The Importance of Tracking Data in Separation Anxiety Training
I was honored when my friend and colleague, Ally Verba, asked me to chat about data tracking on her podcast. An opportunity to nerd out about data with one of the best separation anxiety trainers around? Sign me up.
Before we get into the nitty gritty of why we care so much about data tracking, it’s important that we know exactly what the word “data” means.
What is Data?
Merriam-Webster defines data as:
“facts or information used to calculate, analyze, or plan something”
So why would we want to track data when we’re working through a separation anxiety protocol?
In separation anxiety training, our goal is to collect data so we can assess two things:
The trend and trajectory of your dog’s progress.
The variables in your dog’s life and environment that could be affecting their ability to maintain upward progress.
Without Data, We Are Flying Blind
Imagine this: you’ve worked your way up to a five minute absence duration. It took weeks (or even months)! Now imagine that you are in the middle of a training session and your dog completely falls apart at the 30 second mark. What the heck!?
Okay, it’s normal to have ups and downs, right? So you’re just going to give your dog some easy wins at a level where they are totally comfortable for awhile. Fast forward and now your dog is breezing through 20 minute durations with no problem. Good job, you!
You gear up for your final step in your current plan and BAM! Your dog totally freaks at 5 seconds. Why is this happening?
Data to the Rescue
Yes, ups and downs are normal. Regressions are normal. Taking ten steps forward and five steps back is (say it with me) TOTALLY NORMAL. But what if there’s more nuance to the behavior of a living organism? There is.
If you’re tracking data for every single training session (and you should be - if you aren’t, start now) then you might be able to pinpoint a particular variable that’s influencing your dog’s ability to be consistently comfortable. This gives you an invaluable opportunity to tweak the training plan in order to set them up for success.
A Common Example
I’ve worked with countless dogs who breeze through their training plans in the morning but are unable to match that level of success in the evenings. Imagine if you weren’t keeping track of the time of day you carry out training sessions. You might feel frustrated and defeated. Maybe you just keep trying for those harder sessions in the evenings. You push and push until your dog starts to struggle with those morning sessions they used to handle so well.
Now imagine that you’ve been tracking the time of day factor since the very beginning. It’s likely going to be obvious to you that your dog’s ability to be successful is based on this one key variable. Now you have the power to make adjustments!
Pie graph showing time block of training sessions
Tweaking Your Plan
Using the example above, how might we tweak our training plan in order to set our dog up for success? Well, like all things separation anxiety related, there’s no simple right or wrong answer. Here are a couple of options:
Stick to morning time sessions for awhile. Lay a solid foundation here for a couple of weeks (or longer - remember that every dog is an individual). Then gradually start moving the time of your training sessions closer toward evenings. If you’ve been training between 8am and 10am, start inching toward 10am to 12pm. Hang out here for awhile to ensure your dog is successful, then adjust again.
Set a different criteria (or goal) for morning vs evening training plans. If your dog is knocking 10 minutes out of the park in the morning, that can be your target for mornings. Start doing one or two sessions a week in the evening, but adjust your goal. If your dog was struggling at 5 minutes in the evening, then you need to lower your expectations (and your criteria) for evening sessions.
What Should You Track?
There are limitless things you could track, but let’s keep it simple. Following are some basic variables that I track for every dog I start out with:
Time of day
Who is doing the training
Exercise & mental enrichment
Appetite
Medications
Any stressors that may have occurred that day (vet visits, thunderstorms, etc.)
While we start out tracking the above variables for every dog embarking on an alone time protocol, that can and should evolve over time to suit the individual. It’s possible that physical exercise makes no difference to the progress trend either way. So, why keep tracking it? (Unless you’re a data junkie like me; then track on, tracker!) On the other hand, we might not be tracking the wind speed, but later on we find out that this is a critical component that impacts alone time training. Yup, I have had a case where we had to track wind speed.
Variables You Can’t Pinpoint
Despite your best efforts, there may be variables at play that you cannot pinpoint. If your dog is struggling with alone time training and you aren’t sure why, it’s time to reach out for help. Consult with your veterinarian or vet behaviorist to ensure there aren’t medical issues at play.
Getting in touch with a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer will also be invaluable. All CSATs are trained thoroughly on analyzing data and you and your dog will benefit greatly from their expertise.
Tracking Progress
Let’s not just track the things that could be impeding progress. Focus on the good stuff! Keeping a record of your dog’s wins will keep you in the game for the long haul. (And we know this is probably going to be a long haul.) Simply keeping a written tally of the number of times your dog was totally comfortable in a training session is invaluable for morale and motivation. There are going to be ups and downs. Learning is not linear. But the overall trend should be upward.
Example of a progress graph with an upward trend line
Final Thoughts
If looking at the charts in this blog gave you a headache, fear not! When you’re working intensively with a trainer, they should be doing this heavy lifting (er, heavy graphing). If you’re working on your own, set up your data so it takes you a few seconds to analyze. You can use a notebook, a notepad app on your phone, or a spreadsheet. Use a napkin if that’s what it takes. Don’t get lost in analysis paralysis. As Dr. Eduardo Fernandez says…
“Any data is better than no data and no data is perfect.”