1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,840 So you're doing everything you can to suspend absences, you've committed to that because 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:11,680 you know it's what's going to make your training go as quickly as possible, plus you hate the 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:15,600 thought of your dog being alone and getting freaked out. 4 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:23,000 But then something happens and stuff will happen, as much as I know you're committed 5 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:29,280 to this, as much as I know you want to make sure that your dog is fine and that your training 6 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:32,439 goes well, things are going to come up. 7 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:38,160 And so in this week's episode, I want to look at what you can do in an emergency. 8 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:46,880 What can you do when your best laid plans to manage absences just fall apart? 9 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:52,320 Hello and welcome to the Be Right Back Separation Anxiety Podcast. 10 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:58,639 Hi I'm Julie Naismith, dog trainer, author and full on separation anxiety geek. 11 00:00:58,639 --> 00:01:03,599 I've helped thousands of dogs overcome separation anxiety with my book, my online programs, 12 00:01:03,599 --> 00:01:08,400 my trainer certification and my Separation Anxiety Training App. 13 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:13,400 And this podcast is all about sharing my tips and tricks to help you teach your dog how 14 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,320 to be happy at home alone too. 15 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:22,519 So what is an emergency situation when it comes to separation anxiety training? 16 00:01:22,519 --> 00:01:27,919 I always say that there isn't really an emergency in separation anxiety training, though I'm 17 00:01:27,919 --> 00:01:31,320 not talking about the training part of it. 18 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:38,599 I'm talking about when life happens, when stuff just gets in the way of all of your 19 00:01:38,599 --> 00:01:43,360 best plans to try and make sure that you keep your dog under threshold. 20 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:47,279 Now quick refresher, why do we need to keep our dog under threshold? 21 00:01:47,279 --> 00:01:51,120 What are we trying to do when we have all these elaborate plans in place not to leave 22 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:52,120 our dog? 23 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:56,400 Well, when a dog goes over threshold, when it's home alone and it's left for longer than 24 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:02,360 it can cope with, it responds with panic in many cases, and at the very least, extreme 25 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:04,080 fear and anxiety. 26 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:10,679 And that emotion is the exact opposite of what we are teaching our dogs to feel because 27 00:02:10,679 --> 00:02:16,039 with separation anxiety training, what we're doing is teaching our dogs that being home 28 00:02:16,039 --> 00:02:18,800 alone is absolutely fine. 29 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:20,320 They've got nothing to worry about. 30 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:21,800 It's not scary. 31 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:23,940 It's all okay. 32 00:02:23,940 --> 00:02:30,419 And so when they have an absence, when they have time on their own where they're frightened 33 00:02:30,419 --> 00:02:39,300 or they go into a panic, that undoes or potentially undoes the work that we have been doing to 34 00:02:39,300 --> 00:02:45,339 convey the message that you know what, when you're alone, absolutely, it's all absolutely 35 00:02:45,339 --> 00:02:46,699 fine. 36 00:02:46,699 --> 00:02:53,380 So I know that when you try to manage absences, you are absolutely doing your best to avoid 37 00:02:53,380 --> 00:02:55,460 those situations. 38 00:02:55,460 --> 00:02:59,899 I do want to be realistic, though, and recognize that sometimes it is going to happen, and 39 00:02:59,899 --> 00:03:04,979 that's what we're going to dive into today. 40 00:03:04,979 --> 00:03:12,339 Everybody's definition of emergency is different, though, and I really want you to be sparing 41 00:03:12,339 --> 00:03:14,740 in your use of emergency absences. 42 00:03:14,740 --> 00:03:21,940 I'm going to give you some tips for what to do when things are unavoidable, but I do want 43 00:03:21,940 --> 00:03:30,100 you to be really, really cautious in whether you absolutely have to leave your dog. 44 00:03:30,100 --> 00:03:32,940 It's a bit like breaking a diet. 45 00:03:32,940 --> 00:03:39,059 Once you've had that first cake or those chips when you said, I'm giving them up, then that 46 00:03:39,059 --> 00:03:43,460 first occasion, that can become two, that can become three, and so on. 47 00:03:43,460 --> 00:03:44,460 Do you remember? 48 00:03:44,460 --> 00:03:45,460 You know how that goes? 49 00:03:45,460 --> 00:03:51,619 You say you're not going to do that, and then as soon as you go from absolute compliance 50 00:03:51,619 --> 00:03:58,820 to, well, it won't matter too much, will it, if I just have one, it kind of opens the floodgates. 51 00:03:58,820 --> 00:04:02,460 So I've observed this with managing absences as well. 52 00:04:02,460 --> 00:04:09,059 It is way easier, in a weird kind of way, to stick to the really strict principle of 53 00:04:09,059 --> 00:04:14,020 there's no way I'm going to leave my dog, because sometimes when we start doing these 54 00:04:14,020 --> 00:04:20,420 emergency absences, another one can creep in, or that seems as urgent and important 55 00:04:20,420 --> 00:04:24,100 as the last time I had to leave him on his own, so yeah, I'm going to do it again, and 56 00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:25,100 you know what? 57 00:04:25,100 --> 00:04:32,299 He did survive, so just be really cautious with how you use these emergency absences, 58 00:04:32,299 --> 00:04:38,019 because the thing is, even if you left him in the past, and he got upset, and it was 59 00:04:38,019 --> 00:04:41,779 okay, it doesn't mean necessarily that he was okay inside. 60 00:04:41,779 --> 00:04:49,540 So we've got to just be so careful with keeping these times when he has a bad experience to 61 00:04:49,540 --> 00:04:53,820 an absolute minimum, but I know it's going to happen, and I know you've got a life to 62 00:04:53,820 --> 00:04:59,220 lead, and so I want to give you my best tips for making sure that you and he get through 63 00:04:59,220 --> 00:05:01,859 it as smoothly as possible. 64 00:05:01,859 --> 00:05:07,459 So the first thing I want you to do is to prepare, and I know that sounds kind of weird 65 00:05:07,459 --> 00:05:09,820 maybe, because how can you prepare for an emergency? 66 00:05:09,859 --> 00:05:14,299 Well, you just need to think that it might happen, there might come a situation where 67 00:05:14,299 --> 00:05:19,459 I have absolutely no choice but to leave my dog, and you don't want to be doing, there's 68 00:05:19,459 --> 00:05:23,260 some things that you can do in advance that you just don't want to be doing at the last 69 00:05:23,260 --> 00:05:24,619 minute. 70 00:05:24,619 --> 00:05:30,140 And the number one thing is to go and speak to your vet about what you can do if you have 71 00:05:30,140 --> 00:05:36,660 to leave your dog to go over thresholds, and this is a bit like if you've got a dog who's 72 00:05:36,660 --> 00:05:44,980 sensitive to fireworks or to thunderstorms, those, for most dogs, it's almost impossible 73 00:05:44,980 --> 00:05:52,019 to keep them under threshold when fireworks are going on, New Year's Eve or Halloween, 74 00:05:52,019 --> 00:05:57,100 or when there's a massive summer thunderstorm, dogs who are frightened of those noises tend 75 00:05:57,100 --> 00:06:03,140 to just trip over into panic, because it's very, very hard to dial down the intensity 76 00:06:03,140 --> 00:06:06,059 of that scary thing. 77 00:06:06,459 --> 00:06:12,019 If you have a dog that experiences that phobia, you'll know that going to your vet, talking 78 00:06:12,019 --> 00:06:17,339 to your vet about medication is the number one thing you can do for a dog who panics 79 00:06:17,339 --> 00:06:20,299 at external noises like that. 80 00:06:20,299 --> 00:06:26,640 The medication helps reduce the intensity of that storm or of the fireworks in a way 81 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:32,700 that we cannot do, and so that's the number one thing we can think about in preparing 82 00:06:32,700 --> 00:06:35,500 for an emergency absence. 83 00:06:35,500 --> 00:06:40,459 If we have to leave our dogs for longer than they can cope with, the intensity is too much, 84 00:06:40,459 --> 00:06:45,019 there's nothing we can do, we're leaving them for an intensity and a duration of absence 85 00:06:45,019 --> 00:06:49,380 that they can't cope with, so how can we change that intensity? 86 00:06:49,380 --> 00:06:54,899 We can change the intensity of the stimulus, the scary thing, the absence, by using medication, 87 00:06:54,899 --> 00:07:01,579 but you don't want to be doing that two hours before your emergency. 88 00:07:01,579 --> 00:07:05,220 Planning ahead for short-term medication, because that's most likely what your vet's 89 00:07:05,220 --> 00:07:11,220 going to discuss with you, they'll talk about some short-acting medication that will just 90 00:07:11,220 --> 00:07:18,339 help reduce the intensity, take the edge off the scary situation for your dog. 91 00:07:18,339 --> 00:07:23,100 But as I said, that's not something that you're going to be doing two hours before your absence, 92 00:07:23,100 --> 00:07:27,500 you're not going to be calling up your vet and saying, oh, completely, I don't know, 93 00:07:27,500 --> 00:07:32,019 this thing came up today, there's nothing we can do, we're in a panic, can I come in, 94 00:07:32,019 --> 00:07:34,540 can we get some meds for our dog to help? 95 00:07:34,540 --> 00:07:38,459 Even if you've got a brilliant vet who says, yes, of course, come in, that's fine, we can 96 00:07:38,459 --> 00:07:42,260 do that, we can get you a prescription, you don't want to be doing that, because when 97 00:07:42,260 --> 00:07:49,619 you put a dog on situational meds, you need to test the medication out before the exposure. 98 00:07:49,619 --> 00:07:56,100 So this is true whether we're talking about an emergency home alone absence, or whether 99 00:07:56,100 --> 00:07:59,700 we're talking about a thunderstorm, or fireworks, or whatever it might be. 100 00:07:59,700 --> 00:08:06,220 The first time you use a situational med is when the dog isn't experiencing the scary 101 00:08:06,220 --> 00:08:11,380 thing, because you want to see how they are on that medication and at that dose. 102 00:08:11,380 --> 00:08:16,820 The thing about situational meds is they seem to be so, dogs seem to have a very different 103 00:08:16,820 --> 00:08:19,420 reaction to different meds. 104 00:08:19,420 --> 00:08:24,540 One dog will do brilliantly on a certain medication on a certain dose for its weight, and then 105 00:08:24,540 --> 00:08:29,940 another dog will go on that, and either have no reaction or have not a great reaction. 106 00:08:29,940 --> 00:08:35,580 So you don't want to be testing this out the day of your emergency absence, so definitely 107 00:08:35,580 --> 00:08:41,859 plan ahead, speak to your vet, test out the medication before any situation, so that you 108 00:08:41,859 --> 00:08:46,500 know and you can feel comfortable that this medication is going to help when you do need 109 00:08:46,500 --> 00:08:47,500 it. 110 00:08:47,500 --> 00:08:52,299 The second thing then I want you to do, and this kind of goes out without saying, but 111 00:08:52,299 --> 00:08:59,859 I do want to say it, do everything you can, do absolutely everything you can to avoid 112 00:08:59,859 --> 00:09:02,739 having to leave your dog in an emergency. 113 00:09:02,739 --> 00:09:10,500 Ask anyone, ask everyone, ask them to ask anyone and everyone, put adverts in local 114 00:09:10,500 --> 00:09:15,940 Facebook groups, in neighbourhood groups, ask around at work, do what you can. 115 00:09:15,940 --> 00:09:22,460 Because it's going back to that point I made earlier of once you start doing this and it 116 00:09:22,460 --> 00:09:26,979 feels like you might get away with it because you come back and your dog's in one piece, 117 00:09:26,979 --> 00:09:32,179 it can be really tempting to say, well you know what, that's an emergency as well, or 118 00:09:32,179 --> 00:09:36,940 this is an emergency, and it's kind of a bit of a slippery slope. 119 00:09:36,940 --> 00:09:40,700 I feel like I don't need to say point number two though, you wouldn't be investing time 120 00:09:40,700 --> 00:09:44,979 in your dog's separation anxiety, listening to a podcast about separation anxiety, if 121 00:09:45,020 --> 00:09:47,099 you weren't 100% committed to this. 122 00:09:47,099 --> 00:09:53,099 So more likely than not, when it comes to leaving your dog in an emergency, you really 123 00:09:53,099 --> 00:09:59,659 have asked around, and if you haven't, give it one extra go, but I do trust that you will 124 00:09:59,659 --> 00:10:02,299 do as much as you can to find somebody. 125 00:10:02,299 --> 00:10:10,059 So number three, assuming that you absolutely cannot find anyone, what I want you to do 126 00:10:10,059 --> 00:10:18,140 is make the emergency absence as different as possible to your safe training absences. 127 00:10:18,140 --> 00:10:25,659 So sometimes dogs can differentiate the learning between this one's okay and this one's not 128 00:10:25,659 --> 00:10:26,659 okay. 129 00:10:26,659 --> 00:10:29,739 Because what we're trying to do, obviously, when we're managing an emergency absence, 130 00:10:29,739 --> 00:10:34,140 when we're trying to mitigate it, what we're trying to do is to stop your training from 131 00:10:34,140 --> 00:10:36,020 going backwards. 132 00:10:36,020 --> 00:10:45,500 So if we can say to the dog, this one's scary, but normal training is okay, then we might 133 00:10:45,500 --> 00:10:48,619 protect the training absences. 134 00:10:48,619 --> 00:10:53,099 It's not guaranteed, your dog might have a horrible over-threshold experience during 135 00:10:53,099 --> 00:10:54,299 an emergency absence. 136 00:10:54,299 --> 00:11:00,479 I know I'm saying it, but it's important that we get that out there because it could happen. 137 00:11:00,479 --> 00:11:04,659 But there is a chance, and it's a kind of small chance, but it's a chance that's worth 138 00:11:04,659 --> 00:11:09,700 putting the work in for, that if we say, if we create the emergency absence, make that 139 00:11:09,700 --> 00:11:14,659 so different to the safe absence, that the dog can distinguish and that the learning 140 00:11:14,659 --> 00:11:18,700 and the experience of safe absences is protected. 141 00:11:18,700 --> 00:11:20,099 So how do you make that different? 142 00:11:20,099 --> 00:11:25,059 Well, the first thing, we're going to use a cue, we're going to use either a word or 143 00:11:25,059 --> 00:11:32,179 picking up an object that you would never, ever use during your regular safe training. 144 00:11:32,179 --> 00:11:33,179 And so it can be anything. 145 00:11:33,700 --> 00:11:39,299 I'll give you an example actually, because in husbandry, so where we get dogs to be okay 146 00:11:39,299 --> 00:11:44,500 with things like having their nails trimmed or having injections, we often do have to 147 00:11:44,500 --> 00:11:49,979 deal with the situation where we're training them to be okay with something while having 148 00:11:49,979 --> 00:11:53,500 to do something that they're not okay with. 149 00:11:53,500 --> 00:11:59,219 So if you have a dog that suddenly has to have injections for diabetes every day, most 150 00:11:59,219 --> 00:12:05,219 dogs don't love having injections and most people don't train their dogs to love injections 151 00:12:05,219 --> 00:12:09,979 because it's kind of a one year thing, or maybe once every three years, but maybe all 152 00:12:09,979 --> 00:12:13,219 of a sudden your dog has to have a daily injection. 153 00:12:13,219 --> 00:12:21,140 So we can use husbandry training to get dogs to be perfectly fine, if not love, having 154 00:12:21,140 --> 00:12:25,260 things done to them, things that they wouldn't otherwise be okay with. 155 00:12:25,299 --> 00:12:30,299 But if you come home from the vets and you've got to start injecting your dog, you can't 156 00:12:30,299 --> 00:12:34,739 also get the training up and running, well you can start the training that day, but you 157 00:12:34,739 --> 00:12:40,539 can't guarantee that you'll get your dog to very quickly love having an injection done. 158 00:12:40,539 --> 00:12:46,619 So in that situation, we do use this concept of creating differences. 159 00:12:46,619 --> 00:12:52,260 For example, when I was getting my dogs to love having their teeth brushed, I also kept 160 00:12:52,260 --> 00:12:56,419 brushing their teeth knowing that they didn't love it too much. 161 00:12:56,419 --> 00:13:01,700 So we'd work on toothbrush training and at the same time every night I'd just come up 162 00:13:01,700 --> 00:13:07,140 to them and say, oh I'm sorry this one's not going to be fun, I'm sorry this one's not 163 00:13:07,140 --> 00:13:11,299 going to be fun, and I would just repeat that and it kind of let them know that, oh it was 164 00:13:11,299 --> 00:13:16,659 that icky horrible thing where she puts the toothbrush in my mouth and I hate the taste. 165 00:13:16,659 --> 00:13:21,460 But at another completely different time, I was working on a very incremental plan to 166 00:13:21,460 --> 00:13:26,500 get them to absolutely love having their teeth brushed, and that's where we are now. 167 00:13:26,500 --> 00:13:33,419 So find a phrase, it could be I'm sorry, or this isn't going to be fun, or this is going 168 00:13:33,419 --> 00:13:39,260 to be horrid, I'm sorry, just find any phrase you like and say that before you leave for 169 00:13:39,260 --> 00:13:41,219 the emergency absence. 170 00:13:41,219 --> 00:13:46,739 You can layer in something like picking up a cue, it could be a really big object, kind 171 00:13:46,739 --> 00:13:50,179 of a weird object, I don't know, pick up a chair and put it in a different location in 172 00:13:50,179 --> 00:13:51,179 the hallway. 173 00:13:51,179 --> 00:13:55,460 But you're just going to make sure that it's as different as possible. 174 00:13:55,460 --> 00:14:00,299 And the second part of making it as different as possible, this emergency absence, is location. 175 00:14:00,299 --> 00:14:04,979 So if you normally give your dog access to the living room when you leave, maybe give 176 00:14:04,979 --> 00:14:09,020 your dog access just to the kitchen when you leave, or vice versa. 177 00:14:09,020 --> 00:14:13,500 So leave them in a different spot, leave them in a different location to where they would 178 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:19,419 normally be, and then fingers crossed, because fear and emotion can be very context and very 179 00:14:19,419 --> 00:14:26,219 location specific in dogs, so fingers crossed, they might go, oh, okay, I was left in the 180 00:14:26,219 --> 00:14:30,619 kitchen and that's not normal, and that was different, oh, back to training. 181 00:14:30,619 --> 00:14:33,859 Dogs by the way don't know it's training, they just know safe dangerous, that's a topic 182 00:14:33,859 --> 00:14:35,820 for a whole other episode. 183 00:14:35,820 --> 00:14:39,539 But if you can think about a different location, that might help. 184 00:14:39,539 --> 00:14:43,099 I don't mean a different house, obviously, although that can be an option too, by the 185 00:14:43,099 --> 00:14:44,099 way. 186 00:14:44,099 --> 00:14:49,020 So if you've got a friend who says, you know what, he can come over, but I have to go out 187 00:14:49,020 --> 00:14:54,900 for an hour, that could be an option too, different location, different view of what's 188 00:14:54,900 --> 00:14:57,219 safe dangerous, fingers crossed for your dog. 189 00:14:57,219 --> 00:15:01,380 So we've got cues, telling them that this isn't going to be good, telling them that 190 00:15:01,380 --> 00:15:05,419 it's not going to be great and it's going to be different, we've got location. 191 00:15:05,419 --> 00:15:09,580 And then we've got thinking about can you leave in a different way, can you leave out 192 00:15:09,580 --> 00:15:10,580 of a different door. 193 00:15:10,580 --> 00:15:14,820 So if you live in a house, you've got a front door and a back door, leave out of a different 194 00:15:14,820 --> 00:15:18,700 door than you would normally use for training. 195 00:15:18,700 --> 00:15:22,739 And then the fourth thing, mix up what you do before you leave. 196 00:15:22,739 --> 00:15:29,500 So when you do this emergency absence, whatever you do when you do normal safe training, don't 197 00:15:29,500 --> 00:15:30,500 do that. 198 00:15:30,500 --> 00:15:36,419 So if you set up your camera just before you do safe training, if you know you've got an 199 00:15:36,419 --> 00:15:40,979 emergency absence coming up, set up your camera way before. 200 00:15:40,979 --> 00:15:44,700 Just think through, what do I normally do, what do I normally do when we train? 201 00:15:44,700 --> 00:15:49,500 And when you get an emergency absence coming up, do everything differently. 202 00:15:49,500 --> 00:15:53,580 That whole piece of trying to make your dog think, this is different, so that when you 203 00:15:53,580 --> 00:15:58,659 get back to training they go, oh okay, that was horrible and scary and all those things 204 00:15:58,659 --> 00:16:03,059 happen but, ah okay, this is a safe thing, yeah, yeah, I'm fine with this. 205 00:16:03,059 --> 00:16:04,059 Okay. 206 00:16:04,059 --> 00:16:08,580 So that's what we're hoping for when we leave our dogs for an emergency. 207 00:16:08,580 --> 00:16:09,580 Number four. 208 00:16:09,580 --> 00:16:17,419 Now I always talk about exercise being an important part of a dog's everyday enrichment 209 00:16:17,419 --> 00:16:22,020 and that it's an important part of what we do to care for our dogs, giving them the right 210 00:16:22,020 --> 00:16:23,580 amount of exercise. 211 00:16:23,580 --> 00:16:27,780 But I also tell you that exhausting your dog is not the way to get a dog over separation 212 00:16:27,780 --> 00:16:28,780 anxiety. 213 00:16:28,780 --> 00:16:35,059 However, if you have an emergency coming up, do exhaust your dog. 214 00:16:35,059 --> 00:16:40,380 It's the one occasion where I would say to you, you know what, it can't harm and it might 215 00:16:40,380 --> 00:16:41,380 well help. 216 00:16:41,380 --> 00:16:48,859 Maybe, maybe, maybe just having a dog that is slightly more tired than normal, plus the 217 00:16:48,859 --> 00:16:52,619 medication, fingers crossed that could make a difference. 218 00:16:52,619 --> 00:16:57,140 So if your dog normally gets half an hour sniffy walk, think about, you know, a good 219 00:16:57,140 --> 00:17:02,140 hour off leash, really up the ante on the exercise. 220 00:17:02,140 --> 00:17:05,579 It's not going to make the difference on an ongoing basis. 221 00:17:05,579 --> 00:17:08,660 Exhausting your dog doesn't fix separation anxiety, but we're talking about an emergency 222 00:17:08,660 --> 00:17:09,660 here. 223 00:17:09,660 --> 00:17:14,140 We're talking about a situation that you need to just throw everything at it in the hope 224 00:17:14,140 --> 00:17:16,599 that it's going to make enough difference. 225 00:17:16,599 --> 00:17:17,599 It might not. 226 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:22,060 There's lots of dogs, for lots of dogs, it doesn't matter how tired they are. 227 00:17:22,060 --> 00:17:23,060 It's like us. 228 00:17:23,060 --> 00:17:26,459 If the house is on fire, it doesn't matter if we've run a marathon the day before, we're 229 00:17:26,459 --> 00:17:31,099 going to get out of bed in a panic at 2am if we hear the smoke alarms going off. 230 00:17:31,099 --> 00:17:33,020 But it might help. 231 00:17:33,020 --> 00:17:36,140 So it might help a dog in an emergency situation. 232 00:17:36,140 --> 00:17:40,140 I'm sure running a marathon isn't going to stop you getting out of bed at 2am if the 233 00:17:40,140 --> 00:17:42,020 smoke alarms going off. 234 00:17:42,020 --> 00:17:47,979 But yeah, exhausting your dog ahead of an emergency situation is a definite might help. 235 00:17:47,979 --> 00:17:53,380 And you know, it can be physical exercise plus tons of mental exercise on top. 236 00:17:53,380 --> 00:17:57,900 But don't, don't, don't shortchange your dog on their physical exercise. 237 00:17:58,619 --> 00:18:03,219 Just kind of getting them really nicely tired might help here. 238 00:18:03,219 --> 00:18:08,140 And then the fifth thing, I just mentioned it, we're going to get medication on board. 239 00:18:08,140 --> 00:18:13,380 You've tested it beforehand, you know which medication at which dosage helps for emergency 240 00:18:13,380 --> 00:18:15,339 situations for your dog. 241 00:18:15,339 --> 00:18:16,339 Get the timing right. 242 00:18:16,339 --> 00:18:21,859 I mean, obviously, if it's one of those complete emergencies where the phone rings and all 243 00:18:21,859 --> 00:18:26,180 of a sudden you're running to the hospital, you're just going to, you're probably going 244 00:18:26,180 --> 00:18:27,979 to forget most of these things. 245 00:18:27,979 --> 00:18:28,979 And that's okay. 246 00:18:28,979 --> 00:18:33,099 You definitely haven't got time in that situation to exhaust your dog. 247 00:18:33,099 --> 00:18:37,260 And you haven't got time in that situation to get the medication on board in advance, 248 00:18:37,260 --> 00:18:38,380 which is what you're supposed to do. 249 00:18:38,380 --> 00:18:40,900 But I would say still give your dog medication. 250 00:18:40,900 --> 00:18:44,819 So even if you've got like two minutes and you're running out of the door, I would still 251 00:18:44,819 --> 00:18:49,380 say, yeah, you know what, it should be an hour, it should be two hours for the medication 252 00:18:49,380 --> 00:18:52,260 but to give in advance. 253 00:18:52,260 --> 00:18:53,260 But give it anyway. 254 00:18:53,260 --> 00:18:54,260 Give it anyway. 255 00:18:55,020 --> 00:18:59,900 Because in one of those situations where it is literally run out of the door now, it won't 256 00:18:59,900 --> 00:19:04,219 harm you giving your dog medication as you run out of the door, even if it should have 257 00:19:04,219 --> 00:19:08,900 been a two hour in advance kind of thing, and it might help. 258 00:19:08,900 --> 00:19:13,260 And number six, and this is really important, this is for you, and this is for you and this 259 00:19:13,260 --> 00:19:16,780 is for you and your sanity, don't look. 260 00:19:16,780 --> 00:19:21,099 If you've just got a call and you've had to go to the hospital or if you've just been 261 00:19:21,099 --> 00:19:28,219 told that the dog walker can't come in an hour because they're sick, but you've got 262 00:19:28,219 --> 00:19:36,060 a massive meeting at work or you've got a job interview, don't be tempted to keep looking 263 00:19:36,060 --> 00:19:37,859 at your dog on camera. 264 00:19:37,859 --> 00:19:38,939 Don't peek. 265 00:19:38,939 --> 00:19:41,020 Don't have a look. 266 00:19:41,020 --> 00:19:43,540 And that sounds really cruel and heartless, doesn't it? 267 00:19:43,540 --> 00:19:47,819 And it's not, it isn't me saying, oh, just ignore your dog. 268 00:19:47,819 --> 00:19:54,140 What I'm saying to you is, if there's nothing you can do about your dog when he's home alone 269 00:19:54,140 --> 00:19:59,900 in that emergency and you're stressing out and it's making the situation you're dealing 270 00:19:59,900 --> 00:20:05,020 with even worse, then it doesn't do you or him any good to look. 271 00:20:05,020 --> 00:20:09,819 Now obviously what you're saying is, well, I'm going to keep an eye and if it gets really, 272 00:20:09,819 --> 00:20:14,380 really bad, then I'm going to implement plan B, then I would say to you, well, maybe you 273 00:20:14,380 --> 00:20:17,219 should have implemented plan B before you even went out. 274 00:20:17,219 --> 00:20:21,939 So I think in this situation where you've exhausted every single avenue for getting 275 00:20:21,939 --> 00:20:28,540 somebody to be with your dog and you know there is no choice for that one hour during 276 00:20:28,540 --> 00:20:32,579 the course of training where you've been so, so diligent, there's going to be this one 277 00:20:32,579 --> 00:20:35,180 hour, don't look at the camera. 278 00:20:35,180 --> 00:20:36,180 You can look afterwards. 279 00:20:36,180 --> 00:20:41,020 I'm not saying that and actually it would be really helpful, heartbreaking, but helpful 280 00:20:41,020 --> 00:20:42,140 to look afterwards. 281 00:20:42,140 --> 00:20:50,619 But in that moment when you're out and especially when you can't do anything, don't look, yeah? 282 00:20:50,619 --> 00:20:54,260 We look during training because we can get back any minute. 283 00:20:54,260 --> 00:20:55,260 That's why we look. 284 00:20:55,260 --> 00:20:58,420 We look because we want to make sure that we're out for the right duration, that nothing 285 00:20:58,420 --> 00:21:04,060 is happening before the target duration and that we rush back if there's a problem. 286 00:21:04,060 --> 00:21:10,819 But if you're completely unable to get back, looking is only just, it's going to make everything 287 00:21:10,819 --> 00:21:11,819 worse for you. 288 00:21:11,819 --> 00:21:16,859 Have a look when you get back and accept that it's okay not to pee because you're not going 289 00:21:16,859 --> 00:21:18,939 to do anything as a result of what you see. 290 00:21:18,939 --> 00:21:23,459 Okay, so those are my six top tips for dealing with an emergency. 291 00:21:23,459 --> 00:21:26,939 Obviously I hope this never happens because I don't want you to have to deal with that 292 00:21:26,939 --> 00:21:32,579 in your life, let alone the added stress of worrying about what to do with your dog. 293 00:21:32,579 --> 00:21:40,060 And let's try and limit it to true emergencies, be as creative and imaginative and resourceful 294 00:21:40,060 --> 00:21:41,060 as you can. 295 00:21:41,060 --> 00:21:46,739 Plan for the emergency, which I know is kind of weird, but accept that, yeah, one day it 296 00:21:46,739 --> 00:21:50,300 might happen and if so, you know what to do. 297 00:21:50,300 --> 00:21:52,739 All right, that's it from me for this week. 298 00:21:52,739 --> 00:21:54,020 Thank you so much for listening. 299 00:21:54,020 --> 00:21:58,180 I really appreciate you tuning in and I look forward to catching you soon. 300 00:21:58,180 --> 00:22:01,699 Bye for now. 301 00:22:01,699 --> 00:22:07,500 Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Be Right Back Separation Anxiety Podcast. 302 00:22:07,500 --> 00:22:12,819 If you want to find out more about how I can help you further, head over to julienaysmith.com. 303 00:22:12,819 --> 00:22:18,500 Meanwhile, if you enjoyed listening today, I would love it if you would head over to 304 00:22:18,500 --> 00:22:23,819 wherever you listen to your podcasts and consider rating my show. 305 00:22:23,819 --> 00:22:24,819 Thanks so much. 306 00:22:24,819 --> 00:22:26,979 Good luck with that training and bye for now. 307 00:22:37,500 --> 00:22:38,500 Bye. 308 00:22:38,500 --> 00:22:38,500