Separation Anxiety and being the Pack Leader

George suffers from Separation Anxiety, which is very common in dogs that have been rescued. We never really had a full account of his history but it’s quite obvious that he has been loved and not mistreated. He is very loving towards everyone. He was also very clingy, to the point of following you everywhere, (including the toilet) which, is also a behaviour of newly adopted dogs. Dogs being pack animals, need to know who is leading the pack, so he may have been following us to ascertain how much control we have on our lives, and whether he needs to take charge. Newly rescued dogs can be quite anxious about leadership during their transition and I guess it’s a perfectly natural behaviour in the wild, with the addition of challenging the new pack to become the top dog.

Right from the start, once we’d taught the sit/stay command, we controlled when he ate. We make him wait for the command to ‘take it’. I was watching some lions recently, the male had eaten, he’d allowed two of the females to have some carcass but the younger members of the pride where waiting until he allowed them to eat. There were a few challenges and despite not eating anymore himself, he refused to allow the younger lions near the carcass.

Where meal times are at similar times, George has to wait until we’ve eaten and then he has his. Even if he has something from our plate, it is fed to him from his bowl. He is very intelligent and feeding from our plate may give him a mixed message.

We recently started to make him wait for us to go in and out of the front door first, showing our leadership of physically leading the way.

If he walks too far in front on a walk, we hide. This great tip from his obedience instructor was to teach him to pay attention to us and keep an eye on us at all times. However, we also use it when we feel he thinks he’s up there leading the pack. I have noticed that he circles when running about now.

He is only allowed on the sofa if we say it’s okay. One evening, not long after we had him, he jumped into Edwood’s seat when he got up. Upon return, Edwood was going to sit in another seat, until the I the Beta female pointed out that George’s behaviour could be a gentle challenge of leadership. My other Rotties did similar things during their transition into the pack to ascertain their position. I remember having to stand up tall to Scooby on one occassion as she refused a command, standing up and commanding her physically made me higher in the pack.

When we come in the house, we greet each other first and then fuss over George. If he jumps up, we put his legs down, with the odd exception of pure lovingness. Sometimes you can see he is being soppy, however, we do guide him back down to his place and fuss him there, where he generally becomes submissive and has a belly rub.

I spent a week at home to give George some intense training in the home. I commanded him to stay everytime I went upstairs, doing small steps and returning as soon as I’d got to the top, rewarding him on my return. He now knows if I’m visiting the bathroom and waits at the bottom of the stairs. If I’m quiet and sitting in an upstairs room, he comes up after a while, which is fine.

George plays when we say it’s okay, if we’re busy, he can wait for a bit.

George has a bedroom under the stairs, once he’d settled more, I started to open the stairgate quietly before bedtime. He can come up to join the pack leaders in the morning, or at some point when we’re asleep. This has taught him to have some independance and doesn’t exclude him from the pack totally.

Leaving him alone when he’s resting also gives him a message that we’re not relying on him for something and gives him independance. (very hard sometimes when he’s looking cute)

I’m a big fan of ‘no eye contact’ when training a dog and when it’s done something wrong. They look to you for leadership, so avoiding eye contact show’s you know what you’re doing (especailly when leaving the house, he can’t misread my message and think I need him with me or when I enter, think I’ve been unable to manage without him). If a dog has done something wrong, the best way to demonstrate it  after been told naughty, is to avoid eye contact, it really allows them to associate the wrong behaviour and they will keep looking to regain when they perform their next behaviour.

These few little rituals have all helped George and I’ve noticed recently that, he comes and licks our arm in acknowledgment of our leadership and pays more attention to us when he’s off his lead, to the point of sometimes leaving sniffing to walk with us and not in front.

As for leaving him, our own routine’s have changed temporarily, so we haven’t had any time to be consistent, other than the consistency of going to work with Edwood. However, George is quite happy to stay in the studio for short periods of time or in the car if the weather permits.