How to Prevent Separation Anxiety in Your ESA

For anyone who is suffering from severe anxiety and depression or just needs a little help keeping their mind sane, an emotional support animal becomes the most important addition to their lives emotional support animals provide you the support and positive energy that you need to keep your spirits high.

Remember that with your ESA or any pet the relationship is a two-way path and they are as attached to you as you are. But as humans, you understand your separation from them differently than they do.  For example, you need to fly back to your family for the weekend; you realize that it is just a two-day trip and that you “will be back” but your pet will see this differently and just might feel abandoned.

What Is Separation Anxiety?

It is a disorder associated with excessive fear and anxiety. This is the result of separation from objects, home or a figure in your life. It is a disorder, which pets of all ages can experience. The symptoms of this disorder vary animal to animal, but you will notice defensiveness in their behaviors. If your ESA is a canine, then you may have to face excessive howling and barking, chewing furniture and destroying their beds, urinating and defecating indoors excessive panting and drooling as well as attempts to escape.

Canines can exhibit such behavior occasionally and may not be doing it due to separation anxiety but if this behavior persists and you are consistently leaving the house for hours on end, or even just for 30 minutes their behavior may indicate separation anxiety.

What You Need to Do

Constant anxiety and stress can cause damage to the reflexes and mental capabilities of your ESA. You need to prepare beforehand so that this situation does not occur. Here is what you need to do

• Crate Training

Crate training is not cruel or unhealthy; it is your pets ally can help solve many issues. It can be an essential training tool for your ESA and is proven to solve separation anxiety problems. Train your dog to think of it as a quite safe place for it. You can start by leaving your dog in the crate outside on the porch or inside in a room for 20 minutes onwards. This way your ESA will learn to stay alone and will not experience separation anxiety.

• Condition Them from the Beginning

A mentally healthy and stable animal is the result of proper conditioning. Pets and support animals are wired to feel unsafe without you, and they will get a sense of abandonment, but you can work towards getting them to respond differently. Treats can work wonders for training purposes, each time you leave the house for a few hours or leave them in the crate give them a high-value treat which will associate their patience with a reward and they are sure to realize that you will return and will not abandon them.

• Medication

Training helps a great deal, but you cannot be certain how your ESA will take it. This is when medication comes in, try to choose a natural supplement that will help. Most vets will recommend medications such as amitriptyline, which is used to treat panic and anxiety disorders. These medications are prescribed by the vet and should only be administered on the recommendation of a vet. The dose will vary according to the condition and other characteristics of your ESA.

Conclusion

Your ESA is bound to feel separation anxiety; the problem arises when it is unable to deal with it. As soon as you adopt start working on leaving them alone for periods of time and condition them to function when you are not around.