What’s in a Label? Defining Separation Anxiety in Dogs
We humans like to categorize. We are hard-wired to seek out patterns in our environment and group them into tidy little classifications that help us resolve the incredible nuance and complexity of the world in which we live.
We label other people: “He’s just difficult.”
We label ourselves: “I’m not smart enough.”
We label our dogs: “She’s being dominant.”
These types of character labels satisfy our brains’ adaptive desire for simplification and certainty, but they can be dangerous. They shape our perception of ourselves and those around us in an incredibly limiting way. In the case of dogs, character labels constrain our ability to get to the bottom of what is truly driving their behavior. Which makes it that much harder to modify it.
There is, however, one type of labeling that is incredibly useful when working with dogs: diagnostic labeling. And when we’re talking about alone-time struggles in particular, these categorizations of a dog’s history, signs and symptoms are of great importance.
Labels in Separation Anxiety
It may come as a surprise to you that there are in fact different types of separation-related behaviors. Most people use “separation anxiety” as an umbrella term to describe a variety of undesirable behaviors that dogs exhibit when home alone. But it is actually much more discrete than that.
Separation anxiety is a clinical diagnosis that can only be made by a veterinarian (as is true of any diagnoses in dogs.) Dogs with clinical separation anxiety are attached to one key figure. They experience distress when that key figure is absent, whether another human is present with them or not. By contrast, dogs with isolation distress are not attached to any particular person; they can be left with a variety of humans without experiencing worry or upset. Usually, any warm body will do. Isolation distress is more common than clinical Separation Anxiety.
The catch-all term that is my preferred label is “separation related problem behaviors.” When I use this term, I am referring to a dog who experiences distress when someone leaves them alone, whether that is one key figure, or any human.
So why worry about the distinction between separation anxiety and isolation distress at all? Isn’t it just another layer of labels that limits our ability to create lasting behavior change?
Remember, diagnostic labeling is much more valuable than character labeling. The main reason is that it facilitates efficiency in our treatment plan. Management can be much more challenging for dogs with clinical separation anxiety, so owners will need to plan for this thoughtfully with a qualified behavior professional. The intensity of a dog’s panic can also be greater with clinical separation anxiety, which makes keeping the dog under threshold considerably challenging. Knowing this from the beginning and setting owner expectations accordingly is paramount.
What it Looks Like
Typical manifestations of separation related problem behaviors in dogs include vocalization, pacing, panting, drooling, trembling, pawing or scratching at exit points, elimination (in an otherwise house trained dog), destruction of the environment, attempts to escape, anorexia when left alone, and even self-mutilation. While it’s important to dig deeper and look at the entire picture when it comes to each individual dog, all of these are possible signs of distress in dogs.
Why it Happens
We don’t truly know what causes separation anxiety in dogs, but there are a few common correlations:
major life change or traumatic event (death of a family member, death of a pet, major change in schedule, etc.)
lack of experience with alone time
genetic predisposition
medical complications or untreated pain
multiple rehomings
And let’s not forget that dogs are naturally social animals. It is totally normal for them to not love being alone. According to Certified Professional Dog Trainer and Behavior Consultant, Pat Miller in her article Canine Separation Anxiety for The Whole Dog Journal:
It’s natural for young mammals to experience anxiety when separated from their mothers and siblings; it’s an adaptive survival mechanism. A pup who gets separated from his family cries in distress, enabling Mom to easily find him and rescue him.
The Takeaway
If your dog is experiencing distress when left alone or when one key figure is absent, it is a significant welfare issue for the human and for the dog. Your dog is truly in a state of panic and you feel like a prisoner in your home. We need to get into the nitty gritty of a systematic treatment plan because separation related problem behaviors do not resolve on their own.
Your dog will likely get worse if you continue to wing it.
The good news is that we don’t need to know what caused a dog’s separation anxiety in order to help them. We simply start with the dog in front of us. We will probably never teach them to love being left alone but we can teach them to be ‘bored’ or neutral. If you’re curious about what treatment looks like, read through my FAQs page for more info.
Not sure if your dog is experiencing distress or simply partying when left alone? Reach out to me so we can get figure out what’s really going on.
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REFERENCES:
Bradshaw, 2002 “…it is suspected that up to 50-56% of the whole dog population may display clinical symptoms of SRP (separation related problems) at some point in their life” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11233351_Aetiology_of_separation-related_behaviour_in_domestic_dogs
“Companion dogs with separation anxiety typically eliminate, vocalize, or engage in destructive behavior when left alone." Diagnostic Criteria for Separation Anxiety in the Dog https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195561691500309?via%3Dihub
“Separation anxiety is one of the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorders in domestic dogs and a principal reason for relinquishment of dogs to animal shelters.” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787820300381
“Failure to treat can result in disruption of the human-animal bond and subsequent abandonment, relinquishment, or even euthanasia of the affected dog.” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195561608001125
“Separation anxiety syndrome in dogs represents a group of emotional, behavioral, and physiological responses that vary in intensity and clinical appearance.” “…separation reactions in dogs are often characterized by extreme emotional and behavioral reactions, and the degree of anxiety displayed by some dogs is consistent with the diagnostic criteria for panic attacks and other more serious psychiatric disorders in people, some of which are accompanied by intense physiologic and cognitive symptoms of fear and discomfort.” https://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/pdf/10.2460/javma.2003.222.1526
"Diagnosis of separation-related problems is traditionally dependant on owner reports. Although owner observation may be informative, direct observation and standardized behavioral measurement of dogs with separation-related problems, before and after treatment, would be the best way to diagnose and to measure behavioral improvement. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159110000377
Dr. Karen Overall defines separation anxiety as, “A condition in which animals exhibit symptoms of anxiety or excessive distress when they are left alone.” -from her book, Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals