Veterinary Medicine Essentials: Separation anxiety

Frantic dogs. Frazzled owners. Short of recommending that your veterinary clients stay home 24/7 or take their dog everywhere, how can you help prevent or manage separation anxiety? We at dvm360 have curated our best, most informative articles about this behavior topic to help you diagnose and treat it most efficiently and effectively. And we'll keep you on top of new developments as they arise.

Updates on separation anxiety

Separation anxiety: The worry over worry

May 10, 2016

How to handle varied levels of investment in alleviating this common veterinary behavior problem. ...

Separation anxiety: Can't even go to the bathroom?

Jan 12, 2016

An exercise for veterinary clients dealing with their pet's separation anxiety that won't let them leave the room, let alone the house. ...

Have You Heard? Is the dog bowl half empty or half full?

Dec 01, 2014

These researchers developed a method for determining whether dogs are optimistic or pessimistic. ...

The physiologic effects of fear

Aug 01, 2014

An overview of the signs and effects of fear, anxiety, stress and phobias in pets. ...

Medications for fearful dogs and cats

Aug 01, 2014

Whether you are trying to prevent distress, alleviate ongoing distress or help dogs and cats not make fearful memories, use this guide to find the right formulation for your patients. ...

Using clonidine and trazodone for anxiety-based behavior disorders in dogs

Mar 31, 2014

For some behavior patients, the anti-anxiety effects of a single drug might not be enough. In cases in which monotherapy is insufficient, consider adding one of these drugs to your treatment plan. ...

Diagnosing separation anxiety

Differential diagnoses for separation anxiety in dogs

Before you treat a patient for this behavior problem, make sure you have the right diagnosis. ...

Just Ask the Expert: What constitutes a diagnosis of separation anxiety?

Dr. Valarie Tynes helps with a case of a destructive dog. ...

Behavioral history taking (Proceedings)

There is no way around it: collecting a behavioral history is time-consuming. But never boring. Given a chance, pet owners will share every detail of every episode that they can recall. Most people are also eager to offer their theories regarding the development of the problem. A systematic means of politely limiting the information flow can be developed with experience. ...

Behavior history form

A behavior history form for use in adolescent and adult pet consultations. ...

The dog ate my drapes

Talking to pet owners about separation anxiety. ...

Treating separation anxiety

Three tips for managing patient separation anxiety

If you can identify early signs of stress in your veterinary patients, your job just got easier. ...

Home safe home: Treating canine separation anxiety

Help your clients take these steps to eliminate home destruction and, more important, canine anxiety when they leave their dogs at home alone. ...

Please don't leave me alone! (Or I'll eat the house...)

Veterinary behaviorist Dr. John Ciribassi offers these dos and don'ts to encouraging dogs' self-reliance, which helps keep separation anxiety in check. Ideally, saving the banister. ...

Behavior enrichment (Proceedings)

Animals are exposed to stressful situations throughout their entire lives. Not only animals in confinement encounter stress, such as in kennel or shelter situations, but those in households do as well. Behavioral enrichment helps decrease some of the stresses that the animals encounter, as well as playing a direct role in preventing and treating problem behaviors. ...

Treating anxiety is different than 'managing' the problem

This column illustrates the importance of addressing anxiety disorders as soon as they appear. Many people choose to "manage", rather than truly treat these conditions in the early stages because it is easier for the clients to live with some aspect of the problem under the new management regime. ...

Associated conditions

Canine noise aversion: The sound and the worry

Familiarize yourself with this frightening condition in dogs and how you can best identify and overcome it. ...

Just Ask the Expert: How do you combat acral lick dermatitis?

The main concern with this condition is a secondary bacterial folliculitis and furunculosis. The infection often requires six to 12 weeks of oral antibiotic therapy. ...

Self-directed behaviors in dogs and cats

Although the prevalence of self-directed behaviors is not well-documented in dogs or cats, it is likely underappreciated because animals are not typically presented for evaluation of such behaviors unless the clients think their pets are manifesting a behavior problem or some degree of injury as a consequence of the behavior. ...

Client education

Use these posts and tweets to get pets with separation anxiety the help they need

And help your clients not be part of the problem when it comes to their pets' separation anxiety. ...

Client handout: Signs of separation anxiety in your dog

Help clients understand what's happening when they leave their dog at home-just use this handout. ...

Handout: Signs of anxiety and fear

You may notice these signs in patients in your clinic, and clients may even notice them at home. Get everyone on the same page by downloading this handout. ...

Even pets get the back-to-school blues

Summer is unofficially over and school hallways are bustling with activities. Here's a guide your clients can use to help their pets adjust. ...

Fix for separation anxiety

Arming your team

Partnering with a trainer is a no-brainer

Don't just hand your veterinary clients business cards of trainers you've never met and know nothing about. Commit to partnering with a trainer to improve your patients' health. ...

Spread the veterinary behavior message

Use this tip to educate pet owners about seasonal behavior issues. ...

The behavior toolkit

This toolkit delivers team training, free client handouts, exam room education strategies and more, all designed to make it as easy as possible for veterinarians and their teams to explain behavior issues to pet owners. (With an educational grant provided by Ceva) ...

Me and my canine soul mate

How my beloved dog Chaser led me to a career in the veterinary field and a passion for preventive care. ...

Sample script: Talk to pet owners about behavior issues

Be sure to address pets' troubling behaviors. ...