About Julie

The separation anxiety expert behind it all

I've spent 15 years helping dogs with separation anxiety — including my own dog Percy, who couldn't be left alone for a minute when I first got him.

Julie with a dog

For readers of Be Right Back!

You’ve read the book. Now let’s put it into practice.

The book gives you the method. These resources give you the structure, the support, and Smart Percy to make it work for your dog.

Book reader special: 15% off your first 3 months of Separation Anxiety Heroes. See the offer ↓

See the exercises in action

These short videos show exactly how to run three of the key exercises from the book.

Departure Exercise Demo

Step-by-step walkthrough of a departure exercise — building your dog's confidence to stay calm when you leave.

Crate Training Demo

A step-by-step walkthrough of how to introduce the crate positively — showing what good progress looks like.

Magic Mat Game Demo

Watch the Magic Mat Game in action — how to build a relaxation anchor your dog will seek out on their own.

Recognizing separation anxiety

Your dog doesn’t have to show all of these. Sometimes it’s just one.

Excessive barking, whining, crying, or howling

Chewing or destroying floors, walls, and doors

Frantic escape attempts, sometimes to the point of self-harm

Soiling — especially if otherwise house-trained

Getting anxious and restless well before you leave

Velcro behavior: following you from room to room

8 myths it’s time to leave behind

Things people believe that aren’t true — and that slow down training.

01 Myth: You caused your dog’s anxiety
The truth: Nobody knows what causes separation anxiety. Experts don’t agree. Letting your dog sleep on the bed, allowing them on the sofa, letting them walk ahead of you — none of these cause it. Ignore anyone who says otherwise.
02 Myth: Getting another dog will help
The truth: For the vast majority of dogs, it doesn’t. Another dog may even make things worse by alarm barking and triggering your dog.
03 Myth: The “guilty look” means he knew he did something wrong
The truth: That look is fear, not guilt. Dogs make associations: last time you found damage, you got mad. He’s scared of your arrival — not because he knows he did something wrong, but because he remembers your anger.
04 Myth: A crate will fix it
The truth: Many dogs with separation anxiety also have a crate phobia. Crating can add to their panic. If you use a crate, only do so if your dog is genuinely calmer inside than out.
05 Myth: If you let him “bark it out,” he’ll eventually stop
The truth: Barking from fear doesn’t stop — it escalates. The longer you leave a dog with separation anxiety, the more fearful they become. This isn’t request barking. It doesn’t extinguish.
06 Myth: A stuffed Kong or food toy will stop the anxiety
The truth: Stress reduces appetite. If your dog doesn’t touch the Kong when you leave, it’s because they’re panicking — not because they’re not interested. Food is a distraction, not a solution.
07 Myth: Your dog soiled or chewed to get back at you
The truth: Dogs don’t seek revenge. When your dog is panicking during your absence, chewing and soiling are self-soothing — similar to how anxious people bite their nails.
08 Myth: Puppies don’t have separation anxiety
The truth: Experts now believe genetics play a part. Research has identified a gene for fear in both dogs and humans. If your puppy barks when you leave, don’t assume it’s normal. Catching it early makes all the difference.

It does get better. Here’s proof.

Two very different situations. Same outcome: a dog who can be left alone.

L

Lucy & Bobby

Champion flyball trainer & her dog

The situation

Lucy is a certified flyball trainer who has trained 30+ dogs. Bobby was crate-trained, obedience-trained, and had more enrichment than most pets ever see. He still developed separation anxiety.

Rather than blaming herself, Lucy recognized this was outside her comfort zone, worked with a specialist, stuck rigidly to the plan, and stopped leaving Bobby unsupervised.

The result

Bobby is now fine while Lucy’s at work. He chills until the dog walker arrives, then settles again until she’s home.

If Lucy — a seasoned trainer who thought she caused it — could get Bobby through it, there’s a good chance you can too.

J

Jo & Max

An exception to the crate rule

The situation

Jo wanted to crate Max to stop him accessing windows where he’d bark — but wasn’t seeing progress with training.

Jo compared Max’s anxiety levels in the crate vs. out of it, and discovered — unusually — that Max was actually calmer inside. She invested serious time building positive crate associations before using it during absences.

The result

After months of work, Max can now be left comfortably in his crate for 2.5 hours while Jo is out.

Crating can work — but only when you do it right, and only when your dog genuinely settles better inside than out.

What the app does that the book can’t

The book teaches you the method. The app does the maths. It generates your training plan every day based on how your dog did yesterday — the durations, the warm-ups, the scenarios. You don’t have to figure out what to do next. You just open it and train.

And then there’s Smart Percy. Trained on the world’s largest separation anxiety dataset — 1.6 million training steps from 9,000 dogs — Percy knows your dog by name, knows your entire training history, and has seen every pattern that exists. When you hit a plateau, when your dog regresses, when you’re not sure if that session went well — Smart Percy knows.

9,000 dogs have been through this program. More than half of those who follow it reach one hour or more of alone time.*

*Based on dogs and families who trained consistently a minimum of three times a week for six months and achieved one hour or more alone time.

The Be Right Back book and app was a godsend. We started out doing Door is a Bore and now we can leave our pup home alone for almost 5 hours. The journey is by no means easy, but there is hope if you can commit to the training plan.

Konlly He

Three ways to go further

Free

Community & self-guided

Join the free peer community, use the book alongside these resources, and explore the separation anxiety guide. Good for those who want to go at their own pace.

One-on-one

Work with a certified trainer

I’ve certified over 500 dog separation anxiety trainers worldwide. They use the same method you read in the book — and most work remotely.

Find a trainer near you →

Recommended

Join the Be Right Back program

The app turns the book into a daily training plan. Smart Percy adapts to exactly where you are. Plus a community of families doing this alongside you.

See the 3-month plans

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A thank-you for reading the book

If you’re ready to go beyond the book, here’s a small welcome gift.

Book reader offer

15% off your first 3 months of SAH.

Use code BEAHERO at checkout to get 15% off your first 3 months of Separation Anxiety Heroes membership.

  • Personalized daily training plans based on your dog’s data
  • Smart Percy — your AI coach, trained on 1.6 million training steps
  • Invitation-only community of families working through the same thing
Claim your book reader discount

Offer valid for new SAH members only. Cannot be combined with other offers.

Want to keep reading?

The book’s RESOURCES section pointed you to books, research, communities, and tools. We’ve gathered them all in one place.

5 recommended books

Research papers & articles

Communities, services & training tools

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Ready to start training?

You’ve got the knowledge. The program gives you the structure, Smart Percy, and a community of guardians who get it.