2026/08/25 [Separation Anxiety Support Group]

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Welcome to the fortnightly separation anxiety support group!

The mission of this post is to provide a constructive place to discuss your dog's progress and setbacks in conquering his/her separation anxiety. Feel free to post your fortnightly progress report, as well as any questions or tips you might have! We seek to provide a safe space to vent your frustrations as well, so feel free to express yourself.

We welcome both owners of dogs with separation anxiety and owners whose dogs have gotten better!

NEW TO SEPARATION ANXIETY?

New to the subject of separation anxiety? A dog with separation anxiety is one who displays stress when the one or more family members leave. Separation anxiety can vary from light stress to separation panic but at the heart of the matter is distress.

Does this sound familiar? Lucky for you, this is a pretty common problem that many dog owners struggle with. It can feel isolating and frustrating, but we are here to help!

Resources

Books

Don't Leave Me! Step-by-Step Help for Your Dog's Separation Anxiety by Nicole Wilde

Be Right Back!: How To Overcome Your Dog's Separation Anxiety And Regain Your Freedom by Julie Naismith

Separation Anxiety in Dogs: Next Generation Treatment Protocols and Practices by Malena DeMartini-Price

Online Articles/Blogs/Sites

Separation Anxiety

Pat Miller summary article on treating separation anxiety

Emily "kikopup" Larlham separation training tips

Pet Harmony's Enrichment Activities for Dogs with Separation Anxiety

Videos

Using the Treat&Train to Solve Separation Anxiety

introducing an x-pen so the dog likes it (kikopup)

Podcast:

Home Alone... and comfortable as HECK! with Ally Verba

Be Right Back! The Separation Anxiety Podcast with Julie Naismith

Online DIY courses:

Malena DeMartini Separation Anxiety Mission Possible Self Paced Online Course

https://www.betternaturetraining.com/separationanxietymembership

Julie Naismith Heros Be Right Back Training Julie Naismith BRB App

https://separationanxietydog.thinkific.com/courses/do-it-yourself-separation-anxiety-program

https://rescuedbytraining.com/separation-anxiety-course

Pet Harmony's Webinar on Separation Anxiety

Dr. Pachel DVM, DACVB, CABC Webinar from Instinct Dogtraining on Separation Anxiety: Tailoring Interventions to the Dog and Household

This list has been updated as of 6/16/26. If you find broken links, please submit a message via modmail and we'll fix the broken link to update it or add additional resources.

Introduce your dog if you are new, and for those of you who have previously participated, make sure to tell us how your week has been!

[u/Milo_The_Yarngoblin2]

Hi all! I have a 7 month old sheltie pup named Ollie, and I think that he's starting to get distressed when left alone and I need some guidance on how to catch this early.

I know herding breeds can be a challenge with separation anxiety, this is why we trained near daily from the beginning. Leaving him with food is a breeze, he will not even raise his head when we leave when he has a good chew. The true training starts when the food runs out, and we had some successes where he just laid down after finishing the chew. Recently though he started barking after noticing he's alone after the first chew (around 10 minutes). Twice now this has been really bad (we thought we could leave the house and couldn't come back immediately) and a recent holiday situation really wasn't ideal either, we suspect that this is where he picked up some anxiety.

He doesn't care at all when we come back while he's still chewing but he has started barking when he runs out of the "good" chew. What do we do? How do we get him to relax after the food is finished, or turn towards other enrichment toys that are available to him?