How Long Will Training Take? 

There is not a definitive answer to this question. Each dog is an individual and will have his or her own previous history and set of circumstances. But it’s appropriate to think in terms of months rather than weeks for training to resolve separation anxiety.

Erica Feuerbacher completed a separation anxiety study in 2020, which found the highest percentage of successful trials also had an owner who increased the departure duration the slowest and had the greatest number of short departures.

In other words, we have to work slowly and gradually as opposed to rushing through the process and always expecting quick results. And this makes sense because your dog is suffering from anxiety/fear, which typically does not simply vanish immediately, and also due to the fact that any trials pushing the dog over-threshold (where he experiences more anxiety and fear) will lead to sensitization (the dog makes the association that their person leaving does predict scary absences, making this impression stronger in his mind).

Equipping ourselves with this knowledge ahead of time allows us to end up modifying your dog’s separation anxiety behavior quicker.