Puppies, Seniors, and Other Differences 

Puppies and Senior Dogs:

You can work in 10-15 minute sessions (instead of 20-30 minutes) to start with - if they are doing well, you can try to practice two sessions per day.

The advice to let puppies cry it out is harmful. This can make fear of being alone worse.

Make sure your puppy is empty (doesn’t have to potty) before starting sessions.

For senior dogs - cognitive dysfunction can look like separation anxiety. Any time a dog has a sudden onset of separation anxiety behaviors (or other behaviors), go to your veterinarian for a medical check-up.

Dogs with Additional Issues:

For dogs with sound sensitivities or thunderstorm fears, don’t plan separation anxiety sessions while these scary events are taking place, for example, when there is loud construction outside your home, or an imminent thunderstorm in your area.

If you have two dogs with separation anxiety, the same overall training plan can help, but you will have to proceed at the slowest dog’s pace - meaning you wouldn’t leave either dog for more than one of them as an individual can handle comfortably.

If one could be alone for 30 seconds, but the other dog can only be alone for 7 seconds, then you would use the 7-second dog’s threshold for both dogs to create the training steps (meaning neither would be left longer than 7 seconds until the training progresses).