Does your dog suffer separation anxiety? Maybe this will help
Many years ago, we had a German Shepherd/Lab cross who was a wonderful pet. But during her first year or two with us, she would be oddly destructive whenever we had to leave her at home alone. She would chew up many things, and she often whined excessively and got extremely agitated and excited whenever she saw us preparing to go anywhere without her -- and just went nuts whenever we returned home.
I see now, according to a very helpful online article by the Humane Society that she was probably suffering doggy separation anxiety.
This is much different than simple desire to go with you, or happiness at seeing you on your return, this is a mysterious behavior syndrome which, according to the Humane Society article, is not fully understood and which goes way beyond normal nervousness or excitement.
I wish I'd had access to this information when Heidi (the dog mentioned above) was with us. I know it could have made her life happier as well as ours. In our case, she sort of "outgrew" the problem, or at least it seemed to resolve itself as she grew older. Part of that, too, may have been because we moved to an entirely different state and began living in a small town where my wife stayed home with Heidi and our newborn son, giving the dog more attention and perhaps making her feel less fearful.
Anyway, if you think your dog might be a candidate for help with separation anxiety, I hope you'll check out the Humane Society article and I hope it'll be useful for you.
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