Separation anxiety in multi-pet households

While they might not always act like this, when tensions run high while alone, they may be more prone to be rude to one another.

Probably a good idea to separate. Maybe kitty has a favorite spot to hang out in the bedroom? She can hang out there behind a closed door while pup has access to the living room and kitchen with our bathroom door shut. Plan made!

Having multiple dogs or multiple pets can make identifying and treating separation behavior issues feel a bit overwhelming… but it can be done! While you can just throw a camera up and see what happens when you are away, you should consider a few things.

Safety

The first consideration anytime you have multiple dogs or pets is safety. If your pets EVER have spats, chase in a way that needs to be interrupted, or one who sometimes incessantly seeks attention without listening to your other pet’s social cues when you ARE present, then you need to be sure that when you are away and cannot intervene that there is no chance for them to get into it. This may be solved by baby gates, shut doors, crates, 3-D cat trees, or playpens - but make sure your solution is proportional to the level of interaction that needs to be limited. If even seeing each other when they are feeling spicy is too much or overstimulating, then there needs to be a visual barrier like a solid door.

Sometimes I have seen pets who don’t usually have any issues when owners are present redirect alone time frustration onto each other when their people are away - so also watch carefully in case something new or unusual pops up when they are alone.

Some pets are great, and even better, when left together but make sure that you are doing what is safest for all pets involved, not just what is easiest or what you wish would be ok.

However!!! The crate is NOT always a safer for the dog with separation anxiety. Sometimes it may be absolutely necessary as the only option for safe pet separation, but a dog panicking in a crate can hurt themselves with chewing, scratching, or flailing on bars or broken plastic and sometimes destroy the crate anyway. So just be mindful that while you need proportional isolation options, you also need to keep in mind what is safe for each pet in terms of their behavior in that space and what you need to do to help them like the space they are in. To help each pet feel as comfy as possible in their isolation spots, you may do a little extra training on top of your separation anxiety training itself.

Safe Space

If you DO need to isolate pets from each other, keep in mind which animal(s) will best tolerate the type of separation you are using. Some dogs who suffer from separation anxiety ALSO experience confinement distress which means that they may also have a fear or panic response to a crate or shut door. It is easy to automatically think that the animal that is having the most issues should be the one to be left in a room or in the crate for safety or property preservation. However, it is possible that the animal who is calm when alone will also tolerate being in their own room or crate the best and the dog who is experiencing panic when alone may be slightly more comfortable to roam free in as much of the house as is safe for them. As for the property concerns; part of separation training is to manage/eliminate alone time until your dog/pet is happy and safe alone which means there won’t BE any property destruction occurring - sign up for a phone call or initial assessment and I can explain that more fully.

Then do some safe space training! Make sure that wherever each pet will be is made into their favorite place to be! Play with toys, train tricks, get the best snacks/chews, and make sure there are comfy special spots for them to hang out there. Spend some time with them in this space that you want to be THEIRS when you are away so they love it.

Which One?

Sometimes you know someone in the house is ripping things up, digging up the carpet, going to the bathroom in the bedroom, or slobbering excessively on the door, but you aren’t totally sure which pet is doing it. You may have suspicions that it is the newest pet in the house since it wasn’t an issue before. The only way to be sure it to watch and listen to what is happening when you are away.

If you feel uncomfortable doing this on your own it is completely normal and ok to reach out to a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer like me to watch, record and interpret behavior, and let you know when to come back.

You do not always have to have a million cameras in every part of your home to find out who is up to what. Often, separation-related behaviors are focused, at least early-on in the absence, towards the door that you exited through or the area where you are most visible after you have left (like a window facing the road or driveway). One camera or laptop on a Zoom call to your phone can often give you the information you need to know who is showing the most distress while alone.

Or maybe you do want to have a couple of tablets, laptops, or cameras like Wyze or Petcube so that you can get a full picture.

If you have pets who are isolated from each other, then I highly recommend having at least one camera on each pet so that you know what everyone is up to (including the cat! yes, cats can have separation anxiety too).

Also as a note - I listed some pretty big behaviors at the beginning of this section - it isn’t always as obvious when a pet has separation anxiety. Sometimes, they may pace constantly but quietly and never do anything “undesired,” but they hardly settle or once they settle for a bit, get up and pace or run around again. This may seem “less extreme,” but their discomfort is just as real and serious as it is for the dog who ripped up the front door.

There is HOPE!

Separation anxiety is treatable! It is not an impossible process and I have seen my separation anxiety protocols work again and again. It may take some tweaking and creativity, but even in households with complicated sets of pet personalities and multiple pets with separation issues - it can be done!

Reach out anytime if you want to know more. I am here for you if you are looking for support in helping your whole family reach a level of comfort that allows everyone to live their lives to the fullest. You getting to go out to dinner while your dogs take naps in their own rooms. Your dog and cat peacefully sniffing, snacking, and napping while you go to work. Or your puppy pile all contentedly dozing on the couch while you run your errands and grab a coffee with a friend.

These are achievable goals - get creative, spend the time you need to, go slow and steady at your pets’ paces, and you can get there!