Anxiety Caused by Separation Yes, dogs can suffer from depression, and yes, it can be debilitating for them. Typically, your dog will go through a grieving period that can last anywhere from a couple of days to several weeks, depending on how long you are away.
Depressed dogs may show symptoms such as a lack of interest in activities, loss of appetite, increased irritability, and unusually clingy or needy behavior. You can help improve your dog's mood by giving them plenty of exercise, playtime, and mental stimulation.
Dogs can actually start missing their owners from the moment they part ways, and keep missing them more up until two hours. Beyond two hours, the melancholy stays about the same until they're reunited with us.
Your furry friend might be thinking about their past and future, as studies suggest that they have their daily schedules on their mind all the time, so they might be looking forward to future events and reminiscing about a place or experience.
Separation anxiety is triggered when dogs become upset because of separation from their guardians, the people they're attached to. Escape attempts by dogs with separation anxiety are often extreme and can result in self-injury and household destruction, especially around exit points like windows and doors.
“In my experience, the four most common breeds of dogs that exhibit signs of separation anxiety are typically Labrador Retrievers, Chihuahuas (both mixed breeds and standards), German Shepherds and Cocker Spaniels”, says Dr.
Any major change in a dog's life can be such a triggering event. A traumatic experience to the dog could be a divorce, a terrible scary storm, a large change in schedules or loss of a loved one. There are many things that can happen that the dog perceives as scary that can lead to separation anxiety.
Treating depression in dogs is very similar to treating depression in humans. A good starting place is to keep your dog busy and treat them to the things they love. Extra car rides or trips to the dog park are good ways to boost morale. Exercise can also result in a healthy body as well as a healthy mind.
Recent research has shown that dogs with mild separation anxiety fare better when alone with one minute of slow, gentle petting and soothing talk from their owner just before leaving than being ignored. Dogs with moderate to severe cases should be ignored or just get a “See you tonight” as you walk out.
Giving your dog a puzzle/food toy to work on.
One way to help manage your dog's separation anxiety is by encouraging independent behaviors. Give your dog something fun to do on their own such as a long lasting chew toy, puzzle toy or stuffed Kong.
Likewise, a dog suffering from separation anxiety would react every time she was left alone. Over a lifetime, these animals would suffer chronic repeated and uncontrolled stressful episodes. These factors could lead to decreased longevity in an individual under chronic stress.
Most researchers have found that dogs with anxiety-related problems are more likely to be male,6,14,17,25,30–33 but some research has not supported any sex difference in the incidence of separation-related problem behaviors.
If you are going out of town on vacation it is understandably a little nerve wracking worrying that your dog will think he's been abandoned. And for a pet who has separation anxiety this can be extra concerning. Dogs are social animals and having their person leave them will certainly have an effect on them initially.
Long, gentle strokes down the back seems to work wonders for my dog. Find this pup's weak spot: behind the ears, down the back, his underside, and see if that relaxes him.
Time passes
Owners often wonder if dogs have a sense of time passing and if our dogs miss us when we are gone. Well, the answer to that is a definite yes. When dogs in one study were left home alone for varying periods of time, they responded with differing levels of enthusiasm on their owner's return.
Another study looked at how dogs behaved with people of varying levels of familiarity - their owner, a stranger and a familiar human - and found that dogs clearly miss their owners more than anyone else, and will wait behind the door they left through in anticipation of their return.
Animal memory is thought to be much more simplistic than human memory, and dogs have episodic memories, which means they are only able to remember certain events in their life. While your dog will remember you leaving the house, they most likely won't understand how long you were away.
This undoubtedly helped strengthen the early bond between humans and canines –– some veterinarians think that it can help with socialization to this day. Sleeping together lets the dog know they are a part of your pack and many people claim dogs are more easily trained when they sleep near their owners.