Suzi Walsh

And so they want to be around us all of the time.

And that can be really, really difficult for them to learn to cope by themselves.

So you want to transition them into that slowly.

You also, especially, we usually have medical causes for separation anxiety.

That is really common.

We approximate behaviour problems.

About 83% of behaviour problems are caused by undiagnosed discomfort.

in animals, pain and discomfort is really closely linked to behaviour problems.

So you'd also want to get your dog or a vet check

You know, and even we have some dogs that in the first few weeks of settling in, they might even need medical help for anti-anxiety medication and things like that.

But that's quite extreme.

But transitioning them slowly is really important.

Yeah, that's exactly it.

So most dogs with separation anxiety don't believe that they go once you're out of sight, that you're not going to return.

So it's not even, it's even smaller than that.

And it's getting them used to you not being in the same room as them while you're still in the house, you know,

giving them something to do while you go pop in and out, basically playing peekaboo with your dog and building up the time slowly if you can.

Some dogs are fine with it.

Some dogs don't mind them at all.

But some dogs find that separation just too much and that will cause them to howl and bark and that causes knock on complications then.