Separation anxiety

Hi everyone! Long time no post. I have a curious question. Can a cavalier not suffer from separation anxiety(I know that they need their people and all, I also know some can have it worse than others, but can some not have the condition at all)? This is also a great question since I'm taking psychology at school. Thanks so much.


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As far as I'm aware, none of my Cavaliers has suffered from separation anxiety - except Aled, one of my present ones, who is a rescue and very dependant on my older dog Oliver. So Aled used to make a bit of fuss if I left him on his own and took Oliver out with me - but it was Oliver he was missing, not me! And he no longer does it. Part of my Cavaliers' lack of fuss, I think, is that I am on the whole a very calm person; for over 20 years I have worked from home, so they have plenty of my company; and I don't make a big performance about leaving them shut in - just check they will be comfortable and go. Oliver started going deaf at the age of 6 (he's now nearly 13), so he often doesn't hear me coming or going and he is a very laid back dog. I think I always assume they are going to behave well, and for the most part they do!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

When I used to breed Cavaliers I had both my foundation dog and bitch, then I kept the eldest daughter, later a tricolour boy and finally a little Blenheim girl called Easter. One by one Easter's family died off, leaving her an only dog for the very first time. I tried to be all things to her, playmate, parent and friend, but it just wasn't the same for her, even though I started to take her everywhere with me when I went out. After a couple of months she had her first bout of enteritis, quickly followed by attacks of colitis. I told the vet I thought it was separation anxiety, but at the time he did not believe in that, so she had course after course of antibiotics, which had little effect.

I took matters a stage further by finding another breeder, who promised me a tricolour girl from the newly born litter, but of course we had to wait until she was 8 weeks. By this time Easter was virtually a living skeleton and the vet was suggesting there wasn't much left that could be done for her. When baby Hattie reached 8 weeks the vet asked me to wait a bit longer before bringing her home because he thought Easter was too debilitated to cope with a new puppy in the house, so I waited until she was 9 weeks. It took 24 hours for Easter to fall in love with Hattie and to start to mother her. Quickly the digestive problems disappeared and Easter started to gain weight. When we saw the vet again a couple of weeks later he could not believe what he was seeing. He told me there and then that he had changed his mind about doubting separation anxiety.

I think that like people, some dogs suffer loss, unwelcome change or bereavement in different ways and that separation anxiety is a very real and sometimes serious condition.

I know many trainers like to differentiate between dogs that just need some basic training to gradually get used to being on their own now and then, and dogs that have a true and serious problem with separation anxiety. I've had eight cavaliers and none with actual separation anxiety though the younger dogs needed kind and gradual training to feel restful and confident when left on their own.

But I know of people who have this issue with their cavalier or other breed. When it's a serious issue it can be very hard for owners. I don't really think cavaliers are more prone to serious separation problems, however. But you are right, they don't, as a breed, like to be left out of daily activity and do like to be close to their people -- hence are not outside-in-the-garden dogs or dogs that are very happy if left alone every day for hours and hours.

I echo a lot of what has been said by others. Thistle was always furious if Guinness wasn't where he was supposed to be, but as long as she had him I could leave and she didn't care. When I first moved over to Belgium Thistle stayed behind in the US, she ended up staying with my aunt and her family, which was disastrous, and she ended up needing to be transfered back from NY to Louisiana so she could live with friends until I could get her. She was always adorable in my house in Louisiana, if Guinness and I disappeared around a corner she'd start following and cry as she walked so we'd know to wait for her. Although she was also the one to wander off on her own in the woods- Guinness would bark twice and she'd come racing back though.


Guinness has been through a lot and I think he's starting to feel like nothing in life can be counted on:
Guinness started out as an only dog and then had to get used to having Thistle around, and then get used to not having Thistle around when she wasn't in Belgium for the first 4 months, he didn't seem to care too much, but he was extremely happy when she returned. Then 5 months later she was PTS and he went back to being an only dog again, he had one major bout of illness but bounced back. For the recent move to Switzerland I left Guinness with an older couple in the Netherlands who have 2 cavaliers of their own. He stayed with them over Christmas when I went to the US, they all got along very well, and was welcomed back anytime and indefinitely. So of the last 4 months Guinness has spent 3 non-consecutive with this other family. I wasn't sure how he'd handle coming back with me. He loves me and he's been very cuddly but he is not as reliable or as confident as he used to be (commands, barking a lot, trying to go home instead of going for walks), and I don't know if a friend would help him. I am home this weekend and forced him to go on a long walk today, but he pretty much dragged me home on the way back.

Karlin said:

I know many trainers like to differentiate between dogs that just need some basic training to gradually get used to being on their own now and then, and dogs that have a true and serious problem with separation anxiety.

Click to expand...

Slightly hi-jacking the topic.... what is the best training to gradually get tem used to being on their own ? My puppy, less than a week at home, is very much depending on a human presence. There's usually me or my wife at home, but I'd still appreciate with time to be able to go out with my wife for a dinner every now and then (currently we're trying to get the puppy as relaxed as possible and therefore staying at home always)

I think both oliver ..and now Maggie suffer/ed from some degree of seperation anxiety.

Oliver was deaf (or close to it) and would often think he was alone in the house when we were really just a few rooms away.
he'd start to cry "OWE OWE OWEE OWEEEEE"... (i still kinda miss that though im really glad maggie dose not do this...so are my landloards)
He'd be doing this when we came home too..so im not sure HOW deaf he was or if he did this the whole time.. maybe he heard us pull in.

Maggie..it depends on what the situatoin is.
She follows me from room to room like a shadow. i can leave her at home without her crying..and know she and the house will be just fine.
but when i take her into work...she HAS to come into the bathroom with me...if i take the garbage out..i can hear her barking across the parking lot...
She used to cry like my daycare children when i left her at myg randpas (for daycare) but no longer dose that unless something in her routine is changed.

She knows when something in our routine is different and dose not like it.
If i go out alone..you can see the LOOK in her eyes. ..that small panic of i am leaving her.
she knows weekends too..if i am doing somethign that will take over a few hours i drop her off at my parents..i try to keep the same routine as during the week.. but she KNOWS.
probalby beause we sleep in and i do my hair and thats when she gets loud

I guess it's horses for courses. Sometimes I leave my Ziggy for up to 8 hours, although mostly I work from home and I'm with him all day. Occasionally I come home and he wants to say hello, but most of the time I come home and I have to go find him because he is asleep under something.