A Specialized Place for Dogs with Anxiety!
Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer Rochester, NY
Separation Anxiety Training
Separation Anxiety can make it hard to leave your dog home alone. I have a dog myself with this disorder and the training helped! As a certified separation anxiety trainer, I put together a hybrid systematic desensitization training program that many clients find affordable. Book a separation anxiety consultation to learn more about the program. It’s no charge to you and it’s a half hour zoom meeting.
Certified Separation Anxiety Training CSAT
Virtual Training
I offer Puppy (Beginner) Classes, Basic Manners, Relaxation, Fitness, Enrichment, and Separation Anxiety training. Virtual training is the best way to train your dog, especially if they are nervous about new places or people. Dogs can’t learn if they feel unsafe, and virtual sessions allow me to guide you in your own environment. Successful training requires your active participation, as your behavior influences your dog’s behavior. Virtual training is also great for puppies—puppy classes can be overstimulating and risky before vaccinations are complete. We can start as early as 6 weeks without worrying about exposure to illness. It’s flexible, saves on travel time, and fits into your schedule. I’ll work with you to create a custom plan tailored to your lifestyle.
Certified Separation Anxiety Training
Enrichment Daycare
Enrichment daycare allows your dog to develop all their senses (smell, taste, touch, hearing, etc.) to give them confidence to engage in new situations. This is also an opportunity to identify each individual dog’s talents. We do busy boxes, scent-finding games, and relaxation games. My daycare environment is not overwhelming to dogs with anxiety. I create a safe space for them to learn. There is limited space for how many dogs I can take. Fill out a form and I will get you in! Spots are limited!
Is it Important to Treat Anxiety? What Happens if I Just Ignore it?
Anxiety Behaviors
As a trainer, I frequently see anxiety-driven behaviors in pets. Symptoms vary, but common signs include lip licking, yawning, itching, squinting, barking, and cowering. The more severe anxiety-driven behaviors, like inappropriate urination, self-mutilation, and destruction, often require training and vet intervention. Even seemingly mild behaviors, like constant lip licking, can be just as harmful as more intense actions, like clawing at the door.
The truth is, they both are the same feeling displayed in different ways from pet to pet. One is not more intense than the other because they both stem from intense feelings of anxiety. Although the behaviors vary in each pet, the root of their feelings is worth addressing through training.
What causes anxiety?
Anxiety, in general, is a state of panic and your mind is telling you are in danger, for whatever reason. There are no shortcuts to fixing anxiety. Just as in humans, there is no way to cure anxiety, but we can teach the pet how to manage it better. Depending on the type of anxiety, there are methods of training to help them learn how to manage their triggers. Prescription medications can also be used alongside the training, with a veterinarian’s diagnosis. Medication alone will help lower the fight or flight response, but it does not help them manage the triggers or change the responses to them. You do need to do the training with the formal medication and each individual pet will be evaluated throughout their therapy. Training can be expensive for some disorders and will require life-long reinforcement.
Long term effects
The long-term effect of anxiety, pet life span, quality of life, relationship to pet, mental and physical health issues, and associated medical costs caused by anxiety outweigh the cost and time spent on treating the root of their anxiety. Just like humans, anxiety, and depression can lead to a multitude of health issues like early onset of heart, kidney, and liver disease. Increase weight gain, leading to mobility complications, loss of confidence, and pain. This, in turn, sends you to the veterinarian that may prescribe long-term use of NSAIDs, which causes other obstacles and health complications. Training and Fitness can prevent most of these issues and it’s all natural!
Enrichment, training, and fitness are the 3 things that help with keeping your pet healthy, mind, and body!
