Be Right Back! The Separation Anxiety Podcast

It might not make much sense – you train, and train, and train, but your dog's anxiety seems to be getting worse not better. Well, it can happen. But it is totally avoidable. So, if you think separation anxiety training is actually making your dog clingier and more on edge tune in to find out what to do. 

If you're feeling guilty or concerned about your dog sleeping on your bed because you think it might be making his separation anxiety worse, don't be.  There really is no evidence to this. And in fact, suddenly forcing your dog to sleep elsewhere could make things worse. Check out this episode where I explain exactly why.

Are you leaving food when you go out only to find that your dog either doesn't touch it, or consumes it only to fall apart? You've probably been told that this is the way to go, that leaving a puzzle feeder stuffed with goodness will stop your dog freaking out when you're not home. Sadly this advice is often misguided, and doesn't work for most dogs. In this week's podcast I explain why food fails...

As if having a dog with separation anxiety isn't hard enough, most owners also deal with a ton of guilt about their dog's condition. I know I did! In today's episode I examine the types of guilt I see most commonly. And I share tips on how to deal with those feelings so that you can focus your energy on what matters – getting your dog over this.

Ah, the joy of having more than one dog. Watching them interact, seeing them negotiate the social space: having more than one dog can be bliss. But if you have a dog with separation anxiety it can be chaos, especially when the non-anxious dog barks at the world outside and immediately sets off your anxious dog. If this sounds like your household help is at hand! In this episode, I explain how you...

Anxiety medications can make a huge difference to separation anxiety training. But not in every case. That means we can easily get our hopes up only to find that our dog is one of those cases. If this is you and your dog, tune into this episode to find out why meds might not be working and what you can do if they don't.

It can definitely seem like dogs are all over the map with their ability to cope alone. Some days they ace training. Other days they fall apart. But just why do they do this? And what, if anything, can you do to smooth things out?

If you feel like you've had enough and want to quit training, just know that you are not alone. Everyone at some point wants to give up. Separation anxiety training is hard, unrewarding, and definitely not the most fun thing you'll ever do with your dog.  So before you do throw in the towel, check out my 5 tips for helping you get back on track.

I've heard some chatter recently that separation anxiety training is unethical and inhumane. The argument goes that dogs are such social creatures that training them to be alone is cruel. Well, it's not. People have to go out. Dogs need to be able to cope with that.  What is actually unethical is NOT giving them the skills they need to be okay with inevitable alone time. Tune in to find out more.

It can seem really confusing when your dog will sleep all night in a crate but when you try to leave your dog in a crate when you go out he loses it. And that's why I both love and hate crates. In the right context, at the right time, they are amazing tools. But how can we work out when it's right to use a crate and what do we do when crating goes wrong? Listen to find out.

Should we worry about our dog's happiness? Yes! Can we improve their lives and make them happier? Absolutely we can. And in this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Zazie Todd, Author of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy. Zazie explains why our dog's happiness should matter to us. She explores what makes dogs happy, the role we play in that, how training methods can affect happiness. And she shows...

In this podcast, I interview Jen Sadler, the owner of Gus, the amazing Shih Tzu Tibetan Spaniel cross. Jen's hard work helped Gus triumph over his separation anxiety. Their journey was not a short one. But after the span of a year, and despite the adoption of another dog with separation anxiety (!), the whole family is now in a very happy place.

Fetch gets such bad press. It's all too often billed as an activity that does nothing but gets dogs amped-up and stressed-out. As a result, dogs everywhere are being denied access to something that's natural, normal, and hugely enriching. I really don't know where this all started or why so many trainers and owners state "fetch is bad for anxious dogs as it makes it hard for them to calm down". Th...

It's almost impossible to avoid not having a read an article or seen something on the news telling you your dog will absolutely lose it when you go back to work. The thing is, this might not be the case. As ever with dogs, there's lots of misinformation and plenty of myths. That's why, this week, I bust the Big 5 Separation Anxiety Lockdown Myths.

Are you worried that being with your dog 24/7 will make his separation anxiety worse? Or is your previously non-clingy dog suddenly following you everywhere? If so then tune into this episode where I'll share with you the science of what exactly is going on with your dog's brain when he's got constant company. And I'll give you some tips and tricks to help you return to normality without your dog...

What do you do when you can't leave your dog at home but his reactivity prevents you from leaving him somewhere else? Ugh! It's the trickiest of tricky problems when your anxious home alone dog doesn't like strangers or other dogs. But in this week's episode, I'm going to share how — with a bit more work, admittedly — you can manage absences even if your dog is reactive.

In this episode, I chat with the amazing Julie McKinney Miller a canine physical therapist (physio to those of us outside the US) who educates and empowers dog parents about physical therapy, massage, exercise.  Julie offers online courses and consulting to help owners help their dogs live their best lives! Julie spills the beans and busts some longstanding myths about physical conditioning, injur...

"Separation anxiety training easy? Is she out of her mind?" Okay, to be clear I'm not saying that separation anxiety cases are easy – far from it! It's just that there are some unique aspects to separation anxiety training that are pluses, and which can make the training less daunting and more effective.

What if all the training we've been doing with departure cues and triggers could be simplified? What if we didn't have to worry about departure triggers at all? In this episode I'm going to explain why I think we can make things simpler, thus setting us and our dogs up for more success.

If you're a dog professional–a trainer, a behaviourist, behaviour consultant–do you feel that separation anxiety cases are hard to resolve? If you do, know that you're not alone. It seems that across our profession separation anxiety cases are seen this way. In this special bonus episode recorded for professionals like you, I want to dive into whether they are really any harder to resolve than oth...

What to do when you feel like giving up If you're anything like any owner I've ever worked with (and hundreds have used my system now) you'll have moments where you want to give up separation anxiety training. But if you feel like this then I'm here to talk you down from the ledge. Yes, it's hard. It's often boring. But it is doable and will be worth it.  Listen to find out that 6 things that will...

If your dog has separation anxiety, has anyone ever told you that you caused it. That you're the problem? Of course they have. Frequently I bet! Seems like when it comes to separation anxiety it's all our fault—or so we're told. That's why in this episode I'm going to bust that particular myth (yes, it's a BIG myth!). And I'm going to dive into what you could have done to prevent separation anxiet...

Have you adopted a dog only to find that they aren't settling in quite as you'd hoped? Is your rescue dog struggling every time you leave the house? Or maybe he's freaking when you leave the room! If so, this episode is for you as I'm going to share my 5 recommended steps for getting a rescue dog over their fear of being alone in their new home.

In this episode, we're going to explore the one, big thing that's most crucial to getting your dog over separation anxiety – consistency. Interestingly though, most of us often overlook consistency, instead focusing on absolute duration. But duration is nothing without you being confident your dog can achieve that time after time. Learn more about why predictablity is so critical and how you can e...

There are plenty of solutions that claim to work for fixing separation anxiety. But in this episode, I explain why those so-called solutions might not be working for you, and why, if we asked your dog, your dog would say they definitely don't work for them. I'll also explain the kind, humane solution that does work and is dog-approved!