1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 This is episode 3 of the Separation Anxiety Podcast. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:12,000 Hello and welcome to the Be Right Back Separation Anxiety Podcast. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:19,000 Hi, I'm Julie Naismith, dog trainer, author, and full-on separation anxiety geek. 4 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:24,000 I've helped thousands of dogs overcome separation anxiety with my books, my online programs, 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,000 my trainer certification, and my Separation Anxiety Training App. 6 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:37,000 And this podcast is all about sharing my tips and tricks to help you teach your dog how to be happy at home alone too. 7 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Welcome to another episode of the Fixing Separation Anxiety Podcast. 8 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:49,000 I'm your host, Julie Naismith, and today we're tackling a really, really important topic. 9 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,000 We're going to be talking about crates. 10 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:59,000 So, to crate or not to crate, that is one huge debate among separation anxiety owners. 11 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:05,000 And today I'm going to share my opinion and my advice around crates. 12 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:12,000 I'm going to tell you why crates and separation anxiety are just not a good mix. 13 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:17,000 And I'm going to explain what your alternatives are because I know for many of you, 14 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,000 crating is, it seems almost essential. 15 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,000 So, yes, I'm going to tell you why I think it's not ideal, 16 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,000 but I'm also going to give you some tips as to what you can do instead. 17 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:32,000 But before I get into why I'm not a fan of crates for separation anxiety, 18 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:37,000 I actually want to start by talking about why I love crates. 19 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:41,000 I know that makes me sound like I'm, yeah, what's going on? 20 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,000 She just said she didn't like crates and now she loves crates. 21 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:49,000 Well, here's the thing, crates work in the right context. 22 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:55,000 And in the right context, they can be an amazingly valuable tool. 23 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:57,000 So what do I mean by the right context? 24 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:01,000 Well, let me run through with you what I mean by that. 25 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,000 And when I absolutely recommend using a crate. 26 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,000 First off, house training, house training a puppy. 27 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,000 You just can't beat using a crate. 28 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,000 Why do we love crates so much when we're house training puppies? 29 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:13,000 If you've ever had a puppy, 30 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,000 you probably noticed that as you go through the house training process, 31 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:22,000 they are really reluctant to soil in their own space, in their bed. 32 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:27,000 And the smaller we can make that space, the less likely they are to soil in it. 33 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,000 I'm not talking about putting them in a shoebox, 34 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,000 but we make the crate big enough so that they're comfortable, 35 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:37,000 but small enough so that they don't feel tempted to treat one area of it as a litter tray. 36 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,000 And so crates are so helpful for house training 37 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:45,000 because not only does it discourage the puppy from going in their crate, 38 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,000 but we can also keep an eye on our puppy and stop them wandering around 39 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,000 and finding spots in the house to go. 40 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:56,000 Because remember, the rule of house training is we want a puppy who is empty. 41 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:00,000 And if the puppy is not empty, we need to keep an eye on them. 42 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,000 So when they go out and they enter their bladder or they have a poo and they come back in, 43 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:05,000 they get some freedom. 44 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,000 But when we can't keep an eye on them, 45 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:09,000 we need to crate them. 46 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,000 Because the worst thing that can happen with house training is an accident in the house. 47 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,000 So crates are absolutely an amazing tool for house training. 48 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:22,000 So I always recommend crating and trying out a crate for a puppy, 49 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,000 especially if you're going through the throes of house training. 50 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,000 Why else do I like crates? 51 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:32,000 Well, not only do puppies soil in the house, but as you know, they chew. 52 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:38,000 So if we can make the crate comfortable, if we can give your puppy a legitimate outlet for chewing, 53 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,000 give your puppy some legal things to chew, 54 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:47,000 then the crate can be a fabulous way of keeping an eye on that chewing 55 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:51,000 or at least managing the chewing, making sure he's not chewing the dining room table, 56 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:56,000 but instead he's all snugly in his crate, chewing on things that he's allowed to chew on. 57 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,000 Managing chewing crates are absolutely wonderful. 58 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,000 It doesn't have to be in a puppy either. 59 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,000 Chewing can go on for quite some time in dogs. 60 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,000 Lots of dogs chew because it's just great fun. 61 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,000 It's like getting into a really good book for a dog. 62 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:15,000 Even as they get older, if you're worried about anything getting chewed in your house, 63 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,000 you pop your dog comfortably in his crate with the stuff that you want him to chew, 64 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:23,000 and then you manage the problem of him chewing the things that you don't want him to chew. 65 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,000 So I love crates for managing chewing. 66 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:29,000 Crates are excellent for calm time as well. 67 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:35,000 You know when your dog just needs a break from himself almost when they're doing that crazy zoomies 68 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:40,000 or they're being really high octane, but you know they've had a ton of exercise. 69 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:45,000 And it's not that we don't want dogs to be dogs and carry around like crazy things 70 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:46,000 because that's what they want to do. 71 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,000 It's just that it's not always appropriate. 72 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,000 And crating, if you've ever seen this in a dog that's running around the house crazily, 73 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:58,000 when you ask them to go to their crate, haven't you seen them just go and kind of switch off? 74 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:02,000 So crates can be really nice for encouraging calm time in dogs. 75 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:07,000 And of course they are brilliant for when we have visitors round. 76 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:12,000 How lovely to be able to ask our dogs to go to their crate when the doorbell rings, 77 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:17,000 nicely tucked out of the way in their crate, perhaps in a different room from the visitors. 78 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,000 And then we don't have all that chaos at the door when visitors come in. 79 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,000 Fantastic for managing those door situations. 80 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:29,000 And also crowd control in a multi-dog household. 81 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:35,000 Dogs in any house, when there's two or more of them, they're going to spend time passing on another, 82 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,000 having their own stuff in the presence of another dog, 83 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,000 so there's always an opportunity for a bit of resource guarding. 84 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:46,000 And sometimes, like the doorbell example, two or more dogs can just set each other off. 85 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,000 One dog barks, the other dog joins in, and it all just gets really chaotic. 86 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,000 Crates for crowd control are wonderful. 87 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,000 So sending dogs off to different crates, creating some space, 88 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,000 maybe encouraging them to do that when they're eating so there's no guarding going on, 89 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,000 and encouraging them to do that when there's anything overly exciting going on, 90 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,000 so everybody just keeps a lid on things. 91 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,000 Wonderful in that situation. 92 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,000 I don't know how we'd get through groomers and vet visits without crates. 93 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,000 Now whether your dog likes his crate or not, 94 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:19,000 and I'll come on to in a second how we can get dogs to like their crate, 95 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,000 whether they like their crate or not, 96 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:26,000 there are going to be lots of times in your dog's life where he's going to be crated. 97 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,000 The vets is an obvious one, and some groomers too. 98 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,000 But despite what we think about, 99 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,000 and there seems to be this notion that dogs just naturally love their crates, 100 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:40,000 and I think it comes from the belief that all dogs love to den, 101 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:44,000 and that crates are just like dens, so all dogs are going to take to their crates. 102 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,000 Well kind of yes and no, 103 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:50,000 because when you see a dog that really, really loves their crate, 104 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,000 it does seem like they're denning down. 105 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,000 Dogs who love their crates really love their crates. 106 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,000 But just because wolves or dogs in the wild love to den 107 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,000 doesn't mean to say your puppy is going to be born 108 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,000 thinking that a crate is the most amazing thing in the world. 109 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:10,000 With any dog, with any puppy, let's just assume that they might not love it. 110 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,000 We're going to have to get them to love their crate. 111 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:17,000 We're going to have to go through a process to get them comfortable in their crate. 112 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,000 Don't just assume that it's going to happen automatically. 113 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,000 Okay, so how can you do that? 114 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,000 Well, we make the crate a magical place. 115 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:33,000 Basically what we do is we make as many amazing things happen in that crate as possible. 116 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,000 So we create this draw. 117 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,000 Your dog starts to think, oh, I just love being in the crate 118 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,000 because it's just astonishing the things that happen in there. 119 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:44,000 Wow. 120 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,000 What do I mean by amazing things and making it magical? 121 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:53,000 Well, for a start, from day one, think about can you feed your puppy in his crate? 122 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:59,000 Not with the door closed, but can you encourage your puppy to see the crate as a source of food? 123 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,000 Dropping treats in during the day. 124 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,000 If your puppy's comfortable and naturally walks into the crate, feeding him in his crate. 125 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:13,000 Thinking about opportunities to safely and happily introduce him to his crate by using food. 126 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:19,000 I don't mean luring him in and then closing the door and assuming he'll get on and eat. 127 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,000 All of this has to be done on his terms. 128 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:25,000 He has to be able to choose to go in there, to choose to stay in there. 129 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,000 Otherwise, it can become really frightening for them. 130 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:34,000 We'll get him to love his crate and think it's amazing by making these associations with all things fun. 131 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:35,000 You can give them chew toys in there. 132 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,000 You can give them their favorite squeaky toy in there. 133 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,000 Maybe they only get the squeaky toy when they go into their crate. 134 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:47,000 Think about how you can just make the crate this fantastic place that your dog is just drawn to. 135 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:48,000 You've got to do this really gradually. 136 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,000 Like I say, this isn't putting his dinner in there and then closing the door on day one. 137 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,000 This is about gradually getting him to think that the crate is wonderful. 138 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,000 So you go step by step. 139 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,000 And depending on the dog, you'll either go really quickly or you might take more time. 140 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,000 It just depends how comfortable and how happy they are in there. 141 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:11,000 If you want more information about how to get your dog to love his crate, you can download my free cheat sheet on crate training. 142 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:19,000 And to do that, just go to selfthresholdtraining.com forward slash episode three and you'll find the cheat sheet in there. 143 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:20,000 Right. You do all of that. 144 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:22,000 You download my cheat sheet. 145 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:26,000 You follow the rules and you've got your dog comfortable in his crate. 146 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:30,000 So why am I still against using crates for separation anxiety? 147 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,000 Even though I've told you to do all of that and get him really comfortable in his crate. 148 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:37,000 Why do I still think crates aren't a good idea when you go out? 149 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:38,000 Well, here's the thing. 150 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:47,000 A really, really high proportion of dogs with separation anxiety have what we call confinement phobia. 151 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:54,000 So not only do they panic because you're not around, they can often panic when confined. 152 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:59,000 You might go through that crate training plan and make lots of progress. 153 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:05,000 Then when you come to the piece where you're closing the door, you might see that your dog freaks out. 154 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,000 And that's really, really common in separation anxiety dogs. 155 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,000 My own experience, I've been through this myself. 156 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:17,000 So with my dog, Percy, I was quite determined to get him to love his crate because I didn't want him sleeping on the bed. 157 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,000 I was absolutely fine with him in the room. 158 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:20,000 I just didn't want him on the bed. 159 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:30,000 No, nothing to do with the fact that that was going to make him see himself as the leader and that he would dominate and that I might wake up with him trying to murder me. 160 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,000 None of that. 161 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,000 He's just really wriggly. 162 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:34,000 I'm a light sleeper. 163 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:40,000 So a few years ago, I was on a mission to try and get him comfortable in his crate so that he would sleep in there overnight. 164 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:47,000 At that time, my other dog, India, loved her crate, still does actually, is just so comfortable in her crate. 165 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:51,000 But it didn't take as much effort, anywhere near as much effort, to get her to love her crate as Percy. 166 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:56,000 It took me six months to get him to sleep in his crate overnight. 167 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:02,000 And when I say six months, I mean six months of training nearly every single day. 168 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,000 There were tears. 169 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,000 It was frustrating. 170 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:08,000 It was hard for both of us. 171 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:21,000 And then eventually, he got to a level of comfort that meant I could close the door for long enough that he would just pop to sleep and wake me up at six o'clock in the morning, happy and having had a good night in there. 172 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,000 But that was six months of work. 173 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:25,000 So he definitely had confinement phobia. 174 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,000 And it's really, really common in anxious dogs. 175 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,000 And why do they get that? 176 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,000 Well, it could be that they had a really bad experience. 177 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:34,000 So think about it. 178 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:41,000 We've got a dog who chews and who's howling, and we're on the Internet, and it says put your dog in a crate, and that's going to work on the separation anxiety. 179 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:44,000 So we put them in a crate, and we let them get on with it. 180 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:58,000 I'm convinced that one of the reasons that separation anxiety dogs, or a lot of them, have confinement phobia is that we have been determined to just let them bark it out in their crate because we thought that was the right thing to do. 181 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:02,000 And then what's happened is they've ended up having a terrible experience in there. 182 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:06,000 And even if they didn't hate their crate at the start, they end up hating it. 183 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,000 So I'm pretty sure that most of us have done that. 184 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:12,000 I think I did it when he was a puppy with my other dog. 185 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,000 I kind of let her get on with it to a degree, and she was fine. 186 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,000 I would do it differently now because I know different things. 187 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,000 But, yeah, with Percy, yeah, he just hated his crate. 188 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:25,000 And if you've ever tried to create your anxious dog, you'll know exactly what I mean. 189 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:28,000 So I think that could be one reason why they have confinement phobia. 190 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:33,000 They've had a really bad experience of it because we've responded to their separation anxiety by creating them. 191 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:41,000 Or it could just be that the two conditions of separation anxiety and not liking being confined go hand in hand. 192 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:49,000 Because if you think about what's going on when your dog is anxious that you've gone out, he's desperate to know where you've gone, and he wants you to come back right away. 193 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:55,000 That's why we see that behavior of pacing up and down or dogs that go to the door and scratch and try to get out. 194 00:12:55,000 --> 00:13:09,000 So you can see in those situations why adding an extra layer of separation, i.e., the crate, adding that extra division from you could be even scarier for your dog. 195 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:17,000 So I can see how those two might just go hand in hand, separation anxiety and confinement phobia kind of being two aspects of the same condition. 196 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:22,000 Whatever the reason, and we could continue theorizing, whatever the reason, it's really common. 197 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,000 We know that they just don't like being in the crate for the most part. 198 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:33,000 And going back to my experience with Percy, and I've worked with other clients who have tried to get their dogs comfortable in crates, they're anxious dogs. 199 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:34,000 Yes, you can do it. 200 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,000 For sure, you can do it. 201 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,000 I mean, we can modify most behaviors in dogs. 202 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:43,000 We can change most emotions, not all, but we can give it a good shot. 203 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:53,000 So if you're prepared to put in the time and go at the dog's pace and take tiny steps, there's a really good chance that even though your dog hates his crate now, you could get him to love it. 204 00:13:53,000 --> 00:14:05,000 But it would be like pushing water uphill because you have got a lot of bad experience or you've got the dog's previous history of disliking and hating his crate working against you. 205 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:10,000 You haven't got a dog that's starting out with, oh, crate, I don't know, yeah, fine, whatever. 206 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:19,000 When a dog really hates its crate, when the dog hates anything or is frightened of anything, it's a very long process to turn around that emotion. 207 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:25,000 So sure, you can do it, but be prepared for it to be slow and take a long time. 208 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:38,000 The other thing that you might notice is if you've ever crated your dog, when you go out and he freaks, but you crate him and close the door when you're at home and he's fine, what's going on? 209 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,000 So you might have noticed that. 210 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:47,000 Again, with my own dog, he was fine overnight, but there's no way I could have crated him when we went out. 211 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:48,000 Not a chance. 212 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:55,000 If that's happening to you, you can crate him and close the door when you're at home, but as soon as you go out, he freaks out in his crate. 213 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,000 Dogs are just really good discriminators. 214 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:11,000 They make sense of their world by looking for tip-offs, looking for clues, and for them, things that we might think are very similar can be totally different. 215 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:21,000 So your dog who thinks being in his crate with the door closed is fine when you're around just sees the crate when you're gone as something completely different. 216 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,000 It's not just a little bit different. 217 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:27,000 It's completely different to him and it's scary and it's spooky and it's horrible. 218 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:31,000 So we think, well, why can't you be okay when I go out? 219 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,000 But to your dog, it's a fundamentally different experience. 220 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:42,000 Yeah, so like I say, if you are wanting to crate your dog when you're going out, you have to get them to love their crate and that's going to be a challenge. 221 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:46,000 And even then, they may still not be okay when you go out. 222 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:51,000 That's why I really caution against using a crate with a separation anxiety dog. 223 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:58,000 And I've seen so many horrific pictures of what's happened to panicking dogs in crates. 224 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:04,000 I think that's another reason why I always say, can we just try it out of confinement? 225 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:05,000 Can we try the exercise? 226 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:09,000 Can we try the departures out of confinement and see how it goes? 227 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,000 But wait a minute, I hear you cry. 228 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:15,000 All this stuff I've read online is that crates fix separation anxiety. 229 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,000 And I know, I know, I've read that too. 230 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,000 It's everywhere. 231 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,000 Top 10 tips for fixing separation anxiety. 232 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,000 Number one, put your dog in a crate. 233 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,000 It's everywhere. 234 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:32,000 So if you've read that and you've taken that on board, I don't blame you because it's really pervasive. 235 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:33,000 Yeah, I wish it did. 236 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:41,000 But not only does it not fix separation anxiety, not only does crating not fix separation anxiety, it usually makes it worse. 237 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:47,000 And I guess the reason why you get the advice to crate your dog so frequently, why you get that advice all the time, 238 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:52,000 is that maybe people think, maybe well-meaning people think it's going to fix the symptoms. 239 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:58,000 If your dog's destroying your walls and you've had three doors replaced because your dog's tried to escape, 240 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:02,000 then yeah, a crate is probably going to do something for those symptoms. 241 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:03,000 And it's going to help with soiling. 242 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:07,000 If your dog's wandering around the house soiling when you're gone, yeah, then a crate is probably going to do that too. 243 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:15,000 But like all fixes that only focus on the symptoms of a problem, they don't have a lasting effect. 244 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:22,000 And the problem with something like a crate to fix destruction or house soiling when you're gone is it's not changing the emotions. 245 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:26,000 And it's the emotions of your dog that are driving those unwanted behaviors. 246 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:33,000 Because separation anxiety is a panic disorder and it's your dog having a freak out, a panic attack when you're gone, 247 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,000 that panic can make him do anything. 248 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,000 And I'm sure we've all had moments where we panicked at something. 249 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:46,000 You don't think rationally, you're not being logical and you'll do anything you can to solve the problem in front of you. 250 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:52,000 A good analogy, and sorry it's a horrible one, but imagine if you're in bed at night and you smell smoke downstairs. 251 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,000 And you'd immediately go into a panic, wouldn't you? 252 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:59,000 You'd say, oh my gosh, the house is burning down, got to do something about it. 253 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,000 And then you find out that your bedroom door's locked. 254 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,000 You know, that lock on the door that you never use has kind of clicked in. 255 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,000 Well, you're not going to say, oh, but that's fine, okay, the door's locked. 256 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,000 Okay, the house is going to burn down, that's fine. 257 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,000 No, you break the door down. 258 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,000 And it doesn't matter if you haven't got anything to break the door down with, 259 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,000 you'll probably try and break it down just with your bare hands. 260 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,000 That's what's going on with your dog when you go out. 261 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:26,000 He's not going, oh, okay, it's fine, I'm in the crate, so, and she's gone, I won't panic. 262 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:33,000 He's just, his phobia kicks in, his absolute terror that you're gone takes over. 263 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,000 And he will do anything, anything to try and get to you. 264 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,000 The crate doesn't change that panic. 265 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:44,000 It may, may just contain them, but there's a really good chance it's going to make it worse 266 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,000 because he now feels double panic that he can't escape the crate. 267 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,000 You're probably asking, what about those indestructible crates? 268 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,000 Here's the thing about indestructible crates. 269 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:57,000 Even when they are indestructible, and by the way, I've seen some unbelievable damage done 270 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:02,000 to indestructible crates by panicking dogs, but even if the crate remains intact, 271 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:06,000 even if the crate is indestructible, your dog isn't indestructible. 272 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:12,000 The panic that sets in in these dogs when you're gone can cause them to seriously harm themselves. 273 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,000 It's really harrowing to see a dog that's been in that much panic 274 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,000 that they cause so much harm to themselves. 275 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,000 So I really don't think there's a crate out there that's going to help. 276 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,000 It's definitely not going to change your dog's emotion about being on its own, 277 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,000 and there's a really good chance he's going to hurt himself anyway. 278 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:31,000 Okay, but you need to use a crate because your dog's destroying your house, right? 279 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:36,000 And so, of course, the crate is the answer because how else are you going to stop the destruction? 280 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,000 I need you to reframe your goal here. 281 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:40,000 I get it. 282 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:44,000 I know you absolutely have to stop the destruction, but keep saying to yourself, 283 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,000 the destruction comes from the emotion. 284 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:52,000 Even if you can temporarily stop the destruction, the dog will find a way around it 285 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,000 until you change his emotion, until you make him feel happy at home alone. 286 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:00,000 So when you think about separation anxiety, change the way you think about it. 287 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:05,000 Instead of trying to solve for the symptoms, trying to stop the barking or the chewing or the soiling, 288 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:09,000 focus on changing his emotion because that's how you get the behavior change. 289 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:13,000 Okay, but back to that immediate pressing problem because you're coming home every day 290 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:15,000 and your house is destroyed and your dog's getting injured. 291 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:19,000 The very first thing to do is think about an alternative to crating, 292 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,000 which is using a confinement area. 293 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:28,000 So it's still confinement, as the name suggests, but it's a bigger space and it's not a crate. 294 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:33,000 And you would do that, you would create a confinement area by using an exercise pen, 295 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:37,000 extended to look like a fence, or extended baby gates. 296 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:43,000 You can get baby gates and exercise pens that extend to about 3 meters, 12 feet these days, 297 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,000 so they can cover a lot of your room. 298 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,000 So you create a confinement space that's bigger than the crate, 299 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:52,000 and some dogs will be okay when you do that. 300 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,000 They'll be much happier than in their crate, 301 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:58,000 and just giving them that extra space seems to help with the panic. 302 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,000 But it's only some dogs. 303 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:05,000 I wish this was a panacea, I wish it would work for all confinement-phobic dogs, but it doesn't. 304 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,000 There's still that element of confinement that they just struggle with. 305 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:12,000 Your next option is quite similar to the concept of a confinement area. 306 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,000 You're going to create a dog-proof room. 307 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:21,000 So you find a room in your home that you'd be kind of okay with if your dog destroys. 308 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:27,000 Maybe you don't have any carpet in there, maybe it's got a concrete floor rather than nice floorboards, 309 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:32,000 and you just suck it up and let your dog do what he needs to do, 310 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,000 provided that he's not going to hurt himself. 311 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,000 So you need to have a room that's nothing in there that you're worried he's going to destroy, 312 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,000 and there's nothing in there that he can really hurt himself on. 313 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:45,000 With both of those options, some dogs do immediately improve. 314 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,000 Maybe the anxiety doesn't go away, but they seem a little bit better. 315 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,000 But unfortunately, it's not most dogs. 316 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,000 I wish it was because it would be a really nice solution. 317 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:58,000 Many will still panic, most actually will still panic, even though they're out of their crate. 318 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:04,000 All right, so how do we fix the problem of that chewing, that destroying that you're coming home to? 319 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:10,000 Again, I'll say the way that we stop these problem behaviors is we stop the anxiety. 320 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,000 And there are two ways to stop the anxiety. 321 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,000 One is immediate, and one takes longer. 322 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:20,000 So the immediate solution is you find a way not to leave him. 323 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:25,000 Okay, that's crazy trainer speak, you say to me. 324 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:32,000 If you could find a way not to leave your dog, then you wouldn't have a problem with separation anxiety. 325 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:36,000 If you could be with him all the time, this condition wouldn't be an issue. 326 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:40,000 But try to think of this as something short to medium term. 327 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:48,000 This is something you need to do to help him get over separation anxiety and you to get your life back and not to worry about destruction anymore. 328 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:53,000 Yes, in the short to medium term, you are going to need to find ways not to leave him. 329 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:58,000 You can't get him over the thing that freaks him out while he's still being exposed to it. 330 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,000 It's just like trying to heal an open wound. 331 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,000 You are not going to get there. 332 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,000 Don't immediately think of it as being impossible. 333 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,000 Don't immediately think, no, there's no way I can stop leaving my dog. 334 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:09,000 That's just ridiculous. 335 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:13,000 Lots of pet parents I work with think that at first. 336 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:18,000 They will say that to me or if they don't say that to me, they go quiet for a bit and I don't hear from them. 337 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:24,000 And then they come back because they realize that it is the way to stop the immediate problem. 338 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:28,000 And I used to think it was nonsense, this whole not leaving your dog. 339 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:29,000 I mean, who does that? 340 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,000 We've all got lives. 341 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:35,000 But eventually, as you do realize, it's the only way. 342 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,000 I know it's going to be definitely difficult for everybody. 343 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:49,000 If you're one of these people that can't go cold turkey on a change, don't dismiss it and say, well, you know, there's no way from tomorrow I can find him somebody to look after him 24-7. 344 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:50,000 That's just not going to happen. 345 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:55,000 Don't dismiss this idea of suspending absences immediately. 346 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,000 Instead, say, well, you know what? 347 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,000 Next week, I'm just going to try. 348 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:00,000 Try one day. 349 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,000 Try to leave him one day less next week. 350 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,000 See if you can do that. 351 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,000 And then after that, maybe you could do two days. 352 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:08,000 Say that to yourself. 353 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:12,000 Can I find a way to leave him a bit less next week and a bit more the week after? 354 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:16,000 Don't give up on this because you can't do it in full tomorrow. 355 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:20,000 I've definitely been where you are thinking this is just stupid. 356 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,000 No way can I find a way not to leave my dog. 357 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,000 You do kind of get drawn into it as you see the difference it makes to your dog. 358 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,000 Because remember, I talked about two ways to stop the anxiety. 359 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:31,000 And this is one. 360 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,000 And this is the immediate way, suspending absences. 361 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,000 But the second one is you do the training. 362 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:40,000 The training works so much better if you can find a way to stop leaving him. 363 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,000 Otherwise, you just don't progress. 364 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:48,000 Okay, so like I said, don't give up on this notion of not being able to leave him 365 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,000 just because you can't do it in full from tomorrow. 366 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:54,000 Just think of a few ways that you might be able to leave him a bit less 367 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,000 and take it from there. 368 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,000 I really do think you can do this if you apply yourself to it. 369 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,000 And if you join my Facebook group, if you're not already, 370 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:07,000 chat to other people who've gone through exactly the same process of thinking 371 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,000 this was crazy to actually, yeah, I can do this. 372 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,000 And I'm so glad I did because it made a difference. 373 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,000 Okay, that's it from me this week. 374 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:19,000 Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. 375 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,000 Don't forget to download that free cheat sheet at subthresholdtraining.com 376 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,000 forward slash episode three. 377 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,000 And if you're not already in the Facebook group, 378 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:31,000 jump on subthresholdtraining.com forward slash Facebook. 379 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,000 I'll see you all online soon. 380 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,000 Bye for now. 381 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,000 Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Be Right Back 382 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,000 Separation Anxiety podcast. 383 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:46,000 If you want to find out more about how I can help you further, 384 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,000 head over to julienaysmith.com. 385 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,000 Meanwhile, if you enjoyed listening today, 386 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:56,000 I would love it if you would head over to wherever you listen to your podcasts 387 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,000 and consider rating my show. 388 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:00,000 Thanks so much. 389 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,000 Good luck with that training and bye for now.