At PetO, we are passionate about animals and most of us have furry, fishy or feathery family members of our own. We are a team of experts and individuals with real experiences. Joy (Head of Marketing) shares her experience with her two rescue dogs who needed some extra love and patience when transitioning to time on their own.

With many of us returning to work after spending endless hours at home with our fur babies, I thought I would share my experience and tips on how to help with separation anxiety in your pets when leaving them alone.

I never knew separation anxiety in dogs existed - until I experienced it. How did I know? Here are some signs I noticed when I left them at home alone.

• Excessive barking, whining and howling. And I mean for the entire time you're away.
• Marking, urinating or of course, poop.
• Overly destructive behaviour.
• Scratching the entrance until they potentially hurt themselves.

Every pet is different and the degrees of anxiety will vary! It was so severe for my dogs that their paws would be sore or sometimes they would even try to chew the front door. I knew I had to do something.

After speaking to my vet and doing a little research, I took three weeks off from work and dedicated my time to helping them overcome their anxiety.

Create a "safe space" they can call their own.

I segregated my apartment using baby gates and set up the living room with a bed, water and everything else they would need to feel safe. I wanted to make them really comfortable in this area they could call their own. I also left some music on!

Keep them occupied

My dogs never say ‘no’ to snacks, so I filled a multitude of interactive toys like Kongs, Busy Buddies and iQuties with treats to keep them busy whilst I was out.

Tranquil Treats - Lifesaver!!!

With lots of research I found that the ingredient tryptophan was helpful in calming pets down. I have been SO THANKFUL I found these - I gave my dogs one each day and really found they helped to calm their anxiety. Some other good options are also the Vetalogica hemp calming treats and bottled anxiety chews.

Don't make a fuss when you leave

It's always tempting to give them a cuddle when you leave but I found it helped to not create any excitement when I was leaving. Dogs are so smart, they recognise when you have a pattern of picking up keys or putting on your shoes. I changed my routine so no anxiety would build up before I left and they were busy with their toys and treats.

Ease them into it

In the first week, I would set them up with the routine above and leave them for five minutes. They would bark but I would stay outside for just 5 minutes. I did this at least 10-12 times a day for about 5 days. On the last day I found they wouldn't bark so I extended this for 10, 15, 30 minutes then an hour or two - over the entire 3 weeks. They still barked and it wasn't easy! I would come home to lots of mess and would only extend my time out when they seemed calmer for each window. I can't read their minds but I'd like to think that after several attempts, they knew I was coming home and weren't being abandoned.

My three weeks weren’t 100% successful and it took months to slowly train then. Two years later, I still come home to a wet patch every now and then. However, I was strict in consistently following the routine and, over time, their separation anxiety eased. I can now leave them for hours at a time for work!

The most important thing is to be patient. There were days I was so frustrated and felt helpless, but I knew it wasn't their fault. As their pawrent, it was my responsibility to help them overcome this. The anxiety is real!

Again, every pet is different so what worked for me, isn't guaranteed to be effective for everyone. Test different methods until you see results. Even small positive changes are progress so stick to it!

Another option is to seek help from a professional dog behaviouralist.

If you're worried about separation anxiety as you'll be returning to work soon, maybe start the training now. Just remember that helping them overcome separation anxiety is our way of loving them too - making them feel safe and calm.

Good luck!