Training Philosophy
Does your puppy bark and cry nonstop whenever you’re away from them? Do you feel like you can’t leave your house because you’re afraid to leave your puppy alone? Puppy separation anxiety can be incredibly stressful for any pet parent. Occasional crying in the crate is normal puppy behavior and is nothing to worry about but nonstop vocalizations for over an hour paired with stress signals could be the start of serious separation anxiety. Our Austin Puppy Separation Anxiety Training Programs are scientifically designed to treat puppy separation anxiety and stop the anxious behavior before it gets too severe. Your Austin behavior consultant will come directly to your home to treat your puppy’s anxious behavior.
Does your puppy experience high levels of stress whenever they’re not right by your side? Led by Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, Dr. Echterling-Savage, we only utilize the latest research in puppy behavior in our Austin puppy training programs. Using our proprietary training tool called the Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior which we designed after training hundreds of dogs experiencing separation anxiety, our pre-training team will craft a customized training plan to treat your puppy’s separation anxiety. Your Austin trainer will put this training plan into action and use a combination of classical conditioning and positive reinforcement to teach your puppy that good things can happen outside of your presence! After seeing hundreds of puppies fail in standard separation anxiety training programs, your puppy will experience the Beyond the Dog difference with our puppy training programs designed for long-lasting behavior change. Our goal is to make both you and your puppy confident and relaxed whenever you leave the house. Treating your puppy’s separation anxiety is a lifelong investment that can significantly increase both you and your puppy’s quality of life.
Training Programs
Our goal is to treat your puppy’s separation anxiety and reinforce calm, quiet behavior when left alone including but not limited to:
Separation anxiety in dogs typically develops around the age range of 3-5 years but in some cases, separation anxiety can be present in puppyhood and adolescence. Our Austin behavior consultants will flag the severity of your puppy’s behavior and treat the separation anxiety before it worsens into adulthood. If your puppy cries for hours in the crate, soils the crate as a result of stress being alone or self-injures to escape the crate, your puppy might have separation anxiety. Identifying the signs of early separation anxiety is the first step to treating the behavior. We treat separation anxiety with classical counterconditioning. Over time, puppies learn to be comfortable and confident and no longer show high levels of stress when left alone, in the crate, or outside of their owner’s presence. Research by Zurlinden et al. examined levels of barking in kenneled, shelter dogs and showed that counterconditioning is an effective treatment method for treating separation anxiety. According to our resident CAAB Dr. Echterling-Savage, “Pet parents’ worries about separation anxiety can be put to ease with behavior modification training and simple modifications to their daily routines.”
The All-Inclusive Program for Separation Anxiety encompasses 20 training sessions across five intensive weeks with two follow-up sessions spanning a total of 22 training sessions over eight weeks! After you submit your training contract and Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior, our pre-training team, led by Dr. Echterling-Savage, uses the information provided to craft your personalized dog training program. Then, your trainer will put your training plan into action! Your trainer will work with your dog one-on-one for three (1) hour sessions during the week. The fourth session each week is dedicated to your training! This structure is designed to produce seamless learning and long-term behavior change. After the five-week-long training, there are two follow-up sessions to support your progress. Please note that our indirect behavior assessments will confirm the severity of your dog’s behavior and if deemed severe you may incur a small additional fee.
If you are a pet parent with an insurance policy covering behavior modification, our separation anxiety puppy behavior modification is likely covered. When behavior training is under the direction of a CAAB or a Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist, most companies with behavior policies such as Trupanion will cover behavioral training.
Want expert advice on how to treat your puppy’s separation anxiety but don’t live in the Greater Austin area? Schedule a 1-hour virtual consultation with one of our behavior experts! Our CAAB, Dr. Echterling-Savage, or one of our Austin behavior consultants, under her direct supervision, will give you expert training advice on how to get your puppy comfortable with being left alone. After completing the Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior, we will recommend one or multiple sessions depending on the severity of your puppy’s separation anxiety. Pricing for a 1-hour virtual consultation with Dr. Ectherling-Savage is $375. Pricing for a 1-hour virtual consultation with one of our Austin trainers is $150.
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