I recently overheard a conversation that my owner was having with another dog owner. The person said if they come home and then leave right away their dog gets mad at them and decides to dig in his outside kennel or if he is inside he will tear things apart and chew on them just to get back at them. The person thinks that the dog is ‘getting back at him’ because he is mad that he came home and left right away.
This is an owner of a one year old dog who is used to a routine, when he finally gets a human around he is so happy and gets over-excited and then when they immediately leave him home alone again he has all of that balled up excited energy and no where to use it except destruction. The dog is not getting back at the owner or even mad at the owner he is exhibiting the signs of dog separation anxiety.
Just because a dog may not always have dog separation anxiety they can have it at times like this.
It may not be true separation anxiety but I would consider it a form of separation anxiety because the solution is the same. This person’s dog would have probably been less destructive if he had been let out of the kenel for five minutes to play ball to burn some energy and excitement and then given a stuffed Kong to give him something to mentally stimulate him and distract him from his owner leaving again so soon.
My owners did this just yesterday. They had to go out and run some errands, then they came home for only ten minutes. My sister and me were so excited to see them! They let us out to go to the bathroom and play a few mintues to burn our excitement off and then put us back in our safe room with a frozen Kong and left us home alone again. Guess what, we were fine!
Please don’t assume that your dog is feeling anger, spite or vengeance. These are human emotions and not animal emotions. It is more likely frustration and anxiety which is easy to help your dog cope with.
Woof!
Manchego the Anxious Dog
Leave a Reply