Separation Anxiety vs Independence

Is it Separation Anxiety or…?

Isolation distress? Confinement phobia? Barrier frustration? FOMO (fear of missing out)?

Sound sensitivity? Fear-based or territorial reactivity? Pain or physical discomfort?

Boredom? Hunger? Need to potty?

So often “Separation Anxiety” is a catchphrase that’s used for a variety of conditions that each have a different cause. If we treat just what you think is the immediate problem, we may not be addressing the actual issue and the solution might not generalize to other situations. For example, desensitization training can help your dog be relaxed when you leave them at your house in a specific room during a quiet day. But they may still panic if they are left in other contexts, like when you’re traveling or if you move to a new house or even in that room but during a thunderstorm.

I like to frame treatment in terms of building independence and self-confidence skills, rather than treating anxiety around separation and isolation. It’s a more complex process, but that doesn’t mean it has to be hard or time-consuming.

Physical comfort always plays a role.

Work with your vet to address any sources of pain like arthritis, GI distress, or allergies.

Imagine that you twisted your ankle but you are confined to your sofa. It might be a great sofa to watch tv for an hour or 2, but not big enough to stretch out and keep your ankle elevated for 4 hours. Or you’re sitting in your large, comfy office but you have a migraine and some creepy guy keeps walking past your door while clicking his pen. There’s been research showing a correlation (not causation) between separation-related distress and sound sensitivity, as well as sound sensitivity and orthopedic pain.

What we want is an animal who knows how to find activities to keep themselves entertained regardless of whether we’re there or not. We want to know that our pet can self-soothe when faced with stress. We want them to feel secure and loved in any context. Isn’t that what we want for ourselves?

Further reading

Separation and confinement anxiety in a golden retriever × standard poodle dog by Anneliese Heinrich & Christine Calder

Canine Anxiety Disorders: Separation Anxiety And Reactions To Noise by Karen Overall

Pain and Problem Behavior in Cats and Dogs by Daniel Mills et al.

Sound Masking to Help Dogs with a Noise Phobia or Sound Sensitivity by Eileen Anderson

LIFE for animals

Least Inhibitive, Functionally Effective, by Dr Eddie Fernandez

I always had a problem with LIMA (Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive). Why do we have to frame our interactions with non-human animals to include intrusive and aversive methods to begin with?

I don’t see training with rose-colored glasses: I don’t believe we can limit our interactions to be solely positive reinforcement. But life is already so filled with intrusions and aversives; why chose to reach for these methods if you don’t have to?

We all do the best that we can. And we can always challenge ourselves to do better.

Why Olive Behavior?

Olive was my everything.

Her severe fear was the reason why I dove into behavior therapy and we built resilience to trauma together. She widened my heart and taught me to be compassionate to myself and to others.

She taught me that life lessons are never finished but ongoing, that they sometimes need to be learned and relearned. Change is never linear.

These posts may not stay the same. I may come back to them, revise, refresh, reconsider. Because my thoughts evolve as I live. And that is what Olive taught me.

LIVE. Live behavior.

Olive Behavior