Separation anxiety is a common problem that occurs when your dog becomes stressed when you leave them alone. A dog with separation anxiety will often become destructive, bark or howl continuously until you return, or relieve themselves in the house. These symptoms can sometimes lead to even more serious dysfunction.

To treat this separation anxiety you first need to know why they react the way they do. In the wild they live in packs and are hardly ever by themselves. The do just about everything from hunting to eating to sleeping in a pack. So when you bring them home and they still have this need to be around you, they can get extremely nervous not being able to control their actions. It's like humans with phobias. When we get scared we are not thinking clearly, and neither is your dog. This can be a real problem in today's world where your daily schedule does not allow you to be home with them 24 hours a day.

The best way to deal with separation anxiety is through prevention. If you can stop it before it even starts, you and your dog will be much happier. There are a few things you can do to stop or curb separation anxiety before it even begins.

All people have a certain routine they follow to ready themselves. Whether we notice or not we have a set routine for when we leave everyday, and your dog does pick up on this. The know that after you shower, you put on your shoes, and you grab the keys they are about to be left home alone once again. While you're getting all this done the anxiety is building up in your poor dog.

An easy way to deal this anxiety is to break up your routine and switch things up a bit. Instead of immediately taking a shower before work, take a second to jingle your keys a bit. If you simply do things in a different order, your dog will think that everything is alright and that you won't be leaving again. Your routine will be broken up and it won't be the big deal that it used to be.

You can also surreptitiously sneak out of the house rather than making a big show of leaving. Many people feel that since they're going to be leaving their dog alone for the day they need to give them a lot of loving before they leavesuch as a big hug or generous petting. Once again, you are alerting them to what's coming next, which gives your dog some serious anxiety. Just leave without saying farewell to them.

If you crate your dog, which is a smart thing to do. You can't very well sneak out without them noticing. So, for this case, you are going to want to crate them for short periods of time while your are home. Put them in their for 5-10 minutes and then let them out again. Don't make a fuss over it. Their crate is nothing to be excited, or upset about. Gradually everyday, put them in their crate for 15 minutes more. Now when you leave for long periods of time, they know you will be coming back for them.

All in all, always remember that your dog picks up on cues that you give them - even when don't mean to. Dogs enjoy the security of a routine, but a routine that leads up to something they do not like - such as separation from their owner- can give them anxiety. By breaking things up and modifying your daily routine, your dog will begin to more easily accept separation.

Misbehaving dog? Need to house train a puppy? Get dog training advice and dog training products at http://www.dogbehaviorexpert.com