Separation Anxiety Dog

You take out the trash. Four minutes later, your dog greets you like you've been at sea for three years.

He howls the moment the door closes. He chews the door frame, scratches the paint off the door and has accidents right by the exit. Some days the neighbors tell you about it in more detail than you wanted. You've planned every errand around him for months, and you can't remember the last time you went to a movie.

If that sounds like your dog, he isn't being bad, spiteful or stubborn. He's panicking. Separation anxiety is one of the most common behavior problems in dogs, and panic about being alone can be trained down, one small step at a time.

This book tells you exactly how, and it's written for people with jobs. Most books on separation anxiety tell you never to leave your dog alone during training, and then leave you on your own with that rule. Here, you get a plan for real life: who can watch your dog, what it costs, and what to do on the days when nobody can. The training starts in Chapter 7, not after a hundred pages of reassurance.

Inside you'll learn:

• A simple camera test to find out if it's really separation anxiety, or boredom, frustration or something medical
• Why punishment, bark collars, "crying it out" and a second dog usually don't help
• Plan B for people with jobs: free and paid ways to cover the hours, and a weekly plan to fill in
• An emergency routine for the days you have to leave him anyway
• The Boring Exit: the step-by-step method to make your leaving the least interesting thing all day
• How to find your dog's Starting Number, with example schedules for the first two weeks
• How to take the drama out of keys, shoes and the Jacket of Doom
• How to read the camera footage to know when to go up, stay or go back
• Prevention for puppies, help for newly adopted dogs and the dog who follows you to the bathroom
• An honest chapter on medication, and how to find the right professional
• An 8-week plan, a training diary, a departure-cue checklist and an emergency card for sitters

Based on guidance from veterinary behavior organizations, published research on separation-related problems in dogs and reward-based training methods. Written in plain English, with a sense of humor and a lot of respect for you and your dog.

Start today. The first absence is ten seconds long.