Welcome to the Separation Anxiety Dog Training Program! We commend you for seeking help with this behavior. Separation anxiety is treatable!
More about the training process:
We will schedule an initial assessment that will take place through Zoom (https://zoom.us/) to view your dog alone, in live time. I will record behavior/body language notes, and let you know when to come back inside.
You can prepare by having your phone and computer/tablet charged so they are ready for this session.
Also make sure to give your dog(s) potty breaks before the session, and do not give any food-chew toys as preparation or as part of the assessments or missions, so they are not distractions.
Turn notifications off on whatever device (computer/tablet) you will use as a camera to observe your dog inside your home.
We will start with you inside your home with your dog, and discuss how to set up, then you’ll leave for the training absence.
I will text you when to return. It may be very quickly (after seconds), or minutes. We may pre-agree on a time to return, just as a back up to phones/texting failing.
*You can follow these same preparatory tasks for each re-assessment, too.
If you already have video of your dog alone, please let us know. This may make this assessment unnecessary. But if you don’t already have video, please do not leave your dog alone to record. It’s better for us to work together (in other words, I know exactly what I’m looking for, and how long to watch to prevent excessive distress or sensitization - making your dog’s behavior worse).
Once the initial assessment is complete, I will create your first mission (training plan) for you to follow. These should take ~20-30 minutes, once a day, 4 days a week. You’ll take 2 days off per week (this is a good resting period for your dog to decompress and consolidate learning, and for you to take a break as well); and the final day of the week, we will meet again in Zoom to reassess your dog, and go over any questions. This will be a specific scheduled time for us.
You’ll complete a mission, write your observations/notes in the provided Google Sheets, and then I will use this information to create the mission for the next day.
Make sure to only complete one mission per day unless instructed otherwise.
Your dog’s Google Sheet link will be emailed to you. We will go over how to use it at the initial assessment.
It will help to have a stopwatch. Some steps you may not leave the house, and other steps you will leave for very specific amounts of time. It helps to use your phone connected to a camera to observe your dog’s behavior and body language during the absences, so you may want a separate stopwatch from your phone to follow the steps letting you know after how much time to return inside.
More notes for completing missions:
After completing a step in the training plan, you will then wait approximately 30 seconds - 3 minutes before starting the next step in the plan. So a stopwatch (without sound) can help with this as well. The reason for these breaks are to make sure each step is a certain level of difficulty and to allow your dog to relax and learn it’s a normal, boring process.
For these breaks we don’t always want to wait until your dog relaxes to start the next step - otherwise your dog will think he or she cannot sleep because it leads to you immediately starting to go to the door again. Your dog can be doing whatever is normal - getting a drink, lying on a bed, walking around the home, playing with a toy, etc. So how long you wait and what you do in between steps should vary and be some different things; just be careful not to time it to start the next step right after your dog settles down to rest/sleep again every single time.
After completing a step, you can greet your dog upon returning in a calm manner, and it helps to record your behavior and body language notes in the Google Sheets - then as mentioned, you can do a variety of normal life things - wash a few dishes, sit down and read a page or two in a book, etc. - switching it up so it’s not a predictable pattern. You can also read the next step in the plan so you are aware of what to do, then after the ~30 seconds - 3 minutes (random amount within this range), start the next step.
It’s very important to follow each step in the mission/training plan exactly as it is written. So this means if you’re told to remain outside your door for 10 seconds, don’t stay out for 30 seconds or even 11 seconds. Not following the steps will throw off the whole process and also give us inaccurate data. The exception to this is if your dog is panicking at any point, definitely go back inside to your dog. We don’t want your dog to be displaying anxious or fearful behavior at any point. The goal is always to keep dogs below their panic point, so they remain comfortable and build confidence that they really are safe when alone.
For example, if your step in the plan says leave your house for 5 minutes, but you see on your camera your dog starting to get uncomfortable at 4 minutes and 10 seconds, then you can go back inside, greet your dog calmly and then write your body language and behavior notes in the Google Sheets, so that I am also aware of this information - and then we can adjust future plans as needed.