Solving Separation Anxiety With Compassion
A Canine Affinity: Separation Anxiety Guidance, Resources and Resolution for Dogs And Pet-Parents Everywhere
Feeling Overwhelmed? Exhausted? Hopeless?
Having a dog that panics whenever you reach for your keys or step towards the door isn’t easy. It’s even more difficult when you come home to accidents, destruction, or a dog that has hurt themselves. It’s not surprising if you find yourself declining invitations to go out or feeling guilty when you don’t decline them.
We know how isolating having a dog with separation anxiety can be and you’re not alone, separation anxiety is more common than you think. But we can help you and your dog gain confidence, them in being home alone and you in leaving them safe and sound.
Schedule a free discovery call to learn how you can teach your dog the skills to feel SAFE when alone.
How We Can Help
Separation Anxiety Training
We know you love your dog, that doesn’t mean you always love their behavior. Guess what, neither do they!
If you find yourself living with and loving a dog that is exhibiting separation anxiety symptoms, you could be experiencing a multitude of different behaviors. None of them are desirable, but most of them are resolvable.
From Day One
New puppy in the house? Teaching puppies how to be comfortable and calm when alone is one of the best gifts we can give them! Let me help you prepare your puppy for the future.
My Teaching Philosophy
No matter if you have a rambunctious puppy or a settled senior, regardless of size, breed or behavior challenge, all dogs learn using the same basic behavioral principles.
It's my goal to empower you to teach your dog the skills they'll need to meet your training goals and feel good doing it. We’ll do so through a positive reinforcement based approach with strong emphasis on communication between human and canine learner. These techniques, based in behavior science, are proven to be the most effective, efficient and empowering way to train any animal. I believe in not only helping you change your dogs behavior, but in helping you and your dog form a strong relationship that will last a lifetime.
Confident Dogs and Confident Guardians
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Otter
“Before hiring Melissa we never left the house without her as she would bark non-stop, pant, and panicwhen we did…Everyday we were given new instructions that took time but were easy to complete, and we saw amazing progress as the weeks passed!
Angela R
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Rafi
“...When we first came to Melissa, Rafi couldn’t be left alone for even a few seconds, and today he is able to comfortably be alone for several hours…”
Daniela M.
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Oscar
“...once we started staying home 24/7 (our dog) started barking and howling if we left for even a minute. Melissa walked us step by step, how to help our dog get comfortable being alone again and empowered us with the knowledge to continue with the training plan on our own.”
Kelly K.
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Zoe
“We worked with Melissa for a year, with her support and guidance, were able to get Zoe from panicking immediately to 4.5 hours of comfy alone time. Prior to starting we tried training on our own with very little success. While we understood the basic concepts, we could not have known how to progress at a pace that was comfortable for Zoe to have lasting behavior change, and most importantly, we would have given up 1000 times without having Melissa to reassure us when we were discouraged and felt like we were out of options. Melissa was easy to communicate with, responsive, and empathetic to the stresses--logistical, emotional, and financial--of caring for a dog with separation anxiety. Highly recommend Melissa to anyone looking for support for a dog with SA. We will miss working with her!”
Amy M
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Leo
“Where do I start? Cannot say enough amazing things about Melissa. We were really struggling with our dogs separation anxiety. I felt lost and didn't even know where to start. She listened and gave us direction. We have been working with her since, and cannot believe that our dog, Leo, when we started this, couldn't even handle seconds alone. Now we are at several hours! It's amazing just to be able to run errands with my husband again and know that Leo is comfortable! We are not quite done with our journey yet, but without Melissa I quite honestly don't know where we'd be. I recommend her to anyone, She has truly become a friend!”
Jess S
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Rebel
“We underwent an initial assessment with Melissa that provided so much guidance and tools for getting started with my dog's separation anxiety. While we've got a long way to go in my dog's journey, I've been able to see progress already from implementing the framework from Melissa and incorporating her guidance.”
Caroline Y