4 Steps To Achieving Alone Time Goals With Your Dog
Having a dog with separation anxiety can be daunting. Especially if you’ve tried all of the tips and tricks on the internet without avail, but you’re here now so you’ve probably heard about gradual desensitization and may be about ready to give it a go, congratulations! This is truly the gold standard in training protocols for helping alone time. Let’s make sure you’re truly ready and set up for success before you start.
Set realistic expectations
The journey to comfortable alone time is rarely referred to as a walk in the park. Setting realistic expectations from the start is a great first step to helping your dog achieve alone time goals. What might this look like for you?
Are you prepared to commit to training consistently for several months or longer? Starting and stopping might be necessary here and there, but this can be a gradual journey!
Are other members of your family committed to helping? Everyone should know what they are in for.
Have you talked to your vet or researched vet behaviorists should you want to discuss behavior medication at any point? (See a great blog post with some general information here)
If you’re already working with a professional, have they set realistic expectations? There are no quick fixes or guarantees - treating separation anxiety is often gradual. Can feel like a snails pace at times. If your trainer has offered things that seem to good to be true - Reach out to me for a complimentary discovery call
Set up a Management Plan
One of the best ways to reduce stress in your dog and start seeing progress, is to not leave them alone… well except during targeted, predictable training times. Suspending absences from your dog is a huge key to success.
Here are some suggestions to help manage alone time:
Daycare/boarding (who understand and can comply with NO absences)·
Neighbors/Friends/Family (who your dog feels safe with)·
Dog Walkers/Pet Sitters (who understand what NO Absences means) ·
Bringing dog to work or on errands (some dogs are ok in cars when left alone)
Facebook community postings for dog shares (I'll watch your dog you watch mine)
College Students using wifi and/or space to do homework while watching your dog
Check out this blog from a fellow CSAT and colleague, Believe in Your Dog, for more wonderful info on managing absences
Make a training schedule (you can stick to)
When working with clients in my intensive training program, I ask for a 5 day a week commitment for a minimum of 4 weeks. Training takes about 20-30 minutes a day to start. It’s a big commitment, but so is helping a dog overcome separation anxiety. A big perk to working with me is that I am there to not only write out your daily training plans, I’m also an accountability partner, and a lot of people need that as this can be a tough journey.
How will you keep track of your dogs progress?
If they struggled when you picked up keys but not your bag?
Are you tracking time of day / days of the week?
Tracking daily training, success and struggles will only the process and it will help keep you accountable!
Ultimately, whether you train once a week or 5 days, consistency is important in helping our dogs brains understand this process, and helping to change their underlying emotional state. So before you start, make a schedule that is realistic vs grandiose. It may need tweaking along the way… and thats ok!
Celebrate small milestones in success
When working with gradual desensitization, we are slowly exposing our dogs to being alone, something they are likely currently pretty afraid of - this can mean starting with seconds at a time - which can feel discouraging. Setting a strong foundation to start is so important, but I know the urge to rush and push and just say “a few more minutes” - every time we push we could cause our foundation to crumble.
Think about where you are starting:
Does your dog currently go into distress when you take the garbage out?
Whine and bark while you take a shower?
Panic immediately when you even try to close the door behind you?
What if these seemingly small tasks were stress free for your dog? They can be!!!!!
Celebrating small milestones helps to break training down into more achievable steps. Rather than always focusing on the ultimate goal of several hours, find ways to celebrate small milestones
For every 1 minute of comfortable you buy yourself your favorite fancy coffee drink
For every 5 minutes of comfortable alone time you get a pet sitter for 2 hours so you can go to dinner with friends
For every 10 minutes of comfortable alone time you…. get creative!
These are wonderful goals that show a strong foundation and dogs who are on their way to the ultimate goal. Soon you’ll be grabbing a quick coffee, going to the market, going through the drive through and eventually… in time….grabbing dinner with friends or making it through a day of work while your pup snoozes on the couch. There’s so much to celebrate when you take the time to appreciate all of the hard work you and your dog are putting in.
If you think you’re ready but don’t know where to start, I’d love to help you learn all the in’s and outs of an alone time training plan. Setting a schedule that works for you AND your dog. Finding what times of day are best, how exercise and enrichment fit in, who in the home your pup may feel more or less worried about leaving (there is always someone). I’m a personal trainer, cheerleader, trainer all rolled into one!
Reach out today and let’s get started! Whether its an assessment, intensive plan or somewhere in between - I can help you achieve your goals!
Talk soon!
Melissa Dallier, CSAT
Melissa is a certified separation anxiety trainer living in Roswell, GA with her husband and 2 dogs. She works with clients all over the country and world to help dogs overcome separation anxiety and helps young puppies grow more confident in their world.