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An excerpt from
Separation Distress and Dogs
Chapter 1
by James O’Heare,
Distributed by Dogwise Publishing. 800-776-2665, www.dogwise.com
Permission to reproduce excerpt with attribution granted by Publisher.
The ABCs of separation distress–related problems
We can use what we have learned about how
behaviors are conditioned, contingencies that are
used to describe conditioning situations, and how
emotional responses play into them to understand
separation distress–related problem behaviors. The
antecedents to these behaviors include the various
stimuli or cues related to decreased social contact.
These cues will elicit panic-related emotional
responses, which motivate operant behaviors such
as barking and whining, various destructive
behaviors and other indications of stress. The
consequences that maintain the behaviors might be
a little tougher to understand, so I will elaborate on
them here.
Separation distress–related behaviors are
maintained by negative reinforcement—removing
something unpleasant and thereby increasing the
strength of the behavior. Think about this. If
something is unpleasant for you and pushing a
button will reduce that unpleasantness a bit, you
will be more likely to push that button on
subsequent similar occasions. For a dog, separation
distress–related behaviors tend to reduce or
minimize the “unpleasantness” of being left alone.
They may do so simply by distracting the dog from
the unpleasantness, or they may generate
competing emotional responses, or both. Notice
that most of these behaviors are related to reuniting
in some manner with those who have left. Barking
serves to attract the guardian’s attention, and
digging and scratching at points of egress function
to attempt an escape from the house and to the
guardian, who is “out there somewhere.” Pacing
and visual scanning operate to increase the
likelihood of accessing escape opportunities. Even
interacting with couch cushions and chewing on
them may allow the dog to access the person’s
odor, thereby reducing the distress. Behaviors such
as drooling and urination or defecation are merely
indications of physiological stress.
©2009 James O’Heare, Separation Distress and Dogs
1
Let’s say you are afraid of thunderstorms. When a
thunderstorm comes, you find it somewhat
comforting to distract yourself with house cleaning,
or you turn on a movie and play it loudly or
perform some other activities. Perhaps you have
what some people call “nervous habits” and you
tap your toe or bite your nails. Maybe you also
jump on the exercise bike because you find it
somehow makes you feel a little better. Maybe you
spend time carefully checking multiple sources for
weather forecasts. You may even “obsess” about
all the horrible things that might happen. People
learn to “deal with” and reduce anxiety in many
ways, be it through distraction in some activity or
exercising, which results in the release of
endorphins. In any event, the activities in one way
or another reduce the anxiety you experience to
some degree.
Author James O’Heare, CABC, is the President of The
Companion Animal Sciences Institute, Director of the
Association of Animal Behavior Professionals, editor of
Journal of Applied Companion Animal Behavior, and
owner of BehaveTech Publishing. James has studied the
natural science and technology of behavior extensively
James has been helping companion animal guardians
resolve problem behavior, writing and teaching since
the early 1990’s.