Serving the Santa Barbara region and beyond
Serving the Santa Barbara region and beyond
Is your dog’s separation anxiety making you both miserable?
There is light at the end of this tunnel. If your dog’s separation anxiety is wreaking havoc on your life, I’m here to help. A Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer with over 200 hours of study on this specific behavior issue, I’m uniquely positioned to help you reach your goals and get your life back. Together, we can teach your dog to stay home alone comfortably. There’s no reason to struggle any longer — relaxed alone time for your dog and relief from worry for you is possible.
When left alone, dogs with separation related issues experience any of a range of symptoms indicating mild anxiety to uncontrollable panic.
Resolution of this distressing canine condition requires training.
While the causes of SA are unknown, research indicates the following are not factors:
You deserve relief.
We begin with a 4-week training program to build a strong foundation for longer periods of stress-free home alone time, and estimate the amount of training required to reach your goals. At the beginning of each week we’ll run a live video assessment. You’ll get daily customized training plans called “missions,” feedback on each of those missions, and ongoing email support. Savvy and motivated owners find they can often continue the process on their own with less and less support.
Sara Munro Dog Training serves dogs and their families suffering from separation anxiety in the Santa Barbara Area and across the country. This innovative remote training protocol allows you to receive help wherever you’re located, and for me to provide active support every step of the way. Schedule your free 30-minute Initial Consultation.
Myth: Dogs communicate their anger about being left alone by urinating, defecating, barking incessantly or destroying your stuff.
Truth: Your dog’s behavior indicates an involuntary loss of emotional and physiological control, not a planned and spiteful protest of your absence. In actuality, your dog is panicked and afraid you’re not coming back.
Myth: It’s your fault. Many will tell you that you’ve spoiled your dog or somehow brought this on yourself.
Truth: SA is the most researched behavior of all those plaguing dogs, and there is no evidence pointing in this direction. Individual dogs respond to stressful life events differently and anxiety arises from within the dog based on their unique genetics and individual experience.
An Invitation: Please release yourself from blame. It’s no one’s fault. Now is a good time to offer you and your dog some much needed kindness and compassion. Having a dog with this disorder is stressful enough.
It seems reasonable to assume an SA dog will “get over it,” and that an equally reasonable approach would be to hold off on training awaiting that result. Won’t he realize you come back every time? It would be nice if this was true, but unfortunately, it’s just the opposite. In most cases, dogs with SA don’t get better, they get worse.
To understand why, let’s look at it from the dog’s perspective. As your dog watches you all day, day-in and day-out, he becomes an expert at identifying the precursors to your departure. While putting on a cap and hiking shoes may suggest a fun walk, putting on work shoes, and grabbing your bag and car keys predicts your exit without him, for example.
Each time you get ready to go, your dog watches with growing unease as the clues that he’ll be left alone stack up. This ongoing state of low-level anxiety builds to full-blown panic as you leave, propelling his body to release a cascade of stress chemicals.
This repetitive cycle of exposure to stress and anxiety typically results in a hyper-vigilant dog with increased—not decreased—sensitivity to your departures, making it physically impossible for your dog to feel calm or safe when left alone.
Please keep reading because there is some good news—with training, and for some severe cases with the help of medication, dogs can and do learn to stay at home alone.
Computer, tablet, and smart phone technology greatly enhance behavior modification for Separation Anxiety. They enable us to watch your dog from a distance and desensitize him to your departures in a highly systematic and strategic way, without causing distress that can prolong the process. With platforms like Zoom we can accelerate training, and save you time and money.
Nothing gives me more pleasure than teaching my client’s dogs to behave. I seek every possibility to create positive learning opportunities. I am thrilled by the moment they get it, when you can see that light bulb switch on, when they understand good things are coming their way and they offer you their best behavior. Then doing the right thing becomes fun and training progress accelerates. Regardless of breed or age, I approach every dog with curiosity and respect. Because I’m passionate about getting the best results for both you and your dog, I look for the best in your best friend, and seek to combine the specific and unique ingredients that will help you live a stress-free, fulfilling life together.
Please reach out. Sara Munro Dog Training is here to help.
We’ve been working with Sara over the past few months to help address our dog’s separation anxiety – since we started working with her, we’ve seen massive improvements in his ability to be left alone. Sara’s guidance has been critical to this progress and would highly recommend her services!
Spencer Pratt
Before I started Separation Anxiety training with Sara, I was doing it on my own. I felt isolated, and like it would take forever. Within a month, my dog jumped from 6 minutes of alone time to an entire hour! I absolutely recommend training with Sara so you can take on what feels impossible. You can have peace of mind and confidence, knowing your dog isn’t panicking at home alone.
Crystal Franco
Cool tips and hot tricks—and other generally useful info—for living your best life with your best friend.
Rest assured, I refuse to barrage you with emails or sell your address. It’s not my style…and I’m way too busy training dogs and their people! 🙂
