How I Fixed My Dog's Separation Anxiety
Thursday, December 18, 2025
How I Fixed My Dog's Separation Anxiety
Learn how to stop separation anxiety in dogs from an expert dog trainer's own experience with canine separation anxiety.
Thursday, December 18, 2025
Heather Smith
Separation anxiety in dogs is no joke!
The pacing, barking, whining, destructive scratching and chewing... it's expensive for you, and dangerous for your dog.
How is it dangerous?
Let me tell you about my dog...
Hi, I'm Heather Smith, a life-long dog trainer and dog behaviorist, and this is my dog, Jasper.
I got Jasper from a local animal rescue at 4 months of age.
This dog chose me; that's why I adopted him. He came over, laid his head on my lap, and just stared up into my eyes the whole time while the other puppies ran around playing.
He was a Velcro dog - never let me out of his sight. He would even sleep with one eye open (I'm not joking!) and with any move I made, he would spring awake!
The first two days I had him, he chewed his food and took his time, until one day...
I walked out of the room to get something while he was happily munching on his breakfast. When I turned around, I nearly tripped over him.
"Aw, come on buddy, let's go finish your breakfast."
To my dismay, the food was completely gone! I was only out of the room for 30 seconds!
He has never chewed his food since that day. That's the power of separation anxiety. But that's not all...
[picture of the wet, chewed and scratched door here.]
When I first got him, I would go to the grocery store, be gone for 1.5 hours, and come home to chewed door frames, a chewed baby gate, a slobbery and very scratched solid wood door, shredded puppy pads, several chewed items that were in high places when I left the house, and sometimes blood from Jasper hurting himself while trying to get out to find me.
I set up a camera to see what all he did when I went away for a short time.
It turned out he was climbing up onto the washing machine and pulling the empty lunch boxes down from the shelf above - that small pup could jump!
Leaving him in a "puppy-proofed" room wasn't an option anymore, nor was the back yard. Nowhere was safe for him with his self-destructing episodes.
I simply had to crate him while I was away (and I was never gone more than 3 hours). But even that came with a danger...
He began chewing up his bed - and I mean SHREDDING it.
[picture of the chewed bed here.]
He went through multiple beds, and it was getting expensive!
I was afraid he would ingest the pieces of stuffing and cause an intestinal blockage. So I resorted to crating him without a bed for a short time until I had him trained to be ok with being alone.
He had all of the signs of separation anxiety in dogs.
Fortunately for him, his mommy was (and still is ☺) a dog trainer!
I knew how to treat separation anxiety, but those methods were a slow process... I needed something to work fast!
Since Jasper was my own dog, I was willing to test new training methods based on my knowledge and research.
Pretty quickly, I found something that worked!
As I experimented:
Within a couple weeks, he wasn't crying at night, and I could get him to sit and wait as I disappeared around the corner for a few seconds.
Within a month, he began to eat without me being in the room.
In 3 months, he no longer chewed up his bed.
In 6 months, it came full-circle; not a single fuss from him about me leaving the house!
Sure, I used some of what I learned from dog training college, but this new method was the key to speeding up the whole process!
Separation anxiety in dogs can be cured!
But hold on, what if:
- dog trainers have been going about this all wrong...
- what if separation anxiety in dogs is not what you think it is...
- what if all the advice about giving your dog a food-filled chewy is actually making the problem worse?!
That's right. Those are bold statements... but they're true.
After I helped my dog, I put the same methods to work with other people who had dogs with separation anxiety.
It worked.
I got results for people faster and faster as I honed my craft.
It took me only 6 months to get my dog to a state of calm in my absence (whereas most people deal with dog separation anxiety as a life-long problem, with other trainers claiming they can fix dog separation anxiety in about a year)...
Soon it took only a matter of weeks to get other people the same results!
If you're ready to put an end to your anxious dog's destructive behavior, excessive barking, pacing, and escape attempts, sign up using the form on this page to get your anxious dog on the road to recovery today!
Discover the secret dog training method that most other dog trainers aren't even aware of that gets you results in a matter of weeks (and for some members: days!).
Hi, I'm Heather. I have over a decade of experience in working with dogs of all breeds, ages, and personalities and I know first-hand how to change a dog's behavior.
This secret dog training method I speak of - I haven't seen any of the online gurus talking about it, yet it works so well!
I've helped many many dogs learn how to be ok when their people leave the house - and I know I can help yours too!
Sign up to become a member from this page, and you'll get specific advice on how to stop dog separation anxiety in its tracks, right in your inbox.
You'll also be granted access to a private online community where you can read posts about how to fix dog behaviors and ask questions.
What's most exciting to members is the complimentary monthly dog training and Q&A session, where you can get your questions answered by me live!
We take care of our members! Unlock all the dog training education you need to get your dog on the right path.
I sincerely hope you'll take advantage of the complimentary benefits available to members within the private community.
I'll see you inside!
♥ Heather Smith, ABCDT & Dog Behaviorist
Hi, I'm Heather!
Dog Trainer & Dog Behaviorist
Cat Trainer & Cat Behaviorist
Pet Lover's Passion provides educational benefits to private members to enrich the lives of members and their animals through quality training for fun and enrichment as well as to solve animal behavior issues.
Our Director, Heather Smith, is an Animal Behavior College Certified Dog Trainer (ABCDT) and a dog behavior specialist with 17+ years of experience in training dogs and cats.
She specializes in relationship based dog training, puppy training, training for fearful dogs, dog separation anxiety, dog obedience training, and cat training.
Heather passionately advocates that training should be fun and good training is about building a healthy relationship of trust with your dog (or cat)! By using relationship-based training methods, treats are not needed, especially for solving problem behaviors.
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