tips or tricks we haven't thought of? Any advice or things that worked for your puppies?
I dealt with pretty bad separation anxiety with my dog when she was a puppy. It was so bad that she would have accidents in the house when we left even for like fifteen minutes. She's much better now, I can go to work for like five hours (I haven't done longer because my work is lenient about in-office time, not because I don't think she could handle it) and she'll just chill on the couch by herself. She still gets upset when my partner and I leave together for things like the grocery store, probably because she thinks she's missing out on super fun things, but the extent of her being upset is just her having a little howly tantrum and then laying by the front door the entire time we're gone.
I think you're already off to a good start. The problem with us was that we got our puppy during COVID times, so we were housebound and didn't have a lot of opportunities to go out. The fact that you're already doing small separation anxiety practices at 9 weeks is good. I think your puppy is going to be okay, she's just a scared puppy and is still getting used to being away from her mother and siblings. It'll take some time for her to get used to her new living situation and her new family.
Some things that I thought were helpful when we were training our dog to get over her separation anxiety:
Don't make leaving a big deal. You can give the dog a gentle pat, and then just leave.
Don't make coming back a big deal, if she's excited, don't pay attention to it. Wait until she is calm to greet her.
If certain things like putting on your shoes or picking up your keys trigger her into getting worried, do these events randomly throughout the day so the dog gets desensitized to these events.
When increasing the time that you leave her alone, vary it so it's not always a linear progression. Sometimes be gone for 10 minutes and then next time be gone for 2 minutes and then maybe the next time for 7 minutes. This makes the time you leave not a predictable and potentially scary event for the dog, having her think that every time it's going to get worse.
Good luck!
Like @eggpl4nt said, there's no quick or easy solution. You've got to start introducing separation regularly, which may mean planning to leave your house 30min early for somewhere you're going, so you can come back after 15min and then leave again. Puppy needs to realize that you'll leave, but you'll come back. The anxiety is basically because in their little puppy brain, they don't know if you'll ever come back or how long you're going, there's no sense of time. So you have to basically prove to them, over and over, that you'll come back. I have found that getting my dog tired before leaving also helps, or giving them distraction like doggy tv or a delicious treat.
As stated below, the quick (But not guaranteed) hack is a second dog that they can be with.
Good luck!
Thank you! I have to go to the office tomorrow while my husband works from home, so I will plan to leave a little earlier than normal to be able to come back before leaving for good. Her attention span is so short and I'm sure when I leave it feels like it's been forever. I don't want her to be distressed and hopefully all the advice I've gotten so far will help.
We are lucky and she doesn't really mind her crate. I put one in my office today with a towel and some of her toys and she just went in to play and nap. She's not as happy about it at the end of the day, but if I sit with her until she calms down, she spends the rest of the night in there just fine. I will definitely try reinforcing that the evening crate isn't bad with new toys and treats.
Thank you so much for the advice!
I luckily had two wonderful roommates when I adopted my first puppy and crate training was something they were insistent on and helped me with. I've had to dig back in my memories to remember all the tips and tricks they gave me so I can use them with the new pup.
Happy to say that I left for work today and she didn't completely freak out. My partner was in the room when I walked out for the final time and she played for a little bit. About 30 minutes later, she walked into the crate and plopped down for a nap.
I really needed the reality check to show me that I'm more of the problem right now and she's doing just fine.
Thank you so much for the reassurance and advice. I really just don't want her to be stressed out.
We will definitely try varying our time away. That's not something we had considered, but it makes a lot of sense since we won't always be gone the same amount of time.
Easiest option? Get another puppy.
Now we've got that one out of the way, the best options are the treat Kong toys if your puppy is a foody or music/TV. Sounds silly, I know. Our St Bernard was crate trained and we had the howling at the beginning, nervous shits spread everywhere in the crate and the clawing trying to get out. He didn't really like food but having music on or a TV casting movement settled him.
Time is the biggest healer for a puppy. They've just been yanked away from their family, they're lonely, vulnerable and scared. Put yourself in that position and what do you think would help you?
Another puppy was my first thought too. I’d also recommend the tv/talk radio option. Just the sound of human voices can be enough to keep some pups from going too crazy.
We actually considered getting two, but the rest of her litter mates were already adopted. That being said, we do have an adult husky in the house but she is also adjusting to the new puppy.
We haven't figured out what "her comcort thing" is yet. She is teething so the Kong works well on two levels, but of course she wasn't interested in it at all today. I know it's a puppy thing, but I hate seeing her distressed. We will definitely try leaving the TV on.
I would hesitate to call it separation anxiety at 9 weeks. It sounds like normal behavior for a pup who has only recently been separated from her littermates! They’re social animals, and it takes time for them to feel comfortable being alone. It sounds like you’re doing all the right things—it just takes time.
You're right - it may be a bit premature to call it separation anxiety, I just don't know what else to call it. It's the first time we have dealt with this with a puppy and it's stressing us out as much as it's stressing her out. I guess I really needed to make we are doing the right things to make her comfortable.
Thank you so much! We will definitely work on how we portray our feelings around her. I find myself getting overwhelmed and eventually stressed. They pick up on everything and I need to be more aware of my emotions when I'm around her. I have bookmarked the guide so I can find it in the future if I need it. I need to keep telling myself she just needs time to adjust - 4 days isn't a long amount of time at all.
If i remember correctly, @autumn has 2 dogs that do agility, which I assume takes a bit of training. They might have some ideas but also im not sure if they're still around here.