What doesn’t work for dog separation anxiety training

Your dog has separation anxiety. You started searching online about  your dog’s separation anxiety and just read an advertisement for the latest separation anxiety solution. Below, I’ve listed a bunch of things that, despite what the products advertisement says, will not work for your dogs separation anxiety.

Bark Collar

Another solution people will recommend online for dog separation anxiety barking is an anti-bark dog collar. You’ll even find some trainers online recommending to put an e-collar or bark collar on your dog and her separation anxiety will be fixed.

Most bark collars work typically by shocking your dog when she barks. Some will spray something unpleasant, like citronella spray, into your dog’s face when she barks. Since the shock or spray is unpleasant, this is supposed to make your dog stop barking. Your dog is already fearful and anxious due to the separation anxiety. By using an aversive collar on your dog, this will make her even more anxious and fearful.

Even if your dog stopped barking, this would not be solving the problem of separation anxiety. It is just masking the problem and one day you’ll realize that your dog’s anxiety is much worse than it was before the bark collar. The barking and destruction is an involuntary reaction that your dog is experiencing due to a state of panic. Using a bark collar on a dog in this situation is akin to shocking a child having a panic attack.

The shock collar is not stopping your dog from panicking. Instead, if your dog can’t bark their panic will likely manifest in another way. They will start displaying other signs of separation anxiety, such as destroying doors, breaking windows trying to escape or pooping and peeing in the home when alone.

Separation Anxiety Crate

You’ll find these online with a bunch of different names. It may be called an escape-proof dog crate or a high anxiety steel dog crate. The advertisement will say the crate is indestructible. It may even say it is a heavy duty dog crate for separation anxiety. And if you speak to the company representative and ask about the crate they will tell you “Of course we can not guarantee it will solve anything. We are not trainers nor can we control the behavior of your dog.”

All the crate is doing is masking your dog’s separation anxiety issue. Yes, maybe your dog won’t be able to escape or chew your wall but the underlying problem of separation anxiety isn’t going to be fixed by using a heavy duty crate. Instead, your dogs anxiety is just going to get worse and worse with this solution.

You will also find that most dogs with separation anxiety have dog confinement anxiety as well. This is why it is not recommended to crate train a dog with separation anxiety.

Leaving Out Food

Some trainers who aren’t certified in dog separation anxiety sometimes suggest leaving out food for your dog when you are gone. Or giving your dog a frozen Kong while you’re out. You will soon find that this doesn’t work either. Most dogs who are suffering from separation anxiety are in a state of panic. Almost all dogs when they are afraid will not eat food.

But maybe your dog does work on a Kong when you’re gone. Some dogs will be distracted by it but once the Kong is finished, they will go into a state of panic because they realize they are alone. I wrote another blog post which goes further into why food doesn’t work for separation anxiety training.

Natural Remedies

Some other solutions people typically discuss with separation anxiety include natural remedies or CBD Oils.  While typically safe for dogs to use, we’ve found that most separation anxiety dog parents have tried this with little to no effect on their dogs anxiety. In a blog post on our separation anxiety focused site, I’ll talk about why these don’t usually work for your dog either.

If your dog is suffering from separation anxiety, the best course of action is to start separation anxiety training with her.