My dog has separation anxiety. How to ease boarding stress for my dog?

Question

I have to leave my dog Winston at a boarding facility for a week. He is 1 and has NEVER had a night without me and always sleeps with me. I made the mistake of not being away from him while he was young. He has mild separation anxiety. I’m just nervous that it will be emotionally stressful for him. He does get to socialize with other dogs im just nervous that he won’t trust me or he will be stressed out while I am gone. Should I cancel the trip? Is there anything I can do to make the stay easy? Pet's info: Dog | Italian Greyhound | Male | unneutered | 2 lbs

Claudia Fioravanti · Accepted Answer

Hi, the majority of dogs suffers with different degrees of anxiety when they are separated from their owner. How much stress is he going to suffer with will also depends on the facility. Some dogs cope well with being kennelled whilst other just find the experience very distressing. In general dogs have to get used to be separated from their owners, because there will be circumstances in life where they will just have to. If it is possible a gradual approach would be better, i.e. getting to know the new place and facilities beforehand for a few hours at time and helping making this experience as positive as possible. I have a very friendly submissive medium size dog and I have taken her into a kennel for 3 days. The place was recommended by a client of mine who funnily enough has a lot of greyhounds. My dog found the experience traumatising, she did not pass feaces for 3 days and I got home to a very frightened and constipated dog. Since then I have stopped using kennels. I had to take to leave her for another couple of days because my mum fell ill in hospital and left her with her dog walker who said had always dogs staying at her house with her own dogs. My dog was walked with these dogs beforehand, and when I left her at her house as I was about to leave, she got bitten on her ear by one of the other dogs. That was also a traumatic experience. I kept searching and finally found a home boarding place where they board only a few dogs at times, and they are all around her size .. they have huge gardens to run and can be kept separated in different parts of the house, so she had lots of pampering when I had to visit a sick member of my family abroad. We take her with us all the time when we travel for holidays but sadly there are occasions when she can’t be taken and I have managed to find a suitable alternative to our family company. Hope my experience helps ! All the best.

My dog has separation anxiety. How to ease boarding stress for my dog?

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