Dogs who are destructive when left alone

It’s always the most loving dogs who damage their homes when left alone. It causes their owners tremendous angst. How could your smart and highly bonded best friend, who worships the ground you walk on, wreck your stuff-repeatedly? Something has to change in a hurry-or you could face one of the hardest decisions of your life. Just how long can you go on coming home to daily demolition? Many dogs and their owners can overcome this problem, but it’s a challenge.

Why Dogs Become Destructive
Dogs like this are extremely attached. Many of them stay glued to their owners; they follow from room to room. And they’ll do anything for you. Most are bright dogs who graduate at the top of their obedience classes.

It’s healthy for dogs to be strongly bonded to their leaders. But overwhelming separation anxiety and destructiveness when left alone indicates an unhealthy attachment. Dogs like this are miserable. Videos taken during destructive events show frantic, way out of control behavior. The havoc that is wreaked upon the home is not spiteful; the dog simply can’t help herself.

The pattern is repetitive. Every morning the problem starts anew as the dog watches his owner’s ritual of starting the day. With each successive step towards the departure of their most favorite person in the world, the dog feels an increasing burden of impending isolation and fear. By the time he is finally alone the whole dreadful process culminates with salivating, barking, pacing, pawing, in some cases eliminating, and finally destructiveness.

What Really Happens When You’re Gone
These dogs are frantic as they listen to the car drive away. The frenzy that drives the carnage to the home usually runs its course in about 30 minutes. Exhausted, the dog collapses in a heap. He feels horrible when confronted later. It’s all part of a vicious cycle fed by fear, anxiety, and guilt. Punishing a dog like this only deepens his sense of hopelessness and isolation. The longer separation anxiety rages without treatment the more difficult it is to control. Nobody is having a good time.

We dog lovers know very well why these creatures are man’s (and woman’s) best friend. A whole host of shared behaviors give us lots of reasons to hug and revel in the unconditional love that only they can give. Similar to extended human families, dogs in packs form strong bonds. Dogs are so generous with their love that they are delighted to join our lives-no questions asked. To your dog, you are the leader. She just can’t wait to do anything you ask.

The problem for dogs with separation anxiety is getting too bonded-an unhealthy overdoing of it. Fueled by an underlying anxiety (a basic component of many abnormal canine behaviors) they are overcome with fear at the prospect of being separated from their person. It’s normal for your dog to have a mild distress response when isolated. A dog with an excessive reaction has separation anxiety.

Making the Diagnosis
Even though your dog may sound like a classic case, a definitive diagnosis is essential. Other behavior disorders can be confused with separation anxiety. Dogs with severe territorial aggression may be loving and gentle with their families but can become holy terrors when left alone to guard the home. And guard it they will-from intruders including dogs walking down the street, deliver people, anything. Racing between the door and windows, territorial dogs can damage the carpet near the door or tear down the drapes, and make it look as though they were frightened to be alone.

Other abnormal behaviors can also be misdiagnosed. Dogs who are frightened of loud noises are usually fine by themselves but can lose their minds with the sounds of jets, thunder, fireworks, nearby construction, almost anything. Each of these behavior disorders is treated differently.

Knowing for sure that your dog is physically healthy is essential right from the start. Smoldering liver or kidney disorders, diabetes, thyroid problems, and bladder disease can each result in impaired mental function or indoor elimination. A thorough exam and lab profile (blood, urine, and thyroid tests) are necessary. Antianxiety medications will make behavior treatment much easier for your dog. We must be sure that your dog can safely handle them.

Treatment
The starting point, in the parlance of behavior medicine, is desensitization. This means that we will lower the sense of fear at the prospect of being alone. To ease your dog’s dread that she will never, ever see you again we will gradually separate the two of you, starting with very short time periods. This is called graduated absences.

For all of this to work it must be authentic. Remember that your dog has your life memorized. There is a series of tasks that you follow from the time you get out of bed until the moment you drive away in your car. As you start the desensitization process you must do those things in the order your dog expects. After you have grabbed your coat, purse, keys, etc., you will walk to the door, and WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT YOUR DOG you will hand him/her a Kong toy filled with treats and/or peanut butter. Then you leave.

It can be really tough to ignore that sad face. Please try to get over it. Stand outside the door for 10-30 seconds (time this please) and come back in as though this exercise is the most natural thing in the world. Take no notice of your dog. Take off your coat, put down your purse and keys and act very cool (you’re a mighty cool individual anyway.)

It will be difficult not to comfort your nervous dog. You will be tempted to tell her “It’s OK”, or I’ll be right back”, or to just give her a kiss and a hug. But you absolutely must avoid any communication, verbal or otherwise. Any acknowledgement from you will reinforce your dog’s anxiety because she will see it as a reward. Instead, ignore your dog until all emotion has evaporated. When you are both relaxed following your return, you can love on her and share your feelings. The point is to show your dog that you could return anytime. She has no reason to panic. After all, the fearless leader of the pack (ah, that’s you) is the strong silent type who sets a relaxed tone.

Successful behavior modification requires hundreds of repetitions and at least a few months (not weeksmonths). Repeatedly run through your ritual of getting ready to leave as you customarily do. Each time you step through the door, hand your pupster the Kong toy with special treats inside. Say nothing. Time your self outside and keep a record. Each time you walk back in, ignore your dog but look at her out of the corner of your eye. If she’s really nervous, you should shorten the length of your absences. If she looks calm you can stretch the duration of your departures.

Gradually your dog will be as bored as you are-and that’s perfect. When you start to see progress you will feel encouraged. And if you’re like most people, you’ll want to hurry this whole thing up. Please don’t. If you stretch out the lengths of your absences too fast you could be rewarded with a panicked destructive dog. Both of you will be set back to a place that is worse than your starting point because your dog will have lost faith. You will then be charged with the greater burden of rebuilding. Be slow, be successful. Helping a dog with separation anxiety is among the hardest work we can do in behavior medicine.

Assuming that things have progressed well you will have slowly taken your dog from 10-second absences to approximately 30 minutes. Now you’re ready to start the car, pull out of the driveway, drive back in, and go back inside. As you and your dog improve you’ll be able to drive away and come back. When you can leave for over an hour, you’re really going places.

The process of graduated absences is tedious and time consuming. The key driver for dogs like yours is a gripping anxiety that just won’t let them go. Antianxiety medications will be essential to success. In addition to drugs like clomipramine and buspirone, we have Dog Appeasing Pheromone. DAP is derived from the mammary glands of lactating mother dogs. When used with prescription medication it can help reduce the fear of transition.

There are many more parts to this puzzle. Your dog's cycle of anxiety, loss of control, and destructiveness has created pathways in her brain. Her mind drops into these well-worn ruts by default. In order to succeed, your dog must never again feel that panic-ever. When you are home you’ll have plenty of opportunity to repeat the graduated absences. But if your dog slips back into hysteria mode while you’re away-even onceyou are sunk. You MUST set her up to succeed by keeping her safe and relaxed during the entire behavior modification process. Take her to the office, or better, to doggy day care at a good kennel when you are away. This is a tough road. Winning will mean some life changes.

The tendency for some dogs do develop separation anxiety is built in. No one caused your dog to be this way. With hard work, you and your dog will have a good shot at success. But he will never be cured. Even when the road ahead looks trouble free you must do frequent “tune-ups” but repeating a few graduated absences. You will always need to stay on guard.

Those dedicated dog lovers who reach the Holy Grail of a sane household have not done it alone. Hands-on guidance to custom-tailor a plan for you and your individual dog is key to success. For example, some dogs do better if they are counterconditioned with a short fun game and food reward from their owner just before they are alone. Others need a relaxation protocol to get them started. A few have more than one behavior problem or other home concerns that make the cookie cutter treatment not fit. Our job is to help return your lives to normal. We will listen and adjust our guidance in whatever way we must to set you two up for success.

Keep the faith and don't give up. Contact me through my web site if you need individual help.

References: Jacqueline C. Neilson, D.V.M., DACVB Overall, K. Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals, Mosby, St. Louis, 1997.

 

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