Dog Separation Behaviour Problems
in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire
Giving you peace of mind that your dog is relaxed when left home alone.
You love your dog and you both enjoy spending time together, but you also need to be able go out without them. You’d like to be able to leave your dog confident that they won’t bark, cry, howl or destroy the house.
The mistake most people make with leaving their dog home alone is the way they introduce absences. Life is much easier for everyone, especially your dog, if they’re not anxious, fearful, frustrated or playing inappropriately when you’re out.
My ‘Dog Separation Support’ option is designed to support your dog to feel calm, safe and relaxed by themselves, even when home alone. So ultimately, you can go out for a few hours without feeling worried or guilty.
Leaving your dog home alone
Since working with Julie, we have made huge strides with our dog’s anxiety, in particular his separation anxiety. We have gone from us not being able to leave him home alone to being able to leave him consistently for reasonable durations.
The separation anxiety journey can be a long one and before using Julie, we were struggling with consistency, which is essential to be able to confidently leave. We continue to progress and our ‘Home Alone Confidence’ grows.
Julie is very knowledgeable and showed us a range of tools we’d not used before which helped enormously. It was important to us that we used a kind and force free trainer. She takes time to get to know both us and our dog and tailors her approach to our unique situation; everyone is different. Julie is very thorough and provides excellent resources, which are conveyed in manageable chunks.
Julie is encouraging and empathetic and we hope that she will always be part of our journey, we know if we hit any hurdles, Julie will be right there to support us.
I would recommend Julie to anyone needing help with their dog’s journey.
— Joanne and Louis
Flexible plans to suit your needs
What are the benefits of the ‘Dog Separation Support’ option?
First consultation1.5 hours
Option to record for your reference (if via Zoom)
Explaining why your dog is behaving as they are
How to correctly manage the situation right now
How to start the process of building confidence so your dog feels safe and relaxed home alone
Behaviour assessment report
A benchmark for measuring your progress
Behaviour change plan
Designed for your dog and circumstances (updated as we go)
1 hour follow up training sessions
Access to useful resources, videos and training notes
Remote support throughout (email, WhatsApp, phone)
Initial and update reports to your vet:
In case their help is required at any stage
Additional 1hr Behaviour Change Training sessions including 3 weeks remote support can be booked (£150) (within 3 months of initial consultation or further assessment may be required)
As I am a Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CCAB), you may be able to claim back my fees via your insurance.
To help your best friend feel comfortable home alone, just click this link to book.
Why the ‘Dog Separation Support’ option is right for me?
You’ve tried to get your dog used to being home alone (by going out briefly) or are avoiding the problem (not going out at all) and it’s not worked
You love your dog, but also want to have a life in which they are not always present
You understand that what your dog needs now is a tailored, supportive approach
It is important to you work with someone who is not only qualified but understands first-hand how stressful the situation is for you and how to turn it around
You want to see progress and know you are heading in the right direction
You want to be able to leave your dog home alone for a few hours without worrying about how they are feeling or what they are doing
What to do now, to begin your fulfilling dog behaviour journey.
STEP 1
Sign up for Dog Separation Behaviour Support
STEP 2
Start working with me on a 1:1 basis with your dog
STEP 3
Work towards your dog being happy home alone
Here’s an example of how others have benefited…
Del and Riff Raff
Riff Raff is a retired ex-racing greyhound. For the first couple of years, he was relaxed home alone for a few hours at a time while Del went out to work. However, when the COVID-19 lockdown forced Del to work from home Riff Raff became very dependent on his company. Del couldn’t leave the room without Riff Raff crying. It was very distressing for them both. However, Del worked hard to re-build Riff Raff’s confidence with the support of my ‘Dog Separation Support’ package. This is what he said.
‘When Riff Raff started to show signs that he was no longer happy for me to leave him home alone with my other dogs I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew at some point I’d have to go back to work and would like to start socialising again. I just didn’t want to do this knowing my boy would be unhappy. I started to work with Julie on a programme of very gradual departures that she designed specifically to match Riff Raff’s needs and to ensure he progressed without setbacks. It took a while! At times I thought we might never get there. We stuck with it and now I can go out for a few hours without having to worry. It’s such a relief’.
It took a few months, but all Del’s hard work paid off. His patience and considerate training are to be commended. His reward is that Del can now go out again for a few hours in the knowledge that his boy is content.
FAQs
Got a question you don’t see here? Send me an email. Please include your phone number.
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It is a requirement for membership of my professional bodies that I only undertake behaviour work on veterinary referral. This is because behaviour problems can arise from currently undiagnosed or previous medical problems. It may surprise you to learn that up to 80% of dog and cat behaviour cases involve pain (Mills et al., 2020). Therefore, before starting behaviour modification work it is important for your vet to first rule out / treat any underlying causes of the problem.
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Don’t worry. That’s not unusual, and all unwanted behaviours can be addressed. You may just need to book additional follow up sessions so we can work through everything.
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Separation-related behaviour problems in dogs can arise for several different reasons. Once I have identified the underlying cause it may be that the problem can be addressed and start to improve quite quickly. However, more commonly you should expect it to take a few months before you achieve a reasonable goal of leaving your dog home alone for an hour or two.
Let’s Get Started!
To start helping your dog to feel relaxed home alone click the link below.