Dear Just Be: We can’t leave the house without our dog destroying it. Can you help?

You should know that your dog is not destroying your home to get back at you for leaving. They are responding out of panic. This is clinically known as separation anxiety.

Separation Anxiety can be triggered by several things:
1.) Your pet is never or rarely left alone.
2.) There is a change in routine or structure in the household (i.e. someone leaves the home, you have a new work schedule)
3.) Your pet goes through a period of time being in a kennel or shelter (can be traumatic from the dog’s point of view).

First, confirm or diagnose that your dog is suffering from separation anxiety. Answer the below questions honestly.
• The behavior always occurs when he/she is left alone for a short or long period of time.
• He/she follows you around when you are home.
• He/she gets extremely excited and greets you frantically when you come home.
• He/she reacts (excitement or depression) to your preparations to leave the home.
• He/she does not like to spend time outside by themselves.

If you said yes to most if not all of the above statements then your dog does have separation anxiety. You should take your pet to a behavioral specialist to learn some techniques to overcome the problem, or you can find techniques through your veterinarian, books or online.

Do keep in mind that separation anxiety is not an obedience issue, but a panic response. So going to obedience training or punishing the dog will not treat separation anxiety. Punishment has been said to actually make matters worse. Also, don’t get another pet. Many think if their current dog has a buddy they won’t be stressed and won't destroy the house, but the issue lies with you and not another animal. Lastly, crating your dog can be extremely dangerous. A dog can still urinate, defecate and howl in the crate. What is worse is they can injure themselves trying to escape the crate.

Some short term solutions in treating your dog are:
• Leave your pet with a family member, friend or neighbor when you leave the home
• Take your dog to work with you, even for a half day
• Talk to you vet about drug therapy

For more information on your dog visit:

Denver Dumb Friends League
Animal Planet's Dog Guide