“Why has my dog started barking when I leave the house?”

Changes in your daily routine, such as returning to the office after a holiday period, can unfortunately trigger anxiety in pets that previously seemed OK being left alone.

Here’s how to recognise separation anxiety in dogs, and how we can help.

What is separation anxiety?

Separation anxiety is when a pet suffers significant distress upon being separated from their chosen family member/s.

Pets with separation anxiety can become skilled at detecting when a human family member is about to leave (by watching for consistent cues such as owners getting dressed in work clothes, picking up their keys, etc.) and will often start to show signs of worry at this point. This can then escalate into “panic attack” type symptoms when the pet is left alone.

What symptoms do pets with separation anxiety show?

Pets with separation anxiety can show signs such as:

• House soiling
• Whining or barking
• Pacing
• Escape attempts, which can damage furniture, walls, doors or crates, or cause injury to the pet
• Increased clinginess to their owner

What should I do if I think my pet has developed separation anxiety?

If your pet’s behaviour has changed, it can help to set up a phone or camera to record a few minutes of your pet’s behaviour just prior to and during your absence period. As well as assessing your pet’s behaviour this way, our vets will also perform a full examination to help rule out any other health issues that could cause similar symptoms (such as bladder problems causing house-soiling).

Depending on the severity of your pet’s issue, we may discuss treatment options including:

• The use of short-term anti-anxiety medications to reduce panic
• The use of long-term calming medications to support your pet’s mental health
• Options for behavioural modification (retraining your pet’s brain to be able to calmly cope with being left alone)
• Reducing alone periods for your pet in the initial stages of treatment

To reduce the anxiety caused by separation, please seek help as soon as possible from our calm and competent veterinary team.