Ever wonder why so many trainers work with Separation Anxiety exclusively online? While it might seem counter-intuitive for a dog trainer to work virtually with their 4-legged student, the truth is virtual technology has given us the ability to streamline the way we approach working with Separation Anxiety.
Dogs with Separation Anxiety are acutely aware of their environment. Anxiety produces vigilance, dogs are watching for safety cues or signals that the scary thing might be coming. When a trainer is called in to the home to help with a Separation Anxiety case they bring alone a BIG signal. Their presence is a huge tip off that “we’re about to practice alone time”. This can either be a safety cue to the dog; they know that these training sessions are “just pretend” or the trainer’s arrival can make the dog feel scared about what’s to come next. Either way, the trainer’s presence has a major influence on the dog’s internal landscape and behavior.
But using virtual tools like Zoom and webcams, your trainer can watch your dog’s behavior during alone time without changing the dynamic or adding any tip offs to the environment. We’re able to make assessments and training feel completely like business-as-usual. Plus, this gives our clients access to see how their dog is doing during their training missions between assessments. We all gain accurate information on how the dog is feeling during alone time. Let me tell you, your dog is savvy to you peeking through the window. Webcams and other virtual monitoring tools give us far better insight without inadvertently tipping our dogs off to our presence.
By creating the most realistic environment for training we greatly reduce the time to resolution for our Separation Anxiety cases. Gone are the days of mucking the waters with having your dog trainer at your house and peeking around windows! Instead we create a calm and realistic learning environment for the Separation Anxiety dog to learn that “real” alone time and departures predict safety and that the guardian will soon return.
And as an extra bonus for clients, Separation Anxiety trainers using these methods can work with clients all over the country (or even the world!). I am thrilled when I can work with someone in New York, Portland or even London and help their dog overcome Separation Anxiety. It’s a complex but treatable condition with the right approach and I’m so grateful to have and share these tools with my clients and their dogs!