My dog has severe separation anxiety so I’ve started using your app to train. I watch her on the doggy cam. Should I go straight back in when she starts to whine or wait until time is up? Thanks.
Hi, sorry to hear about the difficulties with your dog. I hope Calm My Dog will help you train your dog.
Yes, you need to go straight back and not let your dog stay anxious. Here’s why:
The core principle behind treating separation anxiety is to ensure the dog does not reach a high level of distress. The training involves gradually building the dog’s tolerance to being alone without triggering anxiety. If the dog starts to whine, it indicates that the dog is beginning to experience stress. Allowing the dog to remain stressed can reinforce the anxiety and make future training sessions more difficult.
When you return to the dog upon showing signs of stress, the dog remains within its comfort zone, and over time, with consistent training, the duration that the dog can tolerate being alone will gradually increase without causing anxiety.
In the application, you should stop the session if the dog failed and then it’s also registered in the application.
Good luck.