Did you know that you might be actually feeding your dog's separation anxiety?

You might be doing some things right now that are secretly building on a giant problem for when you need to leave your dog alone in the house..

Firstly, what is "separation anxiety"?
This is a term used to describe symptoms of anxiety in a dog when he is left alone. 
Most dogs with separation anxiety whine, pace, pant, and bark, without being destructive..
Dogs with a more severe case of separation anxiety can chew on themselves, destroy your house, eliminate indoors, and even break their teeth trying to get out to people..

Here are 6 things you might be doing right now that are creating, or contributing to, your dog's current or future separation anxiety:

1. You take your dog everywhere with you (especially from puppyhood). We have dogs to be our companions and to help us navigate through our life, but by not teaching them that they won't be included in every single thing in our lives, we are setting our dogs up for failure for when we inevitably will need to leave them alone for a while. 

2. You allow your dog to follow you around the house wherever you go. This may sound completely harmless (and it often is!), but with a naturally anxious dog, this is the last thing you want to cultivate.. A much healthier thing to do would be to teach your dog to wait for your invitation to go with you from room to room and to not forget to work on them relaxing when you leave them alone in the room. Velcro-dogs are not happy dogs!

3. You greet your dog with a lot of excitement when you come home. It's completely normal to be excited and happy when you are greeted by your dog after a long day at work, but it's not always a harmless habit. By acting neutral and almost indifferent until your dog is calm, you will help him understand that you being away isn't a big deal, and that he shouldn't anxiously await your return all day. 

4. You instantly fulfill your dog's needs or wants. Do you immediately get up and grab a toy if your dog asks you to play? Do you immediately feed your dog when he demands to be fed? By not teaching your dog to have patience and wait for your initiation of good things, you're not helping him practice patience and to have the understanding that you have everything under control. 

5. You haven't incorporated the crate as one of the greatest training tools to help anxious dogs. It's too bad that so many dog owners use the crate as "the punishment place" for bad behavior. With a proper training approach, you can teach your dog that his crate is a place of relaxation, where he can take a peaceful nap until you invite him out again. The crate can be a very versatile tool and you're really missing out on lots of great training help if you choose not to use one! 

6. Lastly, you don't have rules and boundaries set in place for your dog inside the home. If your dog is making all the rules, calling all the shots, chooses whether or not he comes to you when called, steals your food, is the one "greeting" your guests, bolts through an open door without waiting for your permission... don't be surprised if your dog is struggling with anxiety! One of the most helpful ways to build up a dog's confidence is by showing him, fairly, that you are the one in charge. This doesn't mean you "need to be an alpha" or "show your dog who's boss", etc, but you do need to show him that you set the rules and that there are consequences for breaking them. 

If you are looking for professional guidance in helping your dog overcome separation anxiety, call Master Dog Training Tulsa for us to start on this right away! 
​And no dog is too old to change  (:

This is a saying we often hear in the horse world (about horses), but it's exactly the same for dogs!

How often do you trim your dog's nails, clean his ears, walk him past loud machinery, bring him through crowds, leave him alone?

If the answer is "once a year" or "only when I need to", chances are your dog struggles to accept grooming/veterinary procedures, can't stay calm around loud noises, won't focus on you when there are other dogs or kids running around, and can't relax when you're gone..

If you're finding that your dog does not like certain procedures, freaks out over fireworks, or can't relax in a Sit or Down at your kid's soccer game, start taking him through these situations regularly - and with a TRAINING PLAN set in mind!

If you don't know where to start, we'd love to help you; we specialize in teaching our clients how to train their dogs to be wonderful members of the family!
​
Master Dog Training Tulsa - 206.802.5881

Here are some very valid and (too often) potentially fatal reasons as to why it's not a great idea to let your dog choose to pull on the leash:

1. If your dog is pulling you next to traffic, especially if you're holding on to the end of his leash, it's very easy for him to get distracted and jump right into traffic. You'd be surprised at how many dogs attempt to do so, and sometimes it's the last thing they'll ever get to do...

2. Your dog can get kicked in the face for getting into someone else's space who doesn't care to have strange dogs approach them. This one experience could make your dog reactive to people on walks and that will require a whole approach to training to eliminate the reactivity. 

3. It's much easier for your dog to pick up trash and dangerous objects that could seriously injure him, like needles, poison (yes, people leave out poisoned food specifically to target dogs!), etc. 

4. Your dog can develop something called "barrier frustration", where he feels like he needs to lash out in aggression, especially when meeting other dogs and people. Your dog can be otherwise great with dogs and people, but this is an interesting and often unfortunate side effect of a taught leash. 

5. This should be common sense - constant pressure on the trachea is harmful to your dog!! Your dog can develop a sensitive trachea, start coughing from the pressure, and have literal scarring over the area underneath the skin.. This is especially dangerous for dogs prone to a "collapsing trachea" and long-necked doggos like sighthounds. 

6. YOU can get injured yourself (sprains, dislocations, falls, etc). We work with so many people who have been seriously hurt by their dogs pulling on the leash and that is not ok. 

7. Your dog may run away as soon as you let go of the leash. Do you trust your dog to stay by your side if you drop the leash? If not, get into training today!

If your dog is pulling you around on your walks, call us over to get that to STOP today and teach a nice, relaxed walk that BOTH you and your dog can enjoy!
ANY dog can be taught to walk nicely on a leash - we stand by that promise!

​Master Dog Training Tulsa - 206.802.5881