Separation related disorders
A neighbour of mine owned Ellie, a Labrador-Collie cross, they could not cope with her any more. With a young family to think about, they had done little to train or develop her temperament during her first year of life. This is a common enough problem that leads to many dogs being re-homed or taken to animal rescue facilities. The hope was that, as an experienced dog owner with plenty of time on her hands, the new owner (Laura) could solve Ellie's many problems and indeed, over the next six months, Laura made huge progress. Ellie's basic training in coming when called, sitting and staying etc. progressed very quickly - especially for her favourite food reward of raisins! - but the early neglect of her social development had left her nervous of many day-to-day outdoor events, such as traffic, pedestrians and some other dogs. But again, Laura progressed gently and Ellie was learning steadily how to cope with day-to-day life.
The one huge problem that Laura had not managed to cure and which, in fact got worse over those first six months, concerned Ellie's behaviour when she was left at home alone. She was destructive, chewing soft furnishings and pulling up rugs and carpets. The neighbours also reported noise coming from Laura's house including intermittent barking and howling, and they could even hear her stomping up and down the stairs every few minutes.
Coping
alone
The dog's evolution from a socially co-operative mammal, the wolf, that is
designed to hunt in groups to ensure reproductive success ensures that our dogs
bond extremely closely with us and so makes them a particularly satisfying pet
for us to keep. It does, however, sometimes carry a price tag, as some simply do
not learn to cope without what is essentially the parent figure in their life -
their owner. There was certainly a price tag in Ellie's case, as her separation
related chewing had already cost Laura a fair few pounds in destroyed
furnishings!
Cats tend to seek out a solitary existence in terms of hunting; they only come together to mate and only critically depend on another member of their own species when young. However, the obligate group-living social dog needs positive action to be taken by the human owner group to learn how to cope with the unusual experience of being alone. Even tiny pups, who have not yet left the care of their mothers, need to benefit from short periods of isolation to prime them for the future. If this early learning is not started and then followed up with regular sessions of 'alone training' later on, we can all too easily end up with dogs like Ellie whose attempts to cope with being alone are inappropriate or problematic. Thankfully, most dogs learn as puppies through occasional periods of separation from their littermates and mother. When with their new owners, they simply resign themselves to being left, and come to spend most of the time alone, resting or sleeping in their bed. But this is not to say that all problem behaviour when a dog is left at home alone occurs as the result of anxiety. In some cases, problems arise in young dogs simply because they are bored - and tearing up the cushions is the dog's version of watching television.
Either Ellie had not learned to cope with solitude when young, or had now formed such an intense attachment to Laura (since she started receiving all that TLC and attention to training etc) and now she simply didn't know how to cope without her. Our treatment programme was to comprise a variety of approaches. Ellie's veterinarian had already prescribed a course of Clomicalm, a medication that calms worried dogs. It also helps them to respond to new opportunities to learn a better coping strategy yet it doesn't cause any sedative effects. The active ingredient of Clomicalm is used in human psychiatric medicine, but was tested and specifically licensed for the treatment of separation related disorders in dogs last year - the first medication to gain a licence for use in behaviour problems in dogs. The routine of departure from the house by Laura was to be kept very calm and predictable, with no punishment for any damage or enthusiastic greetings from the owner on her return to Ellie. Ellie was to be left with a radio on to blunt any outside noises that could excite her, and the front curtains were to be drawn so that she couldn't see people passing the front of the house.
Ellie was also to be given 'time out' sessions when Laura was in the house, during which no amount of attention-seeking behaviour would produce the expected result of social contact. This was to help Ellie to learn that there were times when, no matter how hard she tried, Laura was not available to her. This meant that during a real 'time out' when Laura was at work, Ellie would start to learn to cope and would find something to do. At other times, Ellie's normal requests for attention from Laura would be as successful as ever, but under Laura's discretion.