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| Separation Anxiety in Dogs |
Abstract
The
evaluation of systematic desensitization to treat separation-related
problem behaviours, such as destruction of property, excessive barking,
or house-soiling, has tended to rely on single case-studies. Eight dogs
exhibiting separation-related behaviour, and their owners, participated
in a controlled experiment using a within-subjects design to evaluate
the efficacy of a combination of systematic desensitization and
counter-conditioning. Treatment produced significant reductions in both
the frequency (T(9)) = 0.0, P = 0.008) and the severity (T(9)) = 0.0, P = 0.008)
of separation-related behaviours compared to baseline. Six dogs, for
which follow-up data were obtained three months after treatment ended,
showed almost complete elimination of the problem behaviour. The use of
counter-conditioning, and other behavioural advice, did not appear to be
related to the success of the treatment, suggesting that systematic
desensitization was the critical element. Speed of progress and final
success was not related to the consistency with which the owners applied
systematic desensitization, indicating that even when owners apply
systematic desensitization haphazardly, it can still be successful in
treating separation-related behaviour in dogs.
