M1 Flashcards
What is separation anxiety?
A suite of behaviours that present when O is absent.
When do SRB occur?
Only when the O isn’t home
OR
Behv that happens at other times but is greater intensity or frequency when the O is absent
What are typical SA related Behv?
1) Barking, Whining, crying, howling
2) Defecated, soiling and urination
3) Panting, pacing, hypervigilance
4) Chewing, destroying, escape attempts
5) Drooling, vomitting, anorexia
What are the 2 broad categories of SRB
Boredom or frustration
Fear and anxiety
What are the 2 key categories under fear/anxiety SA
1) Dogs who don’t like being home alone - isolation distress
2) Dogs who can’t bear to be separated from their person (SA)
Do labels matter in SA?
No! The training protocols work for SA driven by different motivations. As long as you know what type of SA you are dealing with you are good.
Why don’t labels matter in SA?
We are teaching the dog to be more tolerant of alone time regardless of the motivation for the SRB
How do we identify SA?
O input - we don’t need to see it
Why don’t we need to see SRB?
Because we are fear free trainers. We want to avoid exposure to the scary stimuli and an over threshold event at all costs.
Are SRB always present in SA?
No! Only 90% of dogs will present with one or more of the typical SRBs.
What info can O give us?
O are more likely to have already filmed their dog and can often describe the B upon careful questioning
What is the full list of SRB that indicate anxiety?
Panting/pacing
Drooling/salivating
Retching
Freezing
Roaching
Hyper vigilance
Whale eye/ears back/hard mouth
Frantic destruction
Escape attempts
Self harm
Shaking
Coweing
Vommiting
Tail tucking
Hiding
Sweating Paws
Inappropriate elimination
What are rarer symptoms of SA?
Fear aggression
Spinning
Compulsive behv
Hiding once O gone
Unique individual B’s
Will you always see SRB in SA?
No! Sometimes you will just see excessive normal B’s! - the intensity and persistence are the keys
what are some examples of excessive normal B’s?
Vocailisation (absence of any other fear B)
Destruction (fun rather than escape attempt)
House soilin (ht vs sa)
What function does fear based SRB fulfil?
Escape and get to O
My O will come home
I feel better doing this (eg screaming on a rollercoaster)
What is a key Q when determining if the B is SA or boredom/lack of enrichment?
Does this happen 100% solely when you are out and not at any other time?
What is a good question to ask to find out if the dog does the B at any other time?
Does he ever do this behind your back or out of sight?
What are the emotions that drive SRB
Fear
Safe/dangerous
Boredom
Frustration
They aren’t always mutually exclusive
What else could sneaking off to perform behv mean
Discrimination learning - Safe when O absent
Indicative of punishment (eg reverse h/t)
What are the 2 tell tale signs of SRB vs frustration b
Profile of the dog
How persistent is the Behv?
What are the items within profile of the dog
1) age
2) breed
3) energy
4) mental stimulation
5) exercise
Do we need a splitty of lumpy ID?
Lumpy is fine
What is a lumpy ID?
Put 2 things in the same category unless there is some convincing reason to separate them
What is a splitty ID?
Put 2 things in different categories unless there is some convincing reason to unite them
Why is a lumpy ID okay?
We are teaching the dog to be more tolerant of alone time so it doesn’t really matter what motivation drives it.
What is the most important distinction?
Is the dog okay with just anyone? or
Does only the special person make it better?
What about SRB in dogs that have confinement anxiety?
Some will be fine out of the crate. Others will still fall apart when O goes.
Why will some dogs still fall apart when the crate is removed from the equation?
Because it’s access to the O that solves the problem and not having access that causes the anxiety - not the confinement in of itself. It’s just another layer!
What is the fundamental difference between fear and frustration
Frustration is like too tight jeans, an irritation. Fear is a different ocean - it’s fight or flight. Live or die.
What is the function of fear based B
Distance increasing mode
What is Flee?
I’ll increase the distance
What is fight?
You increase the distance
What evolutionary advantage does fight/flight confer?
Escape a threat
Avoid injury
Avoid starvation
Thus avoiding potential death and increasing chance of survivial to pass on genes.
What is the cost of a false negative? (I.e. q - is it safe and you answer yes)
Death. It’s better to err on the side of caution –> Fear is passed on
Do we breed domestic dogs to be fearful?
No! We have selectively bred over 30k years to want to be close to humans! BUT fear is so powerful to survivial in ancient populations it contiues to arise.
What is the definition of fear and anxiety
Fear relates to a known or understood threat wheras anxiety follows from an unknown expected or poorly defined threat.
What is an example of anxiety in reference to the the woods
Walking through the woods late at night - no visable threat but anticipated!
What is an example of fear in reference to walking through the woods at night
Meeting an armed gunman in the woods! Full on fear mode activated!
Are home alone dogs fearful or anxious?
We assume its anxiety becuase being left alone isn’t a clear and present danger AS humans understand it.
Can home alone time feel like a clear and present danger to a dog?
We don’t know, but it certainly could be the case that dogs are fearful in this situation.
Does it matter if its classified as “fear” or “anxiety” in home alone dogs?
No! It’s almost impossible to id the differences and it doesn’t matter as it won’t effect our training methods.
What is the function of fear in a home alone dog?
Increase distance from confinement situation or
Decrease distance from themselves and their O
Should fear be a big deal for dog O’s?
YES!
What are the top 2 prioirities in regards to fear for dog trainers
NO Dog should ever suffer fear on your watch
Fear is easy to condition but hard to overcome
Is it quick to change fear?
No! It takes a long times Fear helps keep animals alive. We are fighting against something that is natural and normal.
Can fear at the level of panic affect the wiring of the brain.
YES. It can change the coding in the amaygdala. It MUST be avoided at all costs.
What is our goal in SA
Stop the fear
Change how the dog feels about home alone from dangerous to safe.
Does the O “cause” SA
NO!
What trends do we see in relation to causes of SA
Rehoming later in life
Big disruptions in family
Sex (60 male:40 female)
Genetics
What do we need to repeat to clients about the cause of SA
It wasn’t their fault/
How do dogs develop fear?
1) Genetics
2) Ommision in early life
3) maternal stress in pregnancy
4) Maternal behaviour towards the litter
5) Bad experience
Do we need to know what causes the fear?
No! It doesn’t really matter because it doesn’t effect how we train.
What 2 areas do O have SOME infulence on when it comes to acquisition of fear in SA?
1) Early environment
2) Avoiding bad experience
What CAN O do in regards to SA prevention?
1) Home alone training is important for ALL new dogs to a home (puppies, rescues)
2) Make home alone prevention training positive.
What percentage of dogs are “unhappy” when left HA
up to 80% according to reasearch
Do fear and frustration weigh equally on a dog?
No. Frustration is unpleasant and we should avoid creating needless frustration but it is a different kettle of fish to fear.
How do dogs learn
CC and OC
Why is frustration less of a problem?
It doesn’t create the same damage as fear. Dogs cope with frustration and can absolutely be taught how to cope with frustration. It happens everyday. It is NOT fear.
How does CC apply to SA?
Pre departure cues = actions of O –> tip off O leaving
ALone time itself - home alone= fear = stress and anxiety
Out job is to change these connections so alone = safe
How does OC apply to SA?
Even if we aren’t deliberatly using OC dogs still learn B has a C when they are left alone. E.g. Barking home alone –> O returns = it worked!
What techniques do we use for Home Alone training?
DS CC to change the connection of HA from fear, frustration and anxiety to SAFE.
