I’d like to begin with the question do I
have any dog lovers in the audience it
was because of my love for dogs that I
began my career in 1978 typically if a
dog’s owner calls in for help with their
dog usually they’re having an issue with
their dog and that’s my job
it’s always been my job to determine why
a particular dog is behaving a certain
way and then to come up with solutions
that work for that dog as well as that
dog’s owner now I have another question
for the audience how many of you have
heard of a condition referred to as
separation anxiety and dogs show of
hands well look around you that’s a lot
of hands final question
how many of you have heard of a
condition referred to as containment
phobia in dogs look around you very few
hands and this is a huge problem when a
dog’s behavior is misdiagnosed there’s
no cure and when dog behaviors
interpreted the wrong way
dogs are given away today is about
giving you new insights into these two
conditions so that together we can save
a dog’s life I’d like to begin with a
story about Aaron and Michael and their
dog
Ava now in many ways Ava was the perfect
dog she’s great with people she’s superb
with her children obedient but Aaron and
Michael called in because Ava could be
very destructive whenever she was left
home alone I remember on our first
appointment together how they recalled
that from the time she was a puppy they
nicknamed
her there Houdini dog if ever they tried
to confine Ava in the kitchen with a
baby gate just for housebreaking
purposes that little Ava she would just
scramble right over the gate at that
point in time they thought she just
wanted to be with him but as time went
on and they had to go to work they
decided well let’s leave Ava out in the
yard they had a big beautiful safe
Walden backyard but they noticed when
they came home from work these horrible
scratch marks by the back door and as
time went on they saw the same kind of
scratching that the side gate but she
was also digging it looked as though she
was digging trying to get out well
Michael fix the gate but as Ava grew
clever Ava she discovered she could jump
the wall but she didn’t go anywhere
as a matter of fact Aaron and Michael be
coming home from work and there’d be Ava
sitting on the front porch waiting for
him but it was at this point in time
they realized they had to start leaving
her indoors so they decided to try the
crate and then this is what they came
home to this is Ava’s plastic crate
after one day
well Michael they loved her dog Michael
went out and bought Ava a beautiful pen
where she had more room she could see
out everywhere this pen was so big he
needed to keep it on the back porch
right well Ava was determined to get out
of this pen also and they came home to
this Ava not only figured out how to
dislocate the bars
she also dislocated her foot in the
process now what are they gonna do they
can’t let Ava continue to hurt this
herself so they decided okay well we
have to leave her indoors let’s try the
laundry room
yeah the laundry room big save she can’t
escape the laundry room
clever a thought within a matter of days
she discovered how to open the laundry
room door with that lover door handle
and she managed to escape into the
garage and this is what they came home
to ava thought she might be able to get
out the garage door
well they replaced the lever door handle
this is what the door knob still looks
like now and by the way during her
excursions trying to escape the house
she also slipped into the boys bedroom
tried to go out through the window but
have you ever heard of a dog behaving
like this one I bet some of you have and
here’s the deal
ava has containment phobia behavior
never lies
now containment phobia could be defined
as an extreme fear of being trapped
feeling confined well what about the
analogy that many of us have heard that
the crate for a dog is just like a den
is for wolf well here’s the big
difference
a wolf’s den has an open-door policy a
wolf can come and go at will in the
heart of a wolf to be trapped would be
life-threatening
this is a survival instinct and aren’t
all dogs all breeds descendants of the
wolf they share the same DNA truly that
analogy you could no more put a wild
wolf and a crate then you could stick me
in a dress it’s not happening
now here’s the problem the problem is
that containment phobia is almost always
misdiagnosed as separation anxiety the
one thing that these two conditions have
in common the one thing that has clouded
the thinking of the multitudes is that
in both cases the destructive behavior
occurs when their owners are gone really
folks on our egos something if it
happens when I’m gone it must be about
me now I don’t want to get off the topic
here but I do have to share that I could
list at least 18 more reasons in
addition to these two for why dogs might
behave destructively when their owners
are gone but separation anxiety became a
very popular catch-all phrase don’t get
me wrong
separation anxiety does exist and it
could be horribly traumatic for dogs as
well did you know that the term was
first used to describe the feelings of
loss and anxiety for people we can thank
this gentleman John Bowlby for first
coining the term in 1969 he published
what he called the attachment theory he
proved that human beings that we come
into the world pre-programmed to form
attachments with one another it’s in our
DNA
it’s a survival instinct and he used the
words like if a human being if suddenly
we were missing a relationship that we
had counted on maybe the death of a
loved one we would experience anxiety
about being separated that’s where the
words came from and aren’t dogs social
creatures right that’s why they’re
called pack animals they also come into
the world pre-programmed to form
attachments with one another and that’s
what separation anxiety would feel like
for a dog it’d be like oh my owners gone
like hey being left alone so you can see
the difference separation anxiety is
more relationship based where
containment phobia is about being
confined now I’d like to share a picture
of two dogs that recently went through a
bout with separation anxiety me Howie
and Cooper Howie and Cooper had never
been destructive before but their owners
were married recently and they went off
on their honeymoon Howie and Cooper had
never had their owners leave for days
nor had they ever had a house sitter
even house sitters have to step out and
this is what the house sitter came home
to they managed to get into the office
closet and pull out everything and
destroy it and when they were done
venting their frustrations there they
so these are the pictures that were
texted to the newlyweds on their
honeymoon once again behavior never lies
you can see the difference in these two
conditions by what the dog chooses to
destroy all of Ava’s destruction was in
relationship to being confined and
needing to escape Howie and Cooper on
the other hand they vented their
frustrations on stuff in the house right
so the solutions to these two things
with Ava the solution biggest solution
was in providing her with a dog door
right now
Ava didn’t feel confined like that wolf
she had freedom of movement she could
come and go at will for Ava we also
needed to install an electronic fence
system on the wall to stop her from
jumping the fence but really you’ll be
happy to know that these two things in
addition to a little training even her
family are living happily ever after
Howie and Cooper with separation anxiety
the solutions are going to be more
relationship based sometimes it’s in
teaching the dog as well as the dog’s
owner to be a little bit more
independent of than each other even when
they are together but basically with
separation anxiety since its
relationship based every relationships
different and so the solutions are also
going to vary accordingly now remember
how at the very beginning I said
something about dogs being given away
it’s estimated that 3.9 million dogs
will enter our shelters and that’s just
this year nationwide now the good news
is more than half of those dogs will
find their forever home here’s the bad
news
it’s estimated that 1.2
million dogs will be killed in our
shelters that’s killing 3287 dogs every
day it’s also estimated that somewhere
between 10 to 20% of our entire dog
population will suffer from some level
of containment phobia and these dogs are
much more likely to end up in our
shelters let me be very clear
I am here to recruit you in sharing what
you’ve learned about these two different
very different conditions and dogs you
may be chatting online you may be
talking to a co-worker but I know one
day you’re gonna hear about a dog owner
who’s very troubled and their dog’s been
diagnosed with separation anxiety but
you recognize the difference you hear
the tell-tale signs of containment
phobia sure its destructive when they’re
gone but it’s destroying window
coverings door frames it won’t be crated
they’re calling it a Houdini dog you
could make the difference I sincerely
believe that together we could save
hundreds and thousands of dogs lives as
well as the very troubled hearts of all
those people that love them thank you [Applause]