Ways To Help You Pet Deal With Separation Anxiety
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Does your pet make a mess of the house anytime you leave? Separation anxiety is often a big problem with animals but there are things you can do to help them cope with it.
Our pets like to have us around so owners should shorten their routines when they can and spend some time with the animals because that's what they need.
We cannot be there all the time and some people come home and find the trash can is overturned, pillows are all over the place, the dog has had a house-breaking accident, and they figure when they come home the dog looks very upset.
Carol Erickson, an animal advocate for the PSPCA, says the animals are actually suffering when you leave them alone -- they are incredible anxious. The goal with separation anxiety is to at least get them to tolerate being alone.
Desensitize your departure. Don't walk out the door, then back in because often this destructive behavior happens pretty quickly and you gradually go to longer and longer periods of time.
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Vets at the Tufts University came up with some ideas, one of them is to let your dog sleep with you. If the dog is behind the barrier or even in the house with you, they get anxious.
You don't have to let them sleep in bed with you, even just putting their bed on the floor next to yours should help.
Feed your animals before you leave the house so they think they will get to eat when their owner leaves.
Leave a treat stuffed with some food for them to play with.
Give them a sofa near a window.
If your dog follows you from room to room and can't be away from you, that's also a form of separation anxiety and you may have to seek medications from your veterinary.